OK, so it seems that I jumped into this SOTA thing a little too quickly and made a couple of mistakes. Thankfully, there are several people who have contacted me with some great advice for getting on track to doing things right. Hopefully I will have better luck going forward.
A crisp Fall-like day, sparse crowds and a successful activation made for a pleasant, if short day. The route to the summit, and the Activation itself were changed, and cut short, by a large heard of mountain goats which were straddling the ridge running between the SE Summit (incorrectly labeled as Mount Fremont) and the Middle Summit, (True Summit).
This second day of the NA SOTA Weekend dawned wet and misty, but with the promise (unfulfilled, as it turned out) of clearing at some point, and it wasn't really raining. So Joe K7ZG drove us to Green Mountain, where we intended to find the road that allows a drive-up to a parking area somewhat below the summit. I thought this road was north of the Gold Creek Trail trailhead parking area, but I wasn't sure how far or how it would be marked. We turned around before we got to it (as we learned later, see below), and decided to just do the entire hike.
On this Saturday of the NA SOTA Weekend, at about 10:45am, our party of four set out from Sunrise on Mt. Rainier to walk the Mt. Fremont Lookout trail. The Lookout promises spectacular northward views of the Grand Park meadows, and the entire trail is hugely scenic. More to the point, about ½ mile before the Lookout, the trail passes a few hundred feet below the summit of Mt. Fremont, and that was, of course, the real destination for the hams in the group: myself and Al N7OMS.
Doug (KY7S) and I activated this summit as part of NA SOTA weekend. We had a blast up there and enjoyed the great day in western WA. Important to have a plan for spotting up there. Cell phone was not that great...APRS worked Awesome. A lot of 2m S2S activity. More then expected. Cant wait to get on the next one.
Full Blog Link:
http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2015/09/kelly-butte-w7wkg-060-sota.html
I was negligent in posting my Mount Catherine activation here but wanted to get it up for all to enjoy and use. We had a great early start on our way across Washington state on the 24th of August and had a great hike up this summit. This is a highly recommended SOTA for anyone heading through the Snoqualmie Pass area.
Here is a link to the full blog with more pics and information:
A clear, sunny and warm day; beautiful fall colors of yellow, gold, red and purple; a successful activation; and the company of my wife, Sharon and Dexter the SOTA Dog - all made for a very pleasant outing. Summit Chief Mountain is a 6 point SOTA Summit in Chelan County, above the Stevens Pass Ski Resort area. It is accessed via highway entirely, being located at Stevens Pass, on SR 2.
Dutton Ridge is one of many peaks located within Crater Lake National Park. There is no
established trail up the ridge but it is easily reached by taking the rim road east from
the lodge. Once passing the trailhead to Sun Notch, the road rises to a very wide curve
that straddles the shoulder of Dutton Ridge. There is a pullout in the apex of the corner.
Park at the pull-off and proceed directly uphill staying just to the right of the trees
in the open pumice plain. The terrain is very soft especially at the beginning but gets
Mt Scott is the highest point in Crater Lake National Park. It is also the only place wherea normal camera lens can capture the entire lake. Its a popular summit and receives a lot of traffic. The trail-head is on the eastern side of the park directly off the rim road. It's 2.5 miles to the summit with about 1200 ft of elevation gain.
The trail begins in a nice hemlock forest that transitions to scrubby pines with less and less shade or wind breaks available. If its a hot day, take plenty of water and sun protection.
We spent the weekend climbing and camping at the nearby Spring Mountain climbing area. This is a great climbing area with nearby camping. Just a short distance away is Sugarloaf Mountain. It looked much forested and the road/trail access was questionable, but a previous activation said it was doable.