There have been quite a few activations for this 1 point summit in Snohomish County near Sultan, WA... With it staying light much later, decided to try an after work activation.
N.D. des Anges, FR | May 2019
One of our favorite summits in France, you can visit the winery and then hike up the road to the chapel and play radio! You can even stay overnight in accommodations at the winery. The hike is all of 1km with about 90m of rise. At the chapel there's a bench and some shade - a perfect spot to activate after wine!
It's perhaps easiest to find the summit by finding the winery: Chemin Notre Dame des Anges, 84570 Mormoiron. That's about an hour east of Avigion.
La Forêt, FR | May 2019
La Forêt is a forested one-point summit near La Motte-Servolex, France. Heading east on A43, just before the tunnel, exit at Lac d'Aiguebelette, pass through the toll plaza, take the first exit from the roundabout and then the next right. After you pass under the A43 and after about 400m, take a sharp left onto Route du Terreau and wind up the hills towards Ayn on D36E. Pass through Ayn and continue on D37 to Route du Montigon. A GPS will be quite useful in getting to the trailhead.
Mont Monnet, FR | May 2019
The easiest access to Mont Monnet is a 1.5km road and trail hike with a vertical gain of about 160 meters. Mont Monnet is in the Parc Naturel du Pilat near Longes, France. The map below shows the available trails - the shortest approach of 1.5km is from Col de Grenouze where there is parking (45.4768° 4.6971°).
Grivets, FR | May 2019
Grivets is a simple "SOTA-car" (drive-up) summit about 30km south of Grenoble, France. There's nothing remarkable about this one-pointer, but it could be a quick activation stop along the A51.
Le Pet du Loup, FR | May 2019
Le Pet du Loup is a simple and easy summit in the lovely Parc Naturel du Pilat, about 45 minutes south of Lyon, France. Google Translate might let you know that "Le Pet du Loup" really does mean the Fart of the Wolf - a fun name.
Bald Hill, WA (near Monroe) | March 2019 (and Aug23 update)
8/17/23 Update - Not really a recommended summit due to new "Preferred Plan" with "sensitive" areas of park, along with varying topo maps regarding whether park is in the AZ...
First activation of Linney Butte, W7O/CN-034, June 2, 2019
Quick notes: I have Google Fi, which uses T-Mobile and Sprint. Cell service is great, if you have a view to the northeast. Otherwise, it dies, and quickly. This was obvious when I was trying to stay in contact with people throughout the hike, leading to cutting in and out throughout the trip. I got it into my head to try a 4-pointer with no activations, and I saw a prime candidate, of only .7 miles with a gain of only a few hundred feet! What a find! Only problem is, there's no trail. Well, that's no problem!
My First SOTA point
It was great to meet club members at SEA-PAC. I came back motivated to earn my first point! WV-095 (https://www.sota.org.uk/Summit/W7O/WV-095) is Mt Scott and has been frequently activated. It looked pretty straightforward and I had already cycled to the top a few years ago.
Trying to get up Prospect Ridge, 2019/05/27
After studying the map, I thought it was worth checking if the road that approaches the summit is accessible. I invited my family, and we drove up to check, and it definitely is not. We drove NF 23 to NF 2353, which proceeds past some campsites to the trailhead. There is a gate that is sometimes closed, but this doesn't really add a lot of effort to the trail. We got to NF2348, which turns into NF2365 and heads up the mountain, to find a berm had been constructed, decidedly closing the road. We made the decision to hike it anyway, and embarked.