Good Parking At Trailhead

An Activation...yes.  A great trip...undoubtedly!  However no points to show for the effort, as I only managed to eke out 3 + contacts on 40M ssb... Yet I do not consider it a failure.  I will return again, and give it another try.  Round trip travel was 13.1 miles, with something over 4,000 feet gain, including some ups and downs along the very long summit ridge.  Highlights included portions of the Wonderland Trail of Mount Rainier Park, a few creek crossings of the wildly flowing Fryingpan Creek, replete with slippery boulder hopping leaps, and being able to spend time with my son, KC7SQD, who was up visiting from LA LA Land.

Description of hike is that of a lesser grade, but longer distance.  We took the shorter distance (about 6.7 miles total) and 2800 elevation gain.  We took the trail to the right and stayed on the newer trail. 

It was very windy up on top which caused us to leave pretty quickly after getting four contacts....

For Larch Mountain, Oregon...

On the first day of Summer, 2015, a short and easy hike up to a lookout tower providing one of the best views of Mount Rainier.  Shady forest walk, a beautiful lake and a final ascent to a lookout tower that is periodically still manned.  A fine weather Sunday made for crowds, however 90% + of hikers stop at the lookout tower, which is not quite the actual summit of Tolmie Peak.

This is an easy summit near Bellingham, WA.  A good gravel road leads to a large parking area about 100 yards or so below the summit.  I prefer to operate from a flat rock outcropping up the hill and west of the parking lot.  There is just enough of a clearing to string up a 20 meter dipole and operate from the rock.

As hikers, we've often considered hiking up Guye Peak, mainly due to it's prominance and close proximity to I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass. It has an appealing pyramidal shape when viewed from eastbound and westbound on I-90.  The are 2 main routes; an eastern and western approach. I chose the less technical western approach, using the access path adjacent to the very popular Snow Lakes Trailhead in the Alpental ski area.  

Today my YL and I went up to Little St.

Cowan Lookout is an abandoned fire lookout site that sits at 1,955' on top of a ridge that, at the other end, hosts an antenna site. Locally, the place is known as "Radar Hill." It is located in the hills that overlook the town of Naselle, WA, and the Naselle Valley, due west of the intersection of U.S. 101 and WA 4. You can drive to within a short distance of the activation zone, but the final 100' of ascent is a bushwhack.

Clarks Mountain is just south of Seaside Oregon. The trail is about 1.8 miles of one-way hiking starting at a clearly marked trailhead on the very south end of town on Sunset Blvd.

Scouting Report

TL;DR version: Parking for one or two rigs outside the gate.  Broken rock road to lookout, 2.75 miles, path to true summit forks off from LO road at ~ last 1/4 mile.  LO area was forested, true summit likely is also.  Good opportunities for hanging wire, limited view.  All in all, a lovely walk in the forest.