Activation Reports

Check out my blog at http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2014/03/larch-mountain-w7wlc-103-sota.html for additional information.

Here is my everytrail post with downloadable GPX tracks - http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2713566

A very long day to get ten points - the usual for the Northwest. Here in Oregon and Washington, we can't do several drive up ten pointers in one day - it might take 12 hours of hiking just to get to one ten-point summit and back down again.

We left Portland at 2:30am to drive to the trailhead at Marble Mountain Sno-Park off Road 83 a bit past Cougar, WA. Unusually great weather was predicted for this March day. For the majority of the climbing season, permits are sold advance. See https://www.recreation.gov/permits/4675309.

On a quck training hike for our Switzerland Hiking / Climbing tour next July / August, I carried along my trusty ICOM - IC - V85 2M HT because it has an output of 7 Watts.  Together with my old AEA "Hot Rod" telescoping vertical antenna for 2M, it seems to work very well on 2M FM.  Squak Mountain, 617 Meters, 2,024 Feet elevation is an easy 4.2 miles RT hike gaining 1,274 feet to the summit.  It is easily accessible from my home QTH in Bellevue, WA.  Park on SR900 (Issaquah - Renton Road) or, as we did, at one of the higher trailheads on Mountainside

UPDATE: There may be No Trespassing signs on this approach now.

Re Horse Ridge Initial Activation 23 Feb 2014.

Ray KG7AV, Max KF7MAX

Easiest approach is Hwy 20 east from Bend. Proceed approx 30m to Horse Ridge grade.

1. Just after the summit, as you descend into Millican basin, you will
encounter a turnoff to the S before you reach the ODOT cinder pile.
This is labeled as Ft Rock Rd on Google Earth, I know it as BLM 2015,
and I show it at 43 54 23.87N 120 59 50.67W.

Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain is a nice late season snowshoe near Mount Hood. It's about 4 miles one-way and 1850 feet of gain to bag this four-point summit with iconic views of Mount Hood. It's a bit of work with some route-finding on snowshoes, but hopefully this trip report will help you get there. A Forest Pass is required from May 15 to October 1 - a SnoPark is required November 1 to April 30. 
 

Gales Peak is probably on the "not recommended" list for activations near Portland. Although access is possible, you are not allowed to do it with a motor vehicle, making the six mile round-trip on a logging road fairly unattractive.

Peak 3534 is a near drive up in the Tillamook State Forest west of Portland off Highway 6. It would be a good combination activation with South Saddle Mountain, W7O/NC-002.

If you are tackling Peak 3534 on its own or to start first on South Saddle, use the directions here http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7nit/2013-august-13/south-saddle-mtn-or-ju… to find the "major triangle intersection" and consider using a GPS and a good map while in the Tillamook State Forest.

These eleven miles (RT) seem much farther when you are on snowshoes - take that into account if you should decide to try this winter activation. If you have 4WD, very high clearance and nerves of steel, you you might consider driving a bad road in the summer - see the other trip report below.

The trail starts from Highway 35 - the trailhead coordinates: 45.3395  -121.5703. See the trailhead photo below with an unsigned post just north of a bridge over the Hood River East Fork.

Along Highway 22 between Salem and Detroit there is a near drive-up summit. In 2013 the road was passable (with some care) in a passenger car. (It may be a bit overgrown now.) This summit could be a  back up plan when nearby Rocky Top can't be accessed due to snow. In fact, 

Here's another suburban SOTA summit with little to offer but a narrow road shoulder for activation space. Still, it's close in to Newberg, Oregon and if you've only a limited time, it could be a good choice.