Saturday, January 14, 2016, I attempted the first ever winter activation of Quartz Mountain. This summit intrigued me as I have previously skied on the cross country ski trails at Mt. Spokane. The trails, which many are on a Forest roads, create the basis for the cross country trail system. There is a warming hut in somewhat close proximity to the activation point. I believe it is possible to drive up to the summit during the summer. The cross country trail maps shows the road leading to the summit as “occasionally groomed”. It was unclear when or if this trail was groomed this year.
Pass Required at Trailhead
Multorpor Mountain, OR | February 2012
The name Multorpor comes from Multnomah County + Oregon + Portland.
Schreiner Peak Activation, Oct 22, 2016
Let's just get this out of the way. Schreiner Peak is a beast. On the web you
can read many accounts of how difficult reaching this peak is. They're true.
Getting to the trailhead for Schreiner Peak is straight forward. I suggest you
follow Etienne's (K7ATN) excellent directions to reach the Pansy Mountain
trailhead. Specifically, you need to get to the Pansy Lake Trail #551.
Hike up the Pansy Lake Trail. You will pass trail #550 on the left. After Pansy
WA6ARA activates Wizard Island, OR | August 2014
As part of our annual summer trips Paula, N6VGW and myself (WA6ARA) try to go different routes and have fun along the way. As part of our 2014 excursion we stopped by Crater Lake in Oregon for a few days. While there we did a a couple of Summits On The Air, or SOTAs. These were Wizard Island and Mt Scott. While Mt Scott has been activated often, Wizard Island had never been activated. Wizard Island, is in the middle of Crater Lake so you can’t walk there, it is a boat trip and reservations are usually needed.
Silver Star, WA | November 2016
Silver Star is a classic hike in SW Washington that should be on everyone's list to do at least once.
Lowder Mountain, OR, 25 October 2016, NS7P
Lowder Mountain is a 5570’, 4 point summit southeast of Cougar Reservoir in the Three Sisters Wilderness. A 5.6 mile round trip hike leads through forest and hillside meadows up to a mostly treeless summit. Net elevation rise is about 900’. A short side trip from the top opens up to great views of steep cliffs and lakes far below.
Bull of the Woods, OR | August 2014
Bull of the Woods is a pleasant and popular hike south of Estacada of about 6.5 miles and 1300 feet of gain. There's an unused (but locked) fire lookout at the summit, giving you a chance to be out of the sun (or rain) to activate by standing under the structure.
Naomi Peak, UT | October 2016
Naomi Peak is a great hike along a well-marked trail from the Tony Grove Lake area. Tony Grove is a popular site seeing destination 28 miles NE of Logan Utah. The summit has views in all direction and is highly recommended as a day hike or a SOTA adventure.
Red Mtn, WA | Third time is the charm (October 1, 2016)
This was my third attempt at Red Mountain. The first time I had not done any previous research on this summit, other than I have seen people on several occasions head up to the final summit (as I walked past to go to Red Pass) that really did not look like they were doing other than a day hike.
Mount Pisgah, OR | October 2016
Mount Pisgah is a 'near' urban summit just east of Eugene. It is known as Mount Pisgah Arboretum and as the Howard Burford Recreation Area. It's a short 1.5 miles, but steep with 1050 feet of elevation gain from the parking lot to the summit. It features some of the last remaining oak savanna that once dominated the Willamette Valley and the summit has good views.