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Trask Mountain, OR | December 2020

K7WXW's picture
Summit: 
W7O/NC-003
Voice Cellular Coverage: 
Spotty, may not work at all
Data Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Cellular Provider: 
AT&T
APRS Coverage: 
Full two-way messaging

Summary - An easy, if not terribly scenic drive to the trailhead and a short hike to the summit. Travel time to the trailhead was almost two hours.  VHF contacts were easy, as was APRS spotting. Trask is on public land but the route I followed goes through a Weyerhauser gate. Plan ahead (see below)!  Best done as one of three or four summit activations in this area.

Details -  The easiest way to reach Trask (and three other summits, see below) is through Yamhill, Oregon; google maps generated a good route. Trask is on gated Weyerhauser land. Check for access information before you go (recreation.weyerhaeuser.com/home/programs) because the gates are often locked. There is one prominent gate (45.4129, -123.2961) on your path.

Near the trailhead (45.3709, -123.4596) you will find a a place to pull off the road. You know if you've gone too far because the road comes to an abrupt end a couple hundred yards further on. Once parked, walk back up the road a bit to find the trail leading to the summit, which is about a about 175 feet higher and a quarter mile distant. The summit is a small meadow, surrounded by trees good for hanging wires, and without a view.  As I was planning on four summits, I only did VHF, but it looks like a nice place for a longer stay.  2M contacts with a half-wave whip into Portland were easy, as was spotting via APRS.

Though I only managed three, with a little planning, activating four summits -- Trask, 2646, Ginsberg, and Gobblers Knob -- should not be terribly difficult. Of the hills I did, Ginsberg is the nicest, so if I were shooting for three, I would activate Trask and 2646 first, plan for a longer outing on Ginsberg, and bring along the HF gear.

Note that there is at least one more gate (45.3846, -123.4944) to navigate between Trask and these three summits and it may be closed or locked even if the Turner Creek gate is open. Be careful lest a closed gate turns into a locked gate while you are on the wrong side of it.