Good Parking At Trailhead

TL;DR - Peak 3534 is a twenty to thirty minute drive from South Saddle Mountain (W7O/NC-002) over logging roads. You pass South Saddle to get to 3534 so a two summit, four point day is easy. 4WD, good directions, and GPS are really handy. Once you park, the short hike up is steep but no worries, there's a longer, gentler path, too. The summit has no views, a small open space, trees, good APRS signals, and is RF quiet. Not a summit for hanging out nor the best place for HF antennas but easy to activate with 2M FM.

TL; DR - There are at least six Saddle Mountains in W7O and W7W, this is the one close to peak 3534. The drive to the parking area is easily done in a 4WD vehicle but is a bit confusing, so have a good map and GPS. From the parking lot to the summit, the walk is easy. I had no RFI issues, good two-way APRS, and a comfortable spot (in the sun) to sit. Below the commercial communications site, you will find trees for wires and a broad view to the east.

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Pine Benchmark, W7O/CE-068.  A little earlier in the day, we had Activated Pine Mountain, W7O/CE-058, approximately 1.6 miles SE away, as the crow flies.  This duo makes a fine single day Activation with minimal effort getting from one TH to the other.

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Pine Mountain, W7O/CE-058.  On the same day, a few hours later, we also Activated Pine Benchmark, W7O/CE-068, which lies approximately 1.6 miles NW of Pine Mountain.  That Activation will be subject of separate report.

Haystack Mountain is one of several SOTA summits near the Magruder Corridor.  This road divides some of the most wild-country in Idaho, the Selway Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas.   A trail system FS#26, and a non-system hunter trail is near the summit however it is much shorter to just bushwhack from the road through mostly open forest.  Only a short obstacle of downed trees slows the otherwise easy hike.&nbsp

An opportunity for a one-day, three summits activation.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, rare in Western Montana.  Babcock Mountain is forested summit.  The other two summits, Golden Mountain (W7M/GA-141) and Burnt Mountain (W7M/GA-145) are open summits and accessible via short hikes from the same US Forest Service road system.  Trees are available for attaching wire ante

Between our October 21, 2020 arrival in Sunriver, Oregon, and our October 30 departure, we were fortunate enough to have a spell of mostly cold and dry weather.  This allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  We also had the opportunity of doing 2 joint Activations with Ron, W6PZA, of Bend, Oregon - which was a lot of fun!  This report is one of a series, and deals with Mount Bachelor, W7O/CM-005.  The mountain is a Strata-Volcano, standing 9,065 feet in elevation.  It is in close proximity to the Three Sisters Wilderness, with its 3 namesake volcanos, all over 10,000 feet elevation.  Also in the vicinity is Broken Top, a collapsed volcano of over 9,000 feet elevation.  This nearby combination of peaks, together with a parade of many other strata volcanos from Washington State into Northern California, gives Mount Bachelor stunning vistas in all directions.

One-day, three summits.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, rare in Western Montana.  Burnt Mountain is an open grass/scattered-tree summit.  The other two nearby summits are Golden Mountain (W7M/GA-141) and Babcock Mountain (W7M/GA-146).  Both accessible v

East Tonga Ridge is best paired with nearby Mt. Sawyer (KG-052). It is quite a bushwhack to get to the summit of East Tonga, but worth it!

The drive in from HWY 2 is very straightforward. I recommend you read WW7D's report for a good description:

http://www.pnwsota.org/node/610

One-day triple-summits activation.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, a bit rare in Western Montana.  The other two summits, Burnt Mountain (W7M/GA-145) and Babcock Mountain (W7M/GA-146) are accessible via short hikes from the same US Forest Service road system.