2011-10-29 Goat Island W7W/RS-006 CN96EV22

I ordered a LiFePO4 battery, one what I wanted for a while. It is 12.8V and capable of deliver 26A. Capacity is 13.2Ah. This should be sufficient to operate the portable radios on maximum power. It weighs 1.9Kg. Now that I have a good battery, I do not want to carry the 897 any longer with the internal batteries. So it is time to get another radio, a lighter one. I looked around and at the end I decided on the 857. I think ICOM does not have any good SOTA capable radios. The 706 would be good, but cannot buy new it any longer, and I don’t want to wait for a good deal on eBay. I would not like to take the 7000 outdoors. Time to go down south into Oregon to buy a radio.

The summits in the eight W7 regions are being renamed, much like those in W4 or W5 were earlier this year.

The name changes follow this plan:

W7 - USA - Arizona -> W7A - USA - Arizona

W7 - USA - Idaho -> W7I - USA - Idaho

W7 - USA - Montana -> W7M - USA - Montana

W7 - USA - Nevada -> W7N - USA - Nevada

W7 - USA - Oregon -> W7O - USA - Oregon

W7 - USA - Utah -> W7U - USA - Utah

W7 - USA - Washington -> W7W - USA - Washington

W7 - USA - Wyoming -> W7Y - USA - Wyoming

On August 29, 2012, Guy, N7UN, Jeremy, NH6Z and Phil, NS7P, activated Eagles Rest in the Willamette Valley foothills of Lane Co, OR.  This small summit sits at 3024' ASL (1725' above the trailhead). It is exposed rock surrounded by forest.

The trail is called the "Starway Trail" but it could be better named the "Stairway Trail" as it is one of the steepest trails I have ever hiked - but the views from the top are worth it. And then, the peak should also have the SOTA vanity name, "Starway." The elevation gain is in the order of 2400 feet in just over two miles and pretty much relentlessly climbs for the first half of the hike. Note that this peak can also be approached from Silver Star (from the south) with less elevation gain, although the trail is a bit faint in places.

I guess the winds must be blowing smoke from the fires in Wenatchee over the mountains.  It was a pretty hazy day, especially at lower elevations.  This one is a short hike (1.5 mi), but a steep one. The drive took me longer than expected, as did the hike, so I wound up about an hour late with the activation.  The views were stupendous, though, inspite of the haziness, and the lookout tower at the top made a perfect support for my pole.  

See the blog entry for Pine Mountain, W7/CE-058 for details on this activation: www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7atn/2012-september-09/pine-mountain-and-pine-benchmark-or-sep-2012.

Pine Mountain (W7/CN-058) and Pine Benchmark (W7/CN-068) are close enough that one could easily do both summits in a day. There's a bit of bushwacking and route finding to be done, but at most you are walking less than four miles to do both of these summits.