Table Rock, near Silver Lake, OR, is a distinctive flat topped butte that is visible for many miles away. It is a four point summit at 5621’ asl, that can be a drive up if you have a high clearance, 4x4 vehicle and some nerve. Its south central OR location is fairly remote, but I think it is worth the drive. My XYL, Christina, did most of the driving.
To reach the summit, drive several miles east of Silver Lake on SR 31 to a left turn onto Arrow Gap Rd. Follow this paved road about 3.7 miles to a right turn onto a dirt road. This may be labeled “Table Mountain Rd.” Turn onto the dirt road and follow it about a mile to an intersection. Veer to the right and follow that road uphill to the summit. The road is fairly good for awhile, but it gets worse as it turns more steeply uphill. From that right turn to the top is about 3.5 miles. There are a pair of tight switchbacks between 5050 and 5250 feet asl. The road gets worse through and above these turns. You might want to park in one of the pullouts by these turns and walk the rest of the way. We stopped at the upper switchback, but the lower one might have been better. It is about a half mile from the upper switchback to the summit, with about a 400’ elevation rise.
The summit has a fenced in RF facility. A fence post on an outer corner makes a convenient post to secure a vertical mast (the route I took), but the close proximity to the enclosed noise generators made weak signal copy on 20 meters challenging. There are scattered trees on the summit that might have cut the noise level down.
I had planned to stay for awhile and work S2S contacts, but it started to rain during the activation, and I thought I caught a lightning flash out of the corner of my eye. So, we packed up and headed down. In 30 minutes, I got 13 cw contacts on 20 m, 4 on 30 m and 5 on 40 m. Cell service was good from the summit.
Bring some type of camera - there are great views from the butte.
