A month and a half ago, Dan (KK7DS) and I attempted Silver Star Mountain on snowshoes from the north side. Sadly, we never made it to the summit due to strong gusts of wind that nearly blew me off the moutain :) Yesterday, we decided to approach it from the south side following the Grouse Vista Trail, a 6-mile roundtrip hike (here's a link to our GPS track). Our hope was that most of the snow would have melted since our last unsuccessful attempt.
Good Parking At Trailhead
Silver Star Mountain
My first successful activation
2011-09-11 Tamanos Mt. W7/RS-015 CN96EU89
Start elev.: 3791 ft (1155 m)
Max elev.: 6781 ft (2067 m)
Total ascent: 3096 ft (944 m)
Trip odometer: 10.6mi (17.059km) Up: 5.2mi (8.369km) Down: 5.4mi (8.690km)
Total time: 11h05m Up: 4h37m Down: 3h24m
Beacon Rock, WA | Jan-2012
Beacon Rock is an 848-foot basalt column (860 feet ASL) that formed the core of an ancient volcano. It is located in a Washington State Park of the same name about one hour east of Portland, Oregon.
Mount St. Helens, WA | May-2012
First off - Chasers Rock! There was no way to self-spot and Phil - NS7P, found me and moved with me to 14.064-cw to get things started. And then, long after our QSO was done, Rich - N4EX, noted my QSY to 14.309-ssb and spotted me there. The climb of Mount St. Helens is different depending on the season - currently there is snow from trailhead to summit while late summer will find you on scree and pumice and rock the entire way. Myself, I prefer the great white stairmaster (snow), because I ski.
Putney Mountain, VT | May-2012
Putney Mountain could be a minimalists activation dream if you live in Southern Vermont - it was for me as the B&B we stayed during my visit was just ten minutes from the trailhead - only a few miles outside of Putney, Vermont.
Bunker Hill, WA | May 2012
Taylor (K7TAY) and I activated Bunker Hill this weekend in southern Washington. This relatively easy hike starts flat on the Pacific Crest Trail before heading up a spur to the summit. All of the elevation is gained in a relatively short period of time, but the trail is not technical and easy to follow.