Skip to main content

Activation of Chinook Peak, W7W/RS-013

Submitted by WW7D on
Summit

Chinook Peak is an 8-point, 6,904' summit located very near Chinook Pass on Washington state highway 410 and is about 3 miles south of Crystal Mountain. The peak is not overly difficult to summit, but requires good navigation skills or a reliable GPS, as there are no established trails for part of the route. The trip to the summit is only about 2.5 miles with 1,900' of elevation gain, but most of that gain is compressed into a one mile stretch of steep cross-country ascent. The summit offers splendid 360 degree views, including a broad view of Mt. Rainier to the west.

Shriner Peak - Mt Rainier National Park

Submitted by KR7W on
Summit

Shriner Peak is home to one of the four remaining fire lookout cabins in Mt Rainier National Park.  The 4.5 mile hike is strenuous with rewards of spectacular views of the west side of Mt Rainier plus the six SOTA points.

A brief description of the hike is here:  http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/shriner-peak    No Parking pass is needed at Trail Heads along Hiway 123 in the national park.  Also, FYI- No dogs or pets are allowed on trails in the national park. 

Activation of Thomas Mountain (W7W/CW-062)

Submitted by WW7D on
Summit

Thomas Mountain stands at 5,269' just north of Easton, WA, sandwiched between Lake Kachess and Lake Cle Elum. This challenging 6 point summit overlooks Kachess ridge to the west and Easton ridge to the south. The summit is only about four miles from the trail head, but don't let that short distance fool you. The trip packs in a couple of steep trail ascents that each have you climbing over 1,000 feet per mile, and has an overall elevation gain of 3,400' for the round trip.

SOTA Activation: Tahtlum Peak, Yakima County, Washington - August 16, 2015

Submitted by K7MAS on
Summit

An 8 point SOTA Summit, activated on a beautiful, clear summer day, with good company, a successaful activation and capped off with a bracing swim in Dewey Lake made for a very memorable outing.  Approximately 6.25 Miles total travel and 2,100 feet gain, including the side trip to Dewey Lake, and climb out of the lake basin back to PCT / Naches Peak Loop Trail junction.

Activation of Mt. Sawyer, W7W/KG-052

Submitted by WW7D on
Summit

Mt. Sawyer (W7W/KG-052) is a fun, easy 6 point summit that offers outstanding views of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and way beyond. The trail head has good accessibility from good gravel roads. The summit rises to 5,501' along the western end of the Tonga Ridge. The hike to the summit has 1,200' of elevation gain over about 3 miles (one way). The trails are well-maintained most of the way, although the final ascent includes some sections with vegetation encroaching into the trail. The summit itself has plenty of room for radios and masts, and some reasonably tall trees for wire antennas.

Summit 7905, Idaho | July, 2015

Submitted by K7ZO on
Summit

Summit 7905 W7I/BC-059 was the second stop on K7MK's and K7ZO's Idaho Triple Play day. (Along with Pilot Peak W7I/BC-056 and Sunset Mountain W7I/BC-062. See these other activation reports for the whole story of the day. Where appropriate, some text is repeated in each report to make each one a standalone complete story.)

Pilot Peak, Idaho | July 2015

Submitted by K7ZO on
Summit

Pilot Peak W7I/BC-056 was the first stop on K7MK's and K7ZO's Idaho Triple Play day. (Along with Summit 7905 W7I/BC-059 and Sunset Mountain W7I/BC-062. See these other activation reports for the whole story of the day. Where appropriate, some text is repeated in each report to make each one a standalone complete story.)

Idaho Triple Play -- Success!

Submitted by K7ZO on

The Idaho Kool-Aid kids, K7MK and K7ZO, accomplished our Triple Play on July 31. Not without some usual SOTA challenges. We got a late start courtesy of a plumbing emergency at K7ZO's QTH (aren't all plumbing projects emergencies?). So, we had about an hour less time for our summit quests than we had planned. Thanks to support from our RZR drivers and chauffeurs, Steve and Rich, we were able to zoom around 20+ miles of typical Idaho back-country road and ATV trails, being dropped of for our final pedestrian climbs to the activation points.

SOTA Activation: Rattlesnake Mountain, King County, Washington - July 24, 2015

Submitted by K7MAS on
Summit

A four (4) point SOTA Summit, close in to Seattle Metro area.  This makes a great first Activation objective.  A quick return trip outing, just before the weather turned bad.  We still ended the Activation early, as it started raining.  Accompanied by my wife Sharon and our Labrador Retriever Dexter the SOTA Dog.