Seeing that this is one of the closest, biggest peaks to the QTH, it was a no-brainer that we would make this an early target for our newfound SOTA fascination. On a nice Sunday afternoon, the sudden call was made that we should load up the Jeep and make the scramble up the hill.
Mount Sylvania is a suburban drive-up site in Lake Oswego with nearly panoramic views of the West Hills, Portland, and points eastward. Directional antennas up though microwave bands do well at this site. Despite its dense residential neighborhood setting the RX noise levels observed were low. A weather station and several vertical antennas are on the summit, but I did not observe these to create any tx/rx issues on any bands I tried.
Wind Mountain is a nice hike in the Gorge with good views (in clear weather). It's about 2.5 miles round-trip and 1000 feet of gain. There's no pass required at the trailhead and it's often less busy than nearby Dog Mountain.
Head east on Highway 14 from Stevenson, Washington about 6.2 miles to Home Valley. Then turn onto Wind Mountain Road for 1.0 miles to turn right onto Girl Scout Road and go about 0.6 miles. This leads to a large dirt parking area at the end of the paving near 45.7145°, -121.7533°. This is usually the best place to park.
5.8 miles, 3,200 ft
Beartooth WMA – Open May 15 - December 2
Directions (From Wolf Creek – North of Helena):
· Drive north & west – cross bridge over Missouri River
· Turn right (south) – drive up river to Holter Dam, then continue south along Holter Lake.
· Continue on to the Beartooth WMA (Wildlife Management Area)
Drive-Up in Summer, Ski or Snowshoe up in Winter
Directions (should be drivable by mid-late June):
The weather cooperated for a fantastic turnout for the September 2017 Puget Sound Summit-to-Summit Party. Twelve operators on seven summits! Of course, there were also a good number of contacts "across the border" between W7O and W7W - with one QSO at 171 miles.
Here's who joined the Puget Sound Party -
Tim-KG7EJT on W7W/PL-029
Darryl-WW7D on W7W/RS-030
Jason-W7DM on W7W/KG-122
Katelyn-KI7HCX, Mason-K7MWT and Todd-W7TAO on W7W/SK-169
We had great weather and great participation in the September 2017 Willamette Valley Summit-to-Summit Party. Fourteen operators on ten summits - that's a bunch of S2S contacts to be made!
Most folks were using a HT at just 5W, and many had some kind of improved antennas, including roll-up j-poles, several 3 element homemade yagis, and a 5/8 wave mag mount - signals were pretty good all around - enough for a contact from High Rock, WA to Marys Peak over 171 miles!
Here's who joined our Party on the Air -
Mark-KE7MSU on Marys Peak
W7O/NC-071, listed as summit number 3058, is a part of what is more commonly referred to as Hembre Ridge. While formally Hembre Ridge is the ridgeline that runs northeast to southwest, summit 3058 is the highest point in this massif. I’ll leave it to others to quibble about whether this summit should be renamed.
Very Short Hike (0.1 Miles, +144 ft.)
Directions:
From Townsend – Drive east 2.4 miles on Hwy-12
Turn left and drive North 15.6 miles on Hwy 284
Turn right and drive 6.4 miles up Confederate Gulch (Good gravel Road)
Turn left and drive 3.3 miles up FS-4161 (Good USFS dirt road – may want some clearance)
4wd + Short Hike
Directions:
Exit east from Exit 85 on I-15
Drive 4.3 miles south on Hwy-91
Turn left on Burma Road – Continue 3.1 miles
Turn left on 2-track at Chokecherry Gulch (by gravel pit)