Good Parking At Trailhead

My second bust in the Tatoosh Range! These peaks are far enough from PDX that 2m won't reach, and despite the proximity to Seattle, there happens to be a big chuck of rock and ice in the way. I knew it would be a stretch, but was hopeful the extra time on the summit would give me a chance to round up four contacts. Nope. Advice: either bring a beam antenna, your HF rig, or coordinate with other activators and chasers to make sure you can get it done.

Steep, but Priusable route for activating Peak 2905. A one way hike of about 0.9 miles and 100 feet gain. The AZ is on Stimpson Timber land . - not accessible during weekday hours or active logging.

I thought I would do an update and pull together the two trip reports for this summit.
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k9wbz/2019-april-23/w7onc-060-lone-ridge-act...
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/n7un/2016-september-07/lone-ridge-w7onc-060
It is 9.5 miles round trip and 1200 feet of gain from the gate to the summit.
This makes it a very nice biketavation as the slope is usually managable on the bike with a few hike a bikes here and there. The road is good gravel and goes all the way to the top. The views are wonderful.

3020 (Receiver Mountain) is a summit for the persistent activator – you will find it has both good and challenging aspects. The approach roads require 4WD and most sections are in good shape but foliage in some sections of the road encroach and could scratch your vehicle.

May 28th, 2023.  Trip #3 up Rocky Top for me and activation #2.  But this time we were a party of 7, 5 of which were general class operators.  

Dusk Point is a 1.8 mile round trip (500 ft vertical) hike off of FR-2364 in the South Olympics.  Access is straightforward (once the snow melts!) but FR-2364 does require a high clearance vehicle. The summit is exposed with limited to no shade even though some trees line the perimeter.  I did not have any ATT cell service but there is excellent APRS two-way messaging to enable spotting.

The summit of Rock Point is a steep short climb up from either the Paradise Trail #124 or FR-6401.  Both the forest road and summit are shaded and would be a good choice for a hot sunny day. In good weather, it could be combined with other peaks nearby W7W/LC-059 Timbered Peak and W7W/LC-064 Sister Rocks. If doing multiple peaks, I would do this one last as it is the most shaded route of the three due to recent fires.

NC-130 is another of the recently added peaks during the 2023 ARM update, currently the last of the Oregon NCs. If that's a goalpost you're looking to achieve, or you're feeling particularly completionist, or you just like a good bushwhack, proceed on. Otherwise, maybe skip this one. It's on public land, and consists of a 6 mile forest road drive, combined with a 1.5 mile hike and bushwhack. This peak is easiy paired with NC-099.

Davis Peak is the site of a regional broadcast NOAA Weather station operating on a freq of 162.525 at 100w to a gain vertical antenna.  See  https://www.weather.gov/nwr/sites?site=WNG604

Consequently, expect front-end overload with your 2m handheld.  I have used my SotaBeams 2m RF bandpass filter with very good results. See https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/bandpass-filter-for-2m/  Cost for a USA purchaser is $48.

Davis Peak is very accessible to Portland Metro, with a half mile hike and offers an amazing view. The downside is a fair bit of RF interference from the installation sharing the peak with you.

The google directions were accurate, although I will note that the main road to the peak has 2 names, and signage alternates between them : "Aho Carson" and "Davis Peak Road". When google told us to take a right onto Davis Peak Road the sign at the turn said "Aho Carson".