It has been foggy around here all week long. Today was a good day to rise above it all and find some sunshine! Anderson Mountain's good access, gentle trail, and easy scrambling made for a rewarding summit to play radio on! Having plenty of time on top for a change made this a very pleasant activation.
. Discovery Pass is required for this area
- This peak is located about 1-1/2 miles south of Alger in Skagit County.
- From I-5 northbound take Exit 236 "Bow Hill Road", and drive east 0.7 miles.
- Turn left onto old Hwy 99, drive north 2.6 mi
- Turn right onto Parson Creek Rd, drive east 1 mi
- Turn left onto Skaarup Road, drive north 0.2 mi
- Continue straight at the stop sign. The road name changes to Alger Mt Rd
- The Road soon changes to dirt "open" access road with a gate at the bottom
- From the gate go 6.9 miles to a wide LH curve where the PNW trail intersects on the left. Good parking here.
Follow the PNW trail in about a mile - look for the white blaze and stay on the main (maintained) route. The trail will go around the peak to the left- so just before you pass, turn right up an unmaintained access road and gain the ridge. This road is currently cluttered with blowdown material, but is wasn't too difficult to get around or over it all. At the top of the ridge, the road turns to the right so you'll want to leave the road here and begin to bushwack up to the peak on your left. Stay under the older-growth evergreens for an easier passage. It gets a bit steep, but the ground is soft, easy to walk on, and you're not going far. It's only about a 35 minute walk from the road to the peak.
The summit has a rather open forest on top with plenty of room to unroll the full 40M dipole. The soft ground held my stakes well, so guying the telescoping pole was a piece of cake. After taking a couple pictures of Mount Baker and enjoying the top-side view of the ocean of fog below me, I strapped on the paddle and went to work.
Managed to make 34 contacts with two S2S's (my first!). I had several stutters, sputters, and outright stops with my cw operating - but it was fun nevertheless. It's amazing how much more challenging it is in the field to hear, write, and have a clean fist. I made the mistake of trying to eat a granola bar while operating. The loud crunchy chewing noise in my head totally wiped out my ability to hear/decode anything. Chewing only between exchanges meant that that one bite lasted a very long time!
Thanks to those who put up with my variable-performance cw and worked me! I heard: N4EX/7, ND7PA, K6EL, N76KZ, K7ATN, K7NIT, NI7P, K6TUY, N7UN, VE2JCW, W7RV, N7WM, N0TA, ND0C, K7NEW, KF7PXT, WA2USA, K6DGW, K5DEZ, W0ERI, W0MNA, K7JFD, N7AMA, NK6A, WB0USI, KK1W, N5XL, NM5SW, KI6J, N7EU, VE7KBN, WZ7E, WA7OYI, W0CCA
73 es gud SOTA!
N7KRN
