Good Parking At Trailhead

The summit near "Dimple Hill" (W7O/CC-118) in McDonald forest near Corvallis
is a nice first summit or a good summit if you are in the area but don't have
much time to spare. To get there, travel north about 4 miles on OR 99W from
Corvallis until Lewisburg Road crosses 99w at the "City Limits Store". Turn
left on Lewisburg Road and travel 1.3 miles where Sulfur Springs Road heads
off to the right. Take Sulfur Springs road for 1.5 miles to the Lewisburg
Saddle (at the top of the grade) where there is ample parking for the trailheads

K7MK and I headed out to activate this summit as our first ever activation. K7MK has been assembling a SOTA capable station for the last 6 months or so. We have done a dry run or two in his back yard and even hauled it up to a non-SOTA summit back in February on a rare warm winter weekend afternoon. But, this was our first real activation.

If you are headed from Portland to Lincoln City, this could be your activation on the way. Or the way back. It's a drive up on a decent dirt and gravel road with the potential for a nice view at the top.

A successful day on Jester Mountain! Made the minimum required 4 contacts on 146.52-FM, then made a hasty retreat down to escpae the blowing snow and cool temperatures. A great day to be outside after not be able to hike last weekend. Trail to Iron Bear is snow-free; descending the saddle to Jester Mountain there was only trivial amounts of snow. I used my Yaesu VX-6R coupled to an MFJ-1714  1/2 wave dipole.

The Pack Forest is operated by the University of Washington, a bit south of Eatonville, Washington. www.packforest.org.

Red Hill (KH6/MA-001) is the tallest peak of Haleakala (“House of the Sun”) located in Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui in Hawaii. It is commonly called Haleakala even though Red Hill is the actual name of the summit. Red Hill is a drive-up, and a drive-up only. Visitors are not permitted to walk the extra 283 vertical feet on the paved road from the Haleakala Visitor Center at 9740ft / 2969m to the summit at 10,023ft / 3,055m. There is no shoulder on the road. There is also no trail to the summit, and walking off-trail is also not allowed.

This was my first successful joint winter Activation with Chris, KG7OFQ. 

Arrived at the trailhead in rain, heavy at times and a light breeze. 46°F.  My wife, Chris and I quickly made our way to the first trail junction, about 2 miles from the trailhead. From the first junction, the trail becomes very steep as it ascends an open hillside.  After leveling off and then descending slightly, the trail climbs the steep narrow ridgeline towards the summit block.  After some boulder-hopping, we arrived at the small exposed summit at approximately 5200 feet. 

Arrived at the trailhead at about 9:30AM, and only 3 other vehicles - on a sunny summer day, there are usually 100+ vehicles! It was a very wet and windy day, right from the trailhead. About 1.5 miles up the trail, my wife decided it wasn't that much fun hiking in the high winds and rain, for no views at the summit. I pressed on while she returned to our vehicle at the trailhead. I made good time to the summit and the lookout. While there were some icy patches, I was able to navigate around them and as such never bothered to put on my "micro-spikes".  

Winter activation of Granite Mountain, together with Tim Nair, KG7EJT.  Granite Mtn., 5,629 feet elevation, with 3,800 feet elevation gain and 8.6 miles RT, is located near the Denny Creek area, off I-90, near Snoqualmie Pass.  There have been a few other SOTA Activations of Granite, but none in winter.  Great weather, manageable snow, stupendous views and good companionship made for a fine Activation!

A short Hike and Activation in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California.  2+/- Miles round trip with 750 feet elevation Gain.  Summit Elevation is 7,515, and the views are nice.  This Activation is often done together with Waterman Mountain, W6/CT-012, which was the case for us.