Here's a quick report on my activation yesterday of W7I/NI-106, ie, 6114. The mountain is on the Idaho-Montana border, just off Interstate-90, and across the valley from the Lookout Pass Ski area. This area seems to get snow when other places don't. So although the ski season has been rather boring here, this hike provided a nice opportunity to get into the woods and do an activation again.
The hike starts literally from the Lookout Pass exit off of I-90. Park in the turnout on the opposite side of the freeway from the ski area and hike up the service road beyond the locked gate. The mountain is accessible all year round. Also, the road and the ridge straddles the Idaho-Montana boarder. You'll be in both states during this hike. I don't know how many miles the hike is but I would guess 2-3 each way, and the elevation gain is approximately 1500 feet. It normally takes us a little over an hour to get to the top on back country skis. We don't bother staying on the road since it's just as easy to point the skis strait up and start climbing. However, if you were doing this in the summer, the service road might be much easier to follow because of all the underbrush within the clear cut. I dont know how well the road is marked; I've only done this hike in the winter. Please consult your map.
Here we are taking a break from skinning (except Sarah on snow shoes) up. Lookout Pass ski area is the background. Ultimately, you reach an elevation higher than the ski area. The activation point looks down on the ski area!
It was a "bluebird day" as people like to say:
Once on the top of the ridge, you will hike past several radio facilities on the way to the activation point. This building houses the KBARA repeater that coveres northern Idaho and parts of Western Montana:
We continued along the ridge to the activation point, which is the next prominence over from the repeater site. I set up my 4 element yagi and aimed it back toward the population centers of Spokane, CDA, and the Silver Valley.
Once I started calling CQ for a few minutes, I didn't have any trouble reaching my four stations, which interestingly were all back in Spokane. My skis made a good yagi mount:
That's it for now! Thanks for looking.