Activation Reports

On March 10, 2017, my wife and I were exploring summits to the south of Eugene. After activating Yellow Butte, W7O/CC-024, near Yoncalla, OR. We found a nice little hill south of Elkton, OR, Peak 1100, W7O/CC-135. This summit is on a private farm above the Umpqua River. The owner lives in a house about half way up. We spoke to her and told her about SOTA. She gave her permission (reluctantly, I think) for us to activate her summit. She said that she would prefer that others not come to activate the hill top summit. I told her that we would make it off limits in our data.

(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

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

Peak 4620 (near Blue Box Pass) is a backcountry snowshoe activation that can be done in the winter if you don't mind using a GPS and are comfortable with off-trail navigation. It's about 1.7 miles one way and 700 feet gain.

A first activation of Eureka Peak on snowshoes turned out to be quite a workout. The basic climb description is about 2.5 miles one way and 1200 feet of gain, but the real work is off the trail with the last half mile being particularly steep. Since there is no trail to the top this would be difficult to do without snow cover. And the steep sections might be unsafe later in the spring on firm consolidated snow without crampons and ice axe. 

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. The summit is reached after about a mile hike with about 400’ of elevation rise.  There are trees for antenna supports or a mast can be lashed to sign posts, etc.  A view back down the meadow will show the ocean, coast and parts of Florence.

UPDATE NOV 2023: This summit is now posted "No Trespassing" to all public use. See photos. Previous trip report below.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

This summit lies on the south side of Florence.  The trail rises 350 to 400’ over about one mile.  The summit is covered with RF equipment which did not seem to cause much interference to my HF station.