We were down in Philomath, OR and decided to check out Marys Peak while we were in the area. I know Marys is thought of as a mostly drive up, but I found a popular hike from lower down on the mountain. The East Ridge trailhead "Connor's Camp" has nice parking and a pit toilet. It is a fee site, so you'll need your forest pass or $5 to fill out a permit.
The trail is generally in great condition. Wide in most places and well maintained. Down towards the start there was some fall down from the recent storms. I actually had to crawl on my hands and knees to get under a bushy tree over the trail. After that the trail opens up and it is smooth traveling. It is a 3 mile hike with 1500' gain. Really beautiful trail through the forest. Not many views until it opens up onto the parking lot. From there follow the road to the summit.
Current conditions were mixed snow on the East Ridge Trail. Snowshoes or microspikes weren't needed, but it was quite warm for Feburary. The road to the summit was soft snow.
On summit I got on 2m FM and my second contact was with James Jorgenson WA7JNJ on W7W/SK-163, a 275mi contact! Super fun! Got a few others including Etienne Scott (in portland?) in the log. Wildly great 2m conditions today.
After that I jumped on 20m cw and made 14 QSOs including KD7ICW on Bald Peak (W7O/NC-051), 65mi on 20 meters.
I was running out of time and moved to 30m cw where I got 9 more QSOs including an S2S with NR7Y on W7O/NC-072 (87mi).
I briefly tried 40m, but didn't hear anything and it was time to pack up anyway. Lots of fun with beautiful radio and weather conditions. Roscoe was all tuckered out for the drive back to Beaverton.
73 de Tim N7KOM