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) (2 miles RT and 500 feet) and Pine Benchmark (W7/CN-068) (~3 miles RT and 600 feet if you walk the road) are close enough that one could easily do both summits in a day. They have good views and are not far outside of Bend and if you spend the night at the summit campground you might check out the telescope at the Pine Mountain Observatory (http://pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/).

Overview: Table Rock is just south of Mollala OR.  Although it is in the Table Rock Wilderness Area, active logging occurs in the area.  Watch out for log trucks!  This is a popular hiking destination so expect to see a lot of hikers on the weekend. On a clear day, Mt Rainer to Mt Mount McLoughlin can be seen.  The east side of Table Rock has the 1000 ft cliff face seen in most pictures.

On September 1st, Taylor and I returned to the site of our first "real" SOTA activation almost a year later. Before climbing High Rock in late September 2011, my SOTA activities had been confined to one and two point locations where one had to make an effort to travel far enough from the vehicle to satisfy the spirit of the game. Until this fourth summit came along, I was able to carry way too much stuff the short distance from the vehicle to the operating location.

"Llao is the god of the underworld in the mythology of the Klamath Native American tribe. Llao fought a great battle with the sky god, Skell, which caused the eruption of Mount Mazama, creating Crater Lake."  (from Wikipedia  ).  I'm not sure of the correct pronuciation of "Llao".

Aug 21, 2012

Overview:

Spectacular views of Mt Hood to the west and eastern Oregon from this north-south ridge. On clear days, Rainier, Adams, St Helens and the Oregon Cascade peaks are also visible.

Getting There

This one was a workout.  The drive up was fairly straightforward: Exit 47 on I-90 to Tinkham Rd, then up the hill on NF-5510, until you reach the parking area and gate.  NW Forest pass required.