Pass Required at Trailhead

2011-09-24 Palisades Peak W7/RS-008 CN96EW77

Start elev.: 6111 ft (1863 m)
Max elev.: 7083 ft (2159 m)
Total ascent: 3078 ft (938 m)
Trip odometer: 9.3mi (14.967km) Up: 4.8mi (7.725km) Down: 4.5mi (7.242km)
Total time: 11h07m Up: 4h Down: 2h45m
Video
APRS

Get up soon after 0400. Quick shower and on my way to the garage, to get the car. I packed my backpack Friday afternoon and put some other stuff (GPS, camera, boots, etc.) into a shopping bag. I only had to get dressed and grab the two packs on the morning. My pack weight about 50lbs. I have measured it to be around 49 without the antenna which is in the car and weighs about 2 pounds. Again I will take about 100oz of fluid with me. However, this time I head to a McDrive for breakfast first on the morning. This is what I usually do before hikes. Get two egg sausage McMuffins, which usually last till noon. I take some coke with me and throw a RedBull on the back seat. Maybe it will be good when I get back to the car. 0508 I already drive south on I-5. It is still dark and there is some traffic, but not much.

The gate just past the Mount Bachelor ski area on the Cascade Lakes Highway opened just two weeks ago Friday - there is still plenty of roadside snow on the five miles from the ski area to the Devil's Lake trailhead. There's some shoulder cleared near the trail and a bit of space at the entrance to the trailhead parking lot - we bivyed there in the vehicle for the night and got ourselves up at 4am for a 5am start. There is no trail sign or anything to indicate where the trail starts - we scoped it out for bootprints in the snow during the last of the daylight the night before.

Finally stopped being only a shack sloth and decided to try to be a mountain goat for once.  I went with a group of friends and took my best friend and service dog Yukon with me.  It was a real blast with successful activation, Yukon and I can't wait till the next summit.  We decided to start small and plan on slowly working our way up to the tougher summits.  

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 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.

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.