Treacherous Trail

I could have titled this post "A Very Bad, Really No Good Idea." OR "How Not to Do a SOTA Activation”

I had a couple of limitations for my first ever SOTA activation.

Half Wave on Full Wave...barely Worked! 

On Sunday, April 28, 2019, My SOTA Buddy, Tim, KG7EJT, and I headed to Church...Mountain that is.  For SOTA purposes, this smallish peak, along the Wenatchee River, in the deep Tumwater Canyon area, is called Full Wave Mountain.  On USGS maps it is referred to as Church Mountain.

I had been looking for springtime Activations on Un-Activated peaks to venture out to, while the high country is still buried in snow, and access to trail heads is problematic.  Full Wave Mountain came up in my search.

Summary: On 31MARCH19 I decided to complete the first activation of W7O/NC-072 currently called only '2905' I had briefly attempted this summit for the S2S party on 23MAR19 but found the road covered in snow.  Today however I was able to drive the majority of the way up with the actual hike portion being fairly short but sweet.  I made the mistake of completing the activation during a big CQ competition so the entire 20m band was full of signals but I was still about to get 18 contacts including 3 s2s contacts.

This was a winter activation of Bearhead Mountain.

WW7D and I decided to give this a shot based on some WTA trip reports that indicated it was possible to drive to the trailhead. We took my 1988 Toyota 4x4 truck that has big tires and is fairly capable off road.

Badger Butte is a four-point summit east of Mount Hood. It's a bit of trouble to reach and the last bit to the summit is cross-country, but only a half mile through fairly open forest. There are no views at the top to reward you - just contacts on the air with your fellow SOTA folks.

Here for some activation fun west of Trout Lake, Washington is Peak 4420 or Monte Cristo Range High Point. It's a bit out of the way, but is a near drive-up four pointer accessed by a road that a passenger car can handle. 

Needless to say, a GPS is a good help for finding this summit. There are other roads leading there, but the directions below are for a gravel road in good condition.

After my first activation on Black Mountain VE7/GV-013 a week ago, I wanted another activation before the rain season starts. I chose Hollyburn Mountain VE7/GV-011 because it seemed just a little more difficult than GV-013. An extra 100m gain shouldn't be too much, right?

This is a short one mile hike 400 feet of gain that you reach by driving about five miles on a poor road. There's some bushwacking required to make the Activation Zone. 

Blowout Benchmark is a short hike and cross-country summit near Detroit, Oregon. There are no views but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.

Peak 3700 is a bit of an adventure, but certainly do-able summit near Detroit, Oregon. You'll follow a long-abandoned logging road and head cross-country for the final ascent into the Activation Zone. There are no views and the final ascent is very rough, but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.