Sea Pac, the ARRL NW region hamfest is May 31 to June 2, 2013.  We are having a Friday night SOTA gathering, much like last year.  This year we have reserved the banquet room at the the same pizza place we met last year, so we should have lots of room for the expanding group of SOTA folks!

Sea Pac, the ARRL NW region hamfest is May 31 to June 2, 2013.  We are having a Friday night SOTA gathering, much like last year.  This year we have reserved the banquet room at the the same pizza place we met last year, so we should have lots of room for the expanding group of SOTA folks!

Sea Pac, the ARRL NW region hamfest is May 31 to June 2, 2013.  We are having a Friday night SOTA gathering, much like last year.  This year we have reserved the banquet room at the the same pizza place we met last year, so we should have lots of room for the expanding group of SOTA folks!

Most of the Oregon south coast summits are accessible only by dirt roads.  access to summit bases are on un maintained dirt roads.  Since the South Coast gets, on average, 6 feet of rain a year, well, you can imagine what a steep unmaintained dirt road looks like. 

Note that there is another Idaho "Squaw Butte-W7I/SR-089" and that this "Squaw Butte" is also the name given to the long ridge just to the east of this two-pointer. However, the ridge and it's associated peak, "Squaw Butte South" doesn't have the required prominence for SOTA. But hey, the real peak is only a few miles away. 

Shafer Butte is an excellent activation not far from Metro Boise - about an hour up Bogus Basin Road will get you there - and another 1.25 miles or so and 700 feet of hiking will gain you the summit proper. Or consider that there is a ski lift a few feet away from the summit - buy a lift ticket and climb a little and earn the bonus points for a "ski" activation during the winter.

You'll be in good company when you climb Greenleaf Peak - Botanist David Douglas was there in September of 1825 without a road or trail. You might think that a hike starting under power lines would not be particularly remote or wild - but once you leave the service road you'll be thinking differently. It's a summit that rarely sees visitors - you might do yourself (and those that might follow) a service by wielding a machete on some of the more overgrown parts of the trail.

Due to public access confusion, activating Yacolt Mountain is not recommended. There is a quarry on the property and the large gate on the well-used haul road is a sign that being there on weekdays is not a good idea and on weekends this gate is locked.

There are a number of public access summits in SW Washington that can easily be activated - nearby Bells Mountain, Davis Peak, Green Mountain North and TumTum Mountain to name a few.