When a more complex plan failed to come to fruition Friday night, we decided late that we would head to Lookout Mountain in Oregon for Saturday's activation. We had been there before, and it is one of our all-time favorite SOTA summits. Just before we were heading out the door Saturday morning, I realized I had forgotten to alert us because the decision had been so late. I was shocked to see that K7ATN was scheduled for the same summit that day! Luckily, he was planning to hit it after a trip to Zig Zag Mountain, so we figured we'd be headed down the mountain before he was ready to operate.
When we got to the parking lot and trailhead, we decided to take the shorter route up, which means going straight through the meadow, instead of cutting to the right into the forest. Soon, the trail widens out to the old road that led to the summit. It climbs only about 800 feet through the forest to the saddle, leaving just a short distance of exposed trail to the summit.
On top, the activator is presented with one of the best views around, in my opinion. The weather wasn't as clear as it was the last time we were up here, but it was still excellent. Mt Hood looms in the foreground, and looks almost close enough to touch. My favorite part is that you can look east to the desert of Eastern Oregon, as if it started just below the ledge.
We setup the usual antenna and kept the KX3 out of the sun with one of the stuff sacks we carry the gear in. Taylor pulled the first six contacts with ease and handed the mic to me. Since the weather was nice,I called CQ until I had scooped up all the chasers waiting.
We had plans to head to another nearby summit for a twofer, so we packed up and headed down the mountain. There were two people up there for a while when we were operating, but it was quiet for the most part. Apparently we had beat the rush, because as we descended from the summit, we passed another probably fifteen people headed up. From the saddle, the summit looked like a crowded and noisy place, so we were glad to have been early.
From the parking lot, we pointed the Jeep southeast, heading to unnamed summit "6001", which required a little bit of off-trail navigation to find a good spot, but was definitely easy for a six-pointer.