Description of hike is that of a lesser grade, but longer distance. We took the shorter distance (about 6.7 miles total) and 2800 elevation gain. We took the trail to the right and stayed on the newer trail.
It was very windy up on top which caused us to leave pretty quickly after getting four contacts....
This hike starts at the Dog Mountain Trailhead, but not on the Dog Mountain Trail. Instead, start on the Augspurger Trail.
For Larch Mountain, Oregon...
If you are hiking the short hike from the parking lot near the top, take the paved path to the far right of the parking lot. The hike is less than a mile to the summit. The summit is very small. It is best to do this early in the morning I think as to not disturnb other hikers. As we were leaving over 100 people were coming up for a short wedding in a very small space.
I was able to get five contacts in a reasonable amount of time including one summit to summit!
This summit turned out to be on land owned by Weyerhauser and the parameters for use did not make it doable for me on this day.
Weyerhauser allows access from February 1st to August 30, with out a permit, and all other times a permit is required. You must hike in or Mountain Bike in (which I was not prepared for this time), an unknown distance, which I am guessing to be up to two miles.
I will return some time when I have a bit more time and planning for hiking, running, or mountain biking in.
On the first day of Summer, 2015, a short and easy hike up to a lookout tower providing one of the best views of Mount Rainier. Shady forest walk, a beautiful lake and a final ascent to a lookout tower that is periodically still manned. A fine weather Sunday made for crowds, however 90% + of hikers stop at the lookout tower, which is not quite the actual summit of Tolmie Peak.
This is an easy summit near Bellingham, WA. A good gravel road leads to a large parking area about 100 yards or so below the summit. I prefer to operate from a flat rock outcropping up the hill and west of the parking lot. There is just enough of a clearing to string up a 20 meter dipole and operate from the rock.
What a Party! Actually, two Summit-to-Summit Parties – In May we enjoyed Summit-to-Summit (S2S) contacts across the Willamette Valley in Oregon while another group exchanged contacts across Washington’s Puget Sound. Read about the fun here and join us for the next one on August 1 and 2! www.pnwsota.org/node/554 &
www.pnwsota.org/content/willamette-valley-s2s-party-after-airwaves-cooled
Next month on 1-2 August things will be busy with three activities involving SOTA - The Colorado 14ers event and the ARRL UHF Contest, PLUS the W7 Summit to Summit (S2S) Party. Let's focus some attention on W7-land activations with the “W7 S2S Party.” We hope to see many W7 activations and want to facilitate S2S contacts.
This QRV/QRG approach worked well last year (thanks Phil-NS7P) -
* Top of the hour (1500z, 1600z, 1700z, etc.) activators can look for S2S opportunities on 40m (7.033 MHz and 7.195 MHz).
With 2,461 SOTA summits, W7I presents a vast opportunity for virgin activations with over 90% of hills unactivated. A great reference for those planning a trip to W7I is “Idaho, a Climbing Guide” by Tom Lopez. There are nine peaks in W7I above 12,000 feet, eight of which are SOTA peaks, five of which are still unactivated and almost all require a 5,000-foot ascent from the trailhead. In ascending order of elevation are my pre-SOTA trip notes. Seven of the nine are in the Lost River Range north of Mackay.
"Mt. Electric" (W7W/PL-165) is a small hill on a logging property with easy, non-motorized access to the summit along a logging road. This one-point summit has pretty good views overlooking the Naselle River and parts of the Naselle Valley. This is an ideal summit to activate by mountain bike.
It was a sunny day yesterday when my wife and i went to Bald Peak for a SOTA activation attempt (she thinks i am crazy for doing this). The view was great. It was a busy day at the park, lots of visitors coming and going. I had never been there and until i starting researching SOTA i had no idea it existed. learning about SOTA has allowed me to discover a different perspective and i can't wait for the next opportunity to combine the great outdoors with radio. I was able to make 6 contacts yesterday and with my little 2meter HT.