Oreana Ridge is a picturesque summit with scattered trees, grass/forb land, an old US Forest Service L-4 Lookout and a log garage. There are fine views of high peaks in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and the steep slopes of Salmon River breaks. The lookout built in
Tincup Hill summit is a large flat area covered by a regenerated old clearcut of 15-30’ tall lodgepole pine. There are also some mining exploration shallow-trenches cut into the summit area and access ridge. The hike is through easy terrain lacking in downfall or high brush. Trees are available to attach wire antennas.
Looking at maps, I took off for a morning hike to Wilcox Peak figuring there would be a gate part way down the hill. Surprisingly you can drive pretty much just into the AZ. The road finishes at a turnaround/shooting area, unfortunately with a lot of trash. Wish I took some large bags with me, putting it on my list as trash really bothers me in the woods!
I had planned a vacation with my son in Gilbert, Arizona the first week of November 2020 and asked if he could find a few SOTA summits we could activate together. I also flew my daughter in from out-of-state to join us. This is how it actually turned out:
Tuesday, November 3rd - Pinal Peak (W7A/AW-009) gravel road drive-up: 8 Contacts
Wednesday, November 4th - Christopher Mountain (W7A/AW-024) very rough access road & .5 mile hike: 13 Contacts
During a 12-day, Self-Guided tour through the Dolomite Mountains of Northern Italy, I had the opportunity to activate a few mountains that “happened” to be right along our route. I was with my XYL, Sharon, and 2 other couples, so my opportunities were somewhat limited by time and patience (or lack thereof) of my travelling companions. None the less, I managed 4 Activations. This report deals with the Activation of Monte Pic, I/AA-181. This easy to ascend peak is 7,753 Feet / 2,363 Meters in elevation. The reason I report this Activation on the PNW SOTA reflector is to illustrate the outstanding opportunities that await those that venture out to Northern Italy, Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany. These countries all share in common superb tourist infrastructure and ease of access to thousands of SOTA peaks, ranging from walk ups to world class alpine climbs. There is also the attraction of great food and beer, and hospitable local populations. Finally, there are also opportunities to reach out to local SOTA Activators, and perhaps go out for joint Activations.
11.3-miles, +3,828 ft; -574 ft; From N. Fork Trailhead
I activated this as the first summit on a multi-day backpacking trip. We camped at Canyon Lake and climbed from there. There is also camping at Lake Otatsy and Camp Pass. The entire route, including the Lake Otatsy area was burned in the 2017 Rice Ridge fire, so care should be taken in selecting a camp to minimize the danger from standing dead trees. Most of the area around Canyon Lake is not burnt.
Pasture Ridge is one of several SOTA summits near the Magruder Corridor. This corridor-road divides some of the most wild-country in Idaho, the Selway Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas. The trail access to the summit begins at the Historic Magruder Ranger Station.
Gerakovuni is the highest point of Mount Othrys. We started in Almyros, about 19 km north of the peak.We did not follow the paint marks but used the GPS to bring us more directly to the summit. I'm not sure that was the best idea. I believe we may have passed through these two waypoints on the way to the summit.
39.06381, 22.70841 39.05323, 22.69743
The upland terrain is rocky and open, allowing easy cross-country.
Bunker Hill is a nicely accessible summit a few miles north of Carson, Washington. The trailhead is an easy drive, and the hike is about 3.6 miles roundtrip and 1300 feet of gain. Note that little of the gain is on the first mile or so of the hike - it's steep later. The hike starts on the Pacific Crest Trail for the first easy half mile or so.
Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon. The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings. This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Burma Rd HP, AKA Point 4,230, W7O/CE-304. Prior to coming to the Bend / Sunriver area, I had contacted Ron, W6PZA, who lives in Bend, Oregon. I had seen on-line that he had been a very consistent Activator in this area, and reached out to him to possibly arrange some joint Activations. Happily, things worked out, we hit it off, and wound up doing 2 joint Activations - this one, and also North Paulina Peak, the subject of another Activation report.