When the snow is gone, this is a easy two point summit not far off of Highway 26 east of Mount Hood.
Peak 4620, OR | May 2014
SOTA Activation: Rattlesnake Mountain, King County, Washington - May 15, 2014
On a training hike for our Switzerland Hiking / Climbing tour next July / August. Accompanied by my wife Sharon and our Labrador Retriever Dexter. Rattlesnake Mountain is a relatively easy 9.2 miles round trip (including preliminary walk to trail head from parking lot), gaining 2,500 feet +/- to a summit elevation of 3,517. TH is is easily accessible from my home QTH in Bellevue, WA. I-90 east to exit 32 in North Bend, then good but windy paved road to Rattlesnake Lake area. The hike is through mostly wooded terrain, with some sections
Trailhead Pass Enforcement in Southwest Washington
There are a bunch of different passes required to access public land for Summits on the Air - I currently have five and under some circumstances, I might need to acquire another. For example, the 35-year reciprocity between Oregon and Washington for Sno-Park permits ended in 2014 - if I do a winter activation in Washington I would need to get a $20 day pass or a $40 annual pass.
Announcement: W7 S2S SOTA Activity Days Aug 2-3rd
In conjunction with the Colorado 14er Event on Aug 3rd, the Rocky Mountain SOTA
Lopez Hill Activation 4/26/14
All of our trips to Lopez Island seem to involve a bike ride, and today was no exception. After a brisk ride in this year's annual Tour de Lopez, KG7JEH and I left the latex-clad crowd at the finish line for some SOTA de Lopez action. As it turned out, that action didn't last too long before my battery was down to 10 volts and I called it a day.
Mt Constitution Activation 4/25/14
This Friday afternoon activation happened on a cool day with the sun breaking through a few clouds for a beatiful sky above the epic scenery. It takes a ferry ride from Anacortes to Orcas Island to get here, but it's sure worth the trip! The main road goes from the ferry dock right through Moran State Park. Turn left at the Y onto the Mt Constitution road, which can take you all the way to a sizeable parking lot at the top.
Mt Pickett Activation 4/25/14
An early ferry ride out of Anacortes took me to Orcas Island and, after a short drive, I arrived at the Cascade Falls trailhead by about 7 AM. My plans included biking in about 3 miles and hiking up the last 3/4 mile to the summit. Wrong. I was 1/2 hour into the ride when 2 facts became clear: 1. My hybrid bike was not up to the task of handling that muddy, rocky, slippery road - no matter how much air I let out of the tires. 2. My lungs, legs, and nerves weren't up to the task either. I took the bike back down to the truck and began again.
Portland Urban S2S Party | After Action Report
Thirteen operators on ten summits (two 4-pointers, two 2-pointers and the rest 1-point peaks). Three Activtitors encountered snow on their summits and one experienced snow falling - we were fortunate that everyone else had a dry activation under mostly cloudy skies. All activity was on 2m FM using 5W or sometimes less.
Bull Run Watershed, OR | Closed to the Public
The following peaks are within the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit. The Bull Run Watershed Management Unit is formally closed to the public to protect the water supply for metropolitan Portland, Oregon. The unit is patrolled regularly by the US Forest Service and by City of Portland Water Bureau security staff.
Big Huckleberry Mtn, WA | April 2014
There are at least four trails that approach the summit of Big Huckleberry Mountain - we choose the Pacific Crest Trail from the south for about 8.6 miles round trip and 1400 feet of net elevation gain (1900 total).
From Portland, take I-84 to Cascade Locks and cross the river for two dollars (2019 price).