University Mountain with an adjoining lower non-SOTA summit, Mount Sentinel overlooks the city of Missoula.  Access is by three main routes, a road (closed to motor vehicles) or two trails.  It is a communication site for several Agency repeaters and a popular summit in summer and winter for hikers, mountain bikers and cross-country skiers.  The subordinate summit to the west is a launch site for hang gliders.  Visitors can be expected on any of your SOTA activations here.

Castle Rock is a popular hike from Nez Perce Pass on the Bitterroot National Forest. It can also be accessed from a trailhead near Bare Cone Lookout to the east. Both routes are about the same distance and terrain. The last 200 feet is a scramble to the summit over loose rock and bedrock from either a notch in the cliffs on the west side or more open loose rock routes on the east side. Most folks will be using both hands and feet on this one. Summit views are tremendous to the north where you’ll be looking into the rugged southern mountains of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area.

Burma Road High Point is accessed through Smith Rocks State Park, near Terrebonne, Oregon. An Oregon State Park day or annual pass is required.

Davis Mountain is a sizable flat top butte on the east side of the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway. The six point summit tops out at 6,625 feet asl. It has undergone considerable fire activity in recent years, and the top has very sparse vegetation.

This ridgeline hike follows a user trampled trail to Morrell Mountain, W7M/GA-068 and then becomes mostly an open rolling ridgeline to the unnamed summit, 8004. Along the entire route are excellent views of the Seeley Lake valley and the Mission Mountains, Scapegoat and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas.The trailhead is in a saddle just below a closed gate access to Morrell Lookout.

Trail miles: 1.0 plus off trail ridgeline hike of 2.0 miles one way. Elevation gain: ~600’ Terrain: open rock and rolling ridge. Map: Lolo National Forest, Seeley Lake Ranger District

Morrell Mountain at 8161’ is a short ridgeline hike, less than a mile, with excellent views of the Seeley Lake valley and the Mission Mountains, Scapegoat and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas. The trailhead is in the saddle/road switchback just below a closed-gate access to Morrell Lookout which is not the SOTA summit.

Trail miles: nearly 1. Elevation gain: `500’ Map: Lolo National Forest, Seeley Lake Ranger District

Upper Table Rock is a very pleasant 1.25 mile, 736 foot gain (one-way) hike east of Central Point, Oregon. The trail is quite popular, but you should easily find a place to activate away from the crowds on the huge summit.

Skookum Butte is an old US Forest Service lookout at 7215’ on the Idaho/Montana border. The summit and lookout rests on massive granite boulders. Not having enough room at the lookout to secure our long wire antenna, K7PX Steve secured one end of the End Feed Long Wire to the top boulder, pitched the other end over the cliff and operated the antenna from below as a sloper. The lookout offers a fine view of the northeast end of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness.

Patterson Mountain is a 4460’ asl summit a few miles west of Oakridge, OR. It is rated at two points. To get there, drive east on Highway 58 for 24.7 miles from I-5 Exit 188A. Between mile posts 24 and 25 turn right on gravel Patterson Mountain Road 5840 and drive  five uphill miles to a fork at Patterson Saddle.

On a beautiful early October day, my XYL and I headed south to check out a W7O/SC-xxx summit. We chose King Mountain, a 5264 ft, four point peak with RF facilities on top. To get there get off of I-5 at Exit 78 and head east onto Speaker Rd. This road merges onto 33-5-10 which continues on past Azalea, OR.