Forested Summit

On a quck training hike for our Switzerland Hiking / Climbing tour next July / August, I decided to throw in my 2M HT at the last minute.  Wilderness Peak is an easy 4 miles RT hike gaining 1200 feet, to a summit elevation of 1,600.  It is easily accessible from my home QTH in Bellevue, WA.  Park on SR900 (Issaquah - Renton Road).  The hike is through mostly wooded terrain, with some sections of lovely old growth Douglas Fir and Cedar trees.  One (1) hour up and 48 minutes down.  A few other hikers and trail runners en route.

Enjoy bushwacking? Like to climb over (and under!) a maze of large, downed trees? We've got a great SOTA summit for you in the Clackamas River area.

One of the most gorgeous hikes I've taken in Oregon, it's clearly popular during the 'summer' season but we had it all to ourselves this spectacular November Sunday. Note that there are four "Huckleberry Mountain" in the Oregon ARM - one of them is also in WV and is also 2 points - make sure you get yourself to the right one.

Krell Hill is a 3600 foot peak to the south-east of Spokane. It's also known as Tower Mountain for reasons that are obvious to those from the area. The tower complex looms over the City of Spokane, spanning most of the ridge to the south-east of town. It hosts 3 major TV stations and numerous other transmitters. Access to the hill is either from a gated road to the south-west, or from the trail system of the Iller Creek Conservation Area to the north or southeast. Iller Creek has many hiking and biking options.

It was a cool rainy day in Spokane. My wife Sarah, our friend Kelly, and I wanted to do a hike. And I wanted to do an activation. So we settled on a hike to Quartz Peak. Quartz Peak is another peak within the Mount Spokane State Park. The peak is right in the middle of the Mount Spokane Nordic Park, a premier location for cross-country skiing in Eastern Washington. Parking for the hike is easy. Simply park at the cross country ski area parking lot. You'll need a Discovery Pass when the ski area isn't open, and you'll need a sno-pass when the ski area is open.

This summit is only about a mile from a large parking lot on the road to the top of Marys Peak but it requires some strenuous up-hill bushwhacking from that readily accessible parking lot.  There are some old logging roads in the area, mostly grown over with bushes, that will get you close to the summit but getting to a logging road from that particular parking lot was quite a workout.  Looking at the satellite view there appears to be an easier, albeit much longer access route via a logging roads (for hiking) a bit farther to the north from where I started.

It has been foggy around here all week long. Today was a good day to rise above it all and find some sunshine! Anderson Mountain's good access, gentle trail, and easy scrambling made for a rewarding summit to play radio on! Having plenty of time on top for a change made this a very pleasant activation.

Wow... there must a lot of easier ways to get a 4-point activation. I knew there wasn't a trail to this peak and there would be some bushwacking involved because not many folks go there. But oh my gosh, this trip turned into an ordeal!

After chasing a few stations the past few weeks, I decided to hike Pinnacle Peak (aka Mt. Pete) in Enumclaw to activate my first SOTA summit.

I neglected to send out an alert, but people found me anyway.  I've climbed this little peak a few times.  My plan was simple:  take my Yaesu VX-7R, an extra battery (not needed), and a twin lead 2m antenna, and call CQ on 146.52.

Just south of downtown Issaquah is Squak Mountain. It's a Washington State Park and so access is straightforward. From the north trailhead it's 2.3 miles one way on a maze of trails where it's a good idea to check the trail map carefully as there are several junctions on the way to the summit and one unsigned (very short) trail link.