Pinnacle Peak W7W/KG-126 – 2 points - May 9, 2013
This seemingly easy-peasy 2 point summit is right in my big backyard. The trailhead is about a mile from the Enumclaw Starbucks. Buzzed out on coffee the popular trailhead was found on the north side of Cal Manussun Park which is part of the King County (WA) parks system. Myself, Pat WT7N, and her brother Mike set out to have a nice walk in the woods.
The following text is from the King County Parks ‘Big Backyard’ map/pamphlet:
“Pinnacle Peak Park is a 256-acre volcanic cone that rises straight out of the Enumclaw farmlands and towers over the White River. Also known locally as Mt. Peak and even Mt. Pete, Pinnacle Peak is one of the most popular hikes for Enumclaw and south King County families. A one-mile-long forested trail climbs 1,000 feet to the top of the 1,800-foot-high geological knob. Once you get to the top, you will see extruded outcroppings of columnar basalt, the concrete footings of an old lookout and best of all, spectacular views of Mt. Rainier and the White River Valley.”
Up the trail a bit we stopped to look at the map because I thought we shudda reached an intersection by then. A King County Parks Dept Ranger of sorts who was cleaning up after bad dog owners gave us the verbal tour. We hadn’t hiked as far as we thought due to the steepness. Near the summit the trail follows an abandoned road. A short but rocky boot track reaches the top where a fire lookout once stood. The large remaining concrete pier blocks now support two long benches that face each other.
I don’t like to set up my radio equipment where I will infringe upon visitors. But here I was able to lash my PVC mast for my vertical dipole antenna to a tree near the end of the bench. The horizontal counterpoise wire was hidden in the bushes. The radio was set up at the end of the bench which made the whole station pretty much invisible to visitors.
I operated on 20 and 17 meter CW and 2 meter FM. HF propagation was poor and most of my QSOs were with locals. However a few California Chasers are in the log. Sorry... no fotos were taken.
Summary: This is an easy to get to SOTA summit for activators who are visiting the King County (WA) area. The one mile, 1000 ft ascent can be hiked under an hour. The summit provides a nice place to set up radios for HF and provides a wide line of sight for VHF. Watch out for non courteous dog owners. This summit is close to where I live… so I plan to go back and explore the rest of the challenging trails to get in better shape for Granite Mtn and other peaks in the WA Cascade Mtns that are currently under snow.
See: http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/trails/backcountry/pinnaclepeak.aspx
Best Regards, Rich KR7W - 5/18/2013