Trail contains no technical obstacles
If you find yourself near out of the way northeast Oregon, you might consider driving the scenic Tollgate Road between Weston and Elgin, and then activating Peak 5500 near the top of the pass.
This has been the most popular SOTA activation in Oregon with about 64 activations as of October 2017. Easy to reach, it's a recommended 'first time' summit in the Portland area for new activators. The park is near 6 Nansen Summit, Lake Oswego, and parking can be found near 16 Becket Street or 3 Juarez Street, Lake Oswego.
It was a cool rainy day in Spokane. My wife Sarah, our friend Kelly, and I wanted to do a hike. And I wanted to do an activation. So we settled on a hike to Quartz Peak. Quartz Peak is another peak within the Mount Spokane State Park. The peak is right in the middle of the Mount Spokane Nordic Park, a premier location for cross-country skiing in Eastern Washington. Parking for the hike is easy. Simply park at the cross country ski area parking lot. You'll need a Discovery Pass when the ski area isn't open, and you'll need a sno-pass when the ski area is open.
Marys Peak...(no aprostrophe is correct) why bother, everybody has been there...execpt for me. So off we went this morning after deciding to activate at 11:30pm the night before. Nothing like planning ahead. Ah, life on the edge is far more fun!
A pleasant 2.5 mile (round trip) hike with perhaps 1000 feet of elevation gain ending in an operating position with a nice view of the Columbia River Gorge. There are some subtle archaeological aspects to this summit - hikers should be aware and read the signs to avoid disturbing any 'structures.'
"The Twins" is a nice activation target just north of Hwy 58, east of Oakridge, Oregon. We took off 10/4 from the Willamette valley in dense fog and headed towards the Cascades to find the fog clearing by the time we reached Oakridge. The big soaking rains from the Chinese typhoon blown our way had no doubt left some snow so I checked several SNOTEL sites and found that very little snow had fallen and none was currently recorded at any of the sites I checked. Apparently, "The Twins" never bothered to check with the SNOTEL sites.
This not-so-epic activation took place Saturday, on probably the busiest peak in the area. The constant flow of hikers up and down the trail didn't slow down until early evening. Be prepared for lots of company on this one.
For the NASOTA weekend, I took the easy way out and went to a peak that I'd already been on, Black Butte, near Sisters, Oregon. It was just me and the sotadog "Cooper" this time so we got a 5am start to head towards central Oregon.
Triangulation peak is a great SOTA activation site. The trail (#3373) comes off
of FS road 2233. FS road 2233 intersects Hwy22 just east of Idanha. See any of
the hiker websites to find exact directions. The trailhead did not indicate what
trail it was but from the map its obvious.
The road to the trailhead is somewhat rugged. 4WD is not necessary, but I wouldn't
take a prized sports car up there. This road becomes gated later when snow starts
falling as this area is a mecca for snowmobile folks.
You know that day in a late western Oregon summer when the wind blows a little
differently? That special wind tells you that summer is pretty much done and snow
is on the way. This was one of those days.
We started out in overcast valley skies as we headed towards Eugene and Hwy 126
traveling towards the Cascades. As we passed the 3000ft elevation sign on Hwy 242,
the skies cleared and the day was bathed in bright sunshine with a blue sky clearer
than a New England winter day. Another great day to enjoy the mountains, a little
radio and simply being alive.
