It has been foggy around here all week long. Today was a good day to rise above it all and find some sunshine! Anderson Mountain's good access, gentle trail, and easy scrambling made for a rewarding summit to play radio on! Having plenty of time on top for a change made this a very pleasant activation.
Wow... there must a lot of easier ways to get a 4-point activation. I knew there wasn't a trail to this peak and there would be some bushwacking involved because not many folks go there. But oh my gosh, this trip turned into an ordeal!
On August 19 I activated Tidbits Mountain, W7O/CM-089 - or so I thought. First let me tell you about the hike, because it’s a nice trek.
Activation of Mount Langley, 14,042 feet, High Sierra's of California, Inyo County. Sunshine, blue sky & endless granite...but with a little price to pay.
The Hike (Scramble) is 4.75 miles south - southeast of Mount Whitney, California, and 9.5 miles southwest of the town of Lone Pine, California. This was a father / son outing with my 28 year old son, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks (sea level), and I, a 62 year old who resides in Bellevue, Washington, at the high altitude of 728 feet.
It was raining steadily as we left the Willamette Valley Friday morning. Radar showed that a band of showers were over our activation site but we pushed on being always optimistic (heck I'm a QRPer, I've got to be optimistic!) We arrived at the Maxwell Butte Snowpark parking lot ahead of schedule. I figured that we would be on the summit in a couple of hours, maybe an hour ahead of time. Optimistic, like I said...
First Activation of Cirque Peak, 12,900 feet, High Sierra's of California, Inyo County. Sunshine, blue sky & endless granite...but with a little price to pay.
Little Tahoma is a 11,138 ft summit on the east flank of Mt. Rainier. The route requires crossing the Frying Pan and Whitman glaciers.
Tuesday last week, with the help, support, and expertise of friends and an experienced mountaineering guide, I summited Mount Hood for my first time, and activated Mount Hood for its first time in SOTA. The climb began under a crystal clear starry sky around 00:37 on Tuesday, 11 June 2013, heading up the snowcat-groomed climber’s trail from Wy'East Day Lodge at Timberline Lodge. At midnight, I had met my guide, Rodney Sofich, at the Climber's Register just inside the day lodge to discuss what I was about to undertake.
Most of the Oregon south coast summits are accessible only by dirt roads. access to summit bases are on un maintained dirt roads. Since the South Coast gets, on average, 6 feet of rain a year, well, you can imagine what a steep unmaintained dirt road looks like.
Note that there is another Idaho "Squaw Butte-W7I/SR-089" and that this "Squaw Butte" is also the name given to the long ridge just to the east of this two-pointer. However, the ridge and it's associated peak, "Squaw Butte South" doesn't have the required prominence for SOTA. But hey, the real peak is only a few miles away.
Directions to the "trailhead" seemed a little tricky for an out of towner - I've started them below from ID-44 - W State Street where you make the turn north on ID-16. See this for more information and other routes: www.summitpost.org/squaw-butte/275284