Shady Trail

Marmot Butte is a rather nondescript summit just northeast of Chemult, OR. It is also about 3km northeast of Walker Mountain. The two can easily be done in one day. signage is sparse on this trek. Be sure to take map and GPS to keep on track.

On this warm late June day, the mosquitoes were hungry and numerous. Its never a good sign when you see dozens of mosquitoes lighting on your rig breaking off their blood sucking apparatus the moment you stop. 100% DEET was employed.

A fantastic Activation together with my SOTA Buddy, Tim, KG7EJT, along with his wife Masako, my wife Sharon & Dexter the SOTA Dog on Memorial Day 2016.  Great weather, fantastic views from the summit and a successful SOTA Activation for both of us, yielded a memorable outing. "Mount Attenuator", mostly known as Summit Lake Peak, is approximately 3 miles north of Mount Rainier National Park.  Thus it affords incredible sweeping outlook of the north aspect of mighty Mount Rainier.  Mount Attenuator is 5,780 feet (1,762 meters) high, and is reached via approximately 6.1 mile RT trail.  Elevation gain is approximately 1,360 feet.

This is a nice hike of 1100 feet on a well-graded trail of about 4.8 miles round trip.

Indian Mountain, north of Mount Hood, is a remote summit with great views of Mount Hood.

The easy access to this hill is off of forest road FS-6081 (you’d want a high clearance vehicle) which was not passable for us. It leads to a spur road that goes almost to the top (this is also blocked to vehicles by windfall and some erosion). Good thing we had a plan B – which was to follow the PCT - Trail #2000, south from the nearby Crest Horse Camp.

A great trip to the summit of Beckler Peak, Washington. See full details on my blog: http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2016/05/beckler-peak-w7wkg-086-sota.html

Three Wild Turkey Winners! On a springtime outing to the Spokane, Washington region, we activated three (3) SOTA Summits in the mountains north of the City of Spokane.  The reference to Wild Turkeys is on account of seeing numerous of the large wild birds that almost became the National Symbol of USA.  See: http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2007/Americas-First-Bird-Controversy.aspx .  We chose this area, as there were several SOTA Summits that were easily accessible from the 2 alpine ski resorts north of Spokane: Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park and 490 North Mountain Resort.  This is report 2 of 3, detailing the Activation of Quartz Mountain.

My wife and I set out on 8 May 2016 to activate Mount June, W7O/WV-042. This is a moderately difficult hike to the top of a 4620’ summit.

Springtime dandy in Central Washington Cascade Mountains!  A weekday (Friday) activation of Granite Mountain, together with Tim Nair, KG7EJT.  Granite Mountain, 5,629 feet elevation, with 3,800 feet elevation gain and 8.6 miles RT, is located near the Denny Creek area, off exit 74, I-90, near Snoqualmie Pass.  Tim and I had previously Activated Granite Mountain during the winter of 2015.  This time we also had great weather, some mushy snow slogging, stupendous views and inquisitive hikers at the summit, which all combined for another fine Activation!

Wind Mountain is a great hike with fantastic views near Hood River Oregon.  It is on the Washington State side of the river so your will need to cross the toll bridge to the Washington side if you are coming from Hood River, OR.

The toll is $1 I think and is well worth the price of admission for Wind Mountain.  You will pass the parking for Dog Mtn on the way to Wind Mtn if coming from Hood River.  Dog Mtn is another popular hike to a SOTA summit.