Good Views From Summit

A bit of research showed several gems waiting to be Activated, while the high country is still buried in deep, unstable snow.  Tibbetts Mountain is a 4 point SOTA Summit, of a modest 4,115 feet elevation.  It has a fantastic vantage point, overlooking the beautiful Wenatchee River Valley, the City of Wenatchee, and several towns lying along SR 2, the major east / west highway connecting western and eastern Washington State.  We opted for the more reasonable north approach, which is mainly a very steep forest service road, with about 1/4 mile of easy off road climb along the summit ridge.  The total distance is 6.2 miles RT, with approximately 1,850 feet elvation gain.  A bonus was that the apple orchards in the Wenatchee River Valley were in full bloom, and the mountain flower were awaking from winter slumber.

We finally got to Activate Old Pass Hill, after snowshoeing by it a number of times before.  Old Pass Hill is a 4 point SOTA Summit of 4,885 feet elevation.  In winter, the route is mostly avalanche free, and so is a semi popoluar snowshoe trip.  A nice spring day, right before a change in weather, yielded a mostly sunny early morning, with increasing wind and clouds later in the mid day.  The temperature at departure from the TH was 37 degrees, and the snow was firm enough to hike on without snowshoes.  On the return trip, it had warmed up enough to require snowshoes, and we were gald we had carried them in.  The trip is approximately 8.15 miles RT, with about 1,500 feet elevation gain, including many ups and downs along the ridge beween Swauk Creek & Scotty Creek in the Wenatchee Mountains, west of Blewett Pass.  We only saw 2 other people the entire day.

(0.6 miles, 500 feet)

This is a short climb that is located immediately adjacent to I-15 south of Great Falls.  It was first climbed by Merriweather Lewis on July 16, 1805.  Lewis described it as follows:

(1.3 miles, 970 ft)

(3.6 miles, +1,650 ft, -510 ft)

On a family vacation to the Lake Tahoe Basin in Nevada and California, I was fortunate enough to Activate 4 peaks in 3 days.  This is a description of the Mount Watson Activation, number 2 in the series.  On this Activation I had the pleasure of meeting up with a "local" Activator from Reno, Nevada, K1LB - "Woody" Brown, so that we could do a joint Activation of Watson.

On a family vacation to the Lake Tahoe Basin in Nevada and California, I was fortunate enough to Activate 4 peaks in 3 days.  This is a description of the Monument Peak Activation.  Monument Peak is a 10,067 foot / 3,068 meter high, 8 Point SOTA Summit, which is the apex of Heavenly Ski Resort.  It has been activated in winter, via ski lifts and skis, and in summer via trails.  This was my second time ascending the peak, the first being in 2009, well before I got into SOTA." src="file:///C:/Users/Mark/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif">

Second Time Was A Charm!  Almost exactly 2 years since my last ski trip / Activation attempt of Lone Mountain, Montana, I returned and was successful this time ...barely.  Winter Activations at this altitude (11,166 feet, 3,403 Meters), are certainly not trivial matters, even if Ski Tram access is available.  Lone Mountain is the apex of Big Sky Ski Resort, in Big Sky Montana.  See: http://bigskyresort.com/ for general information, and http://bigskyresort.com/Documents/The%20Mountain/W1617/Map_2016_TrailMap_v2.pdf  for trail maps during ski season.

This pleasant summit requires a nice, moderate hike through a forested area, coming out onto a wildflower filled hillside meadow.  The summit is at the top of the meadow.  There are interpretive signs and a bench that provide a good operating position.

Maury Island was recently added to the SOTA database so I was super excited to do this activation with my wife, even though it was only a one pointer.  The island is accessible from Vashon Island, which is a ferry boat ride from West Seattle or Tacoma.  One could easily get on the ferry boat with their bicycle and bike to this summit.