Completed my second SOTA activation on Black Crater on July 23, 2013. Black Creater trailhead is located just east of McKenzie Pass on OR 242. The trailhead is well marked. Parking and the trail are both very good. Trail to the top is about four miles with about 3000ft elevation gain. Trail starts in dense forest and the forrest thins out as you go higher. There were lots of bugs at the parking lot but once on the trail, they were not a problem.
This was a fun activation of Mt. Hood. I decided to splurge on weight and bring the FT-817 and Buddipole (no coils) for 6m and 2m SSB. Once I got the antenna up, I found a number of chasers waiting on 50.125, so I'm glad I brought equipment for 6m. The mast was supported by shoving it into the hard snow on the summit.
Unicorn Peak was a short easy climb compared to the Little T attempt the day before. It's about a 6 mile round trip with 2500 ft of elevation gain. We were on snow most of the way.
Little Tahoma is a 11,138 ft summit on the east flank of Mt. Rainier. The route requires crossing the Frying Pan and Whitman glaciers.
Tuesday last week, with the help, support, and expertise of friends and an experienced mountaineering guide, I summited Mount Hood for my first time, and activated Mount Hood for its first time in SOTA. The climb began under a crystal clear starry sky around 00:37 on Tuesday, 11 June 2013, heading up the snowcat-groomed climber’s trail from Wy'East Day Lodge at Timberline Lodge. At midnight, I had met my guide, Rodney Sofich, at the Climber's Register just inside the day lodge to discuss what I was about to undertake.
Wolf Mtn is located southeast of Oakridge. It is a radio comm site with numerous VHF antennas (+ other transmitters) on one tower to the west. The other east tower is an ATT celltower (good coverage!). The access roads are good and 2wd passable with some careful driving especially on FS2316 which is narrow in places.
On 5 June, 2013 I headed up to Wildcat Mtn. in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness section of Mt. Hood National Forest OR for my first attempt at a SOTA activation. This is a quick and easy trip out of the Portland area, so give it a go!
Douglas Trail #781: route described below starts at Upper Douglas Trailhead
Driving Directions:
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.
Directions to the "trailhead" seemed a little tricky for an out of towner - I've started them below from ID-44 - W State Street where you make the turn north on ID-16. See this for more information and other routes: www.summitpost.org/squaw-butte/275284
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.