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Little Glass Butte | Aug 2024

N7KOM's picture
Summit: 
W7O/CE-088
Voice Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Data Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Cellular Provider: 
Other
APRS Coverage: 
Good digi echos

The drive from Glass Butte to Little Glass Butte looks straight forward on a map. It is anything but. 4wd is required and high clearance is recommended. If you do not have these, park at 43.53358, -119.97777 and hike up. Additionally, the rocks on the rough road are obsidian and can puncture tires. Thankfully this did not happen to me, but I was surprised. The road up from the parking coordinates is steep and I nearly stalled getting up it. Pumping the clutch kept me moving. Once up top it is a matter of navigating around ruts and obsidian rocks. I was about at my vehicle's limit. If you have a jeep or motorcycle, you'll have a smoother time.

Satellite photos will show a "road" reaching up to 43.52617, -119.99166. I managed to make it here and parked. On my drive up I saw a few different parties in Jeeps and some nice looking camp sites.

From the parking coordinates, head uphill into the brush. Navigate through the grass, fire ant hills, trees, and volcanic rock until you reach the high point. There are cairns marking the true summit. Thankfully there are some trees up here for shade and to support an antenna.

I got 1 2m QSO with a POTA station and had a good time working HF for about a half hour. I returned to the car and headed down the south side of Little Glass Butte towards Round Top Butte. This also was a rough obsidian road, but probably less steep than the road I came in on (GPS Track).

Pictures: 
Little Glass End of the Road
Little Glass Butte Summit
"Trailhead"