Good Parking At Trailhead

One of the last beautiful Fall weekends of 2015, yielded an activation of Thorp Mountain and Hard Knox Mountain together with my "SOTA Buddy", KG7EJT and Dexter the SOTA Dog.  The weather was superb, a successful dual activation, including a First Activation of Hard Knox, followed by a great dinner and local "Brew" in Roslyn, Washington, made for one of the more memorable SOTA outings in my career! The views, and great access, make this a highly recommended double SOTA objective.  This report describes Hard Knox Mountain Activation.  Thorp Mountain Activation is listed under a separate report.

One of the last beautiful Fall weekends of 2015, yielded an activation of Thorp Mountain and Hard Knox Mountain together with my "SOTA Buddy", KG7EJT and Dexter the SOTA Dog.  The weather was superb, a successful dual activation, including a First Activation of Hard Knox, followed by a great dinner and local "Brew" in Roslyn, Washington, made for one of the more memorable SOTA outings in my career! The views, and great access, make this a highly recommended double SOTA objective.  This report describes Thorp Mountain Activation.  Hard Knox is listed under a separate report.

Middle Sister is in the Three Sisters Wilderness of Central Oregon and is a committed alpine climb - it cannot be considered a hike as there is not a 'trail' to the top.

Broken Top is in the Three Sisters Wilderness of Central Oregon.

On a recent trip to LA LA Land, to visit family, we decided to try our luck at "Glamping" (Glamor Camping) at Mount Baldy Tent Cabins, 7,800 feet elevation, below Mount San Antonio.  Also known as "Mount Baldy", 10,064 feet elevation, it is the king of the San Gabriel Mountains which tower above the Greater Los Angeles Basin.  This was the first year these tent cabins were set up and available, and we figured they would be an ideal base for some near-by SOTA Activations. We purchased a package deal, including ski lift ride up and down from the parking area at 6,500 feet elevation, to Baldy Notch, at 7,800 feet, meal tickets at the full service Notch Restaurant and two nights lodging in the Tent Cabins.  This is report 3 of 3 dealing with the activation of Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy).  Reports on the activations of Telegraph Peak and Timber Mountain are separate.

On a recent trip to LA LA Land, to visit family, we decided to try our luck at "Glamping" (Glamor Camping) at Mount Baldy Tent Cabins, 7,800 feet elevation, below Mount San Antonio.  Also known as "Mount Baldy", 10,064 feet elevation, it is the king of the San Gabriel Mountains which tower above the Greater Los Angeles Basin.  This was the first year these tent cabins were set up and available, and we figured they would be an ideal base for some near-by SOTA Activations. We purchased a package deal, including ski lift ride up and down from the parking area at 6,500 feet elevation, to Baldy Notch, at 7,800 feet, meal tickets at the full service Notch Restaurant and two night lodging in the Tent Cabins.  This is report 2 of 3 dealing with the activation of Timber Mountain, one of the famous "Three Tee's" (only two of which are SOTA Summits).  Reports on the activations of Telegraph peak and Mount San Antonio (Baldy) are separate.

Sheridan Peak is on the east side of the coast range, about 23 miles from Carlton, Oregon. Carlton itself is quite out of the way, being about 12 miles east of Newberg. But it's a nice short hike of about half a mile through some nice second growth woods, and the road is paved the whole way! (I.e.: if your GPS takes you to gravel, it's not the right way...)

I was just along for the ride on this one, having been invited by Rich KR7W to join him on a before-the-roads-close jaunt to activate Kelly Butte, a popular peak that has been activated at least twice already this year.

On-Trail Hike (5-miles, 1,500 ft)

Katsuk Butte is a nice little peak near both South Sister and Devil's Hill
in the Deschutes National Park near the Mt. Bachelor ski area. It's easily
reached from the Devil's Lake campground parking area. You will need to be
comfortable with cross country travel via map/compass/GPS as there are no
trails to this summit.

Katsuk Butte can be conveniently coupled with an activation of South Sister. I
spent the night in the very nice campground on the banks of Devil's Lake,
activated Katsuk Butte late in the afternoon, and left for South Sister early