This was my 6th time activating this summit! 3 of those activations involved using a snowmobile to get close, and then using snowshoes to get on to the summit. One of those trips involved us towing K7JRO on a dog sled behind one of the snowmobiles.
In the summer this summit is easily accessible with a high clearence vehicle (and a short hike). See K7MAS trip report for summer details. Winter access to this area is via Blewett Pass sno park, located off US 97 at Blewett Pass. A Sno Park pass is required.
WX was looking favorable for Friday, Dec. 16th so we decided to take a day off work and go play in the snow. I was joined by Darryl WW7D and John K7JRO. We set off on our snowmobiles with our snowshoes lashed down on the back. The trail was freshly groomed and the sun was shining! We made quick work of the ~8 miles of groomed trail and arrived at Haney Meadows, where the grooming ended and a huge fallen tree blocked the trail.
The snow was deep and powdery. We donned our snowshoes and started out across the Meadow toward the summit. On the far side of the meadow we entered the forest and walking became much more difficult as we had lots of downed trees to navigate and we were constantly finding deep holes where our snowshoes would break through. All 3 of us fell down a few times and got snowshoes caught in tree wells. It took us about an hour to reach the summit.
Darryl and I quickly set up HF while John jumped on 2m and started calling CQ. I enjoyed the 360 degree views while Darryl worked 40 CW. We had a nice 40 CW S2S with Bill WJ7WJ down in Oregon, and another with KB9ENS on a W6/CT summit. Once 40 dried up I took over on 20 CW and had a HUGE pileup that lasted for 20+ mins. John took over on 20 SSB and had a nice little run. By this time we were all getting cold - there was some serious wind chill on the summit. It was time to pack up and generate some body heat. We followed our tracks back down and made quick work of the hike, despite me falling into a tree well and getting my snowshoe completely trapped under a snow covered log! 
A very fun day out in the snow with friends, sunshine, and radios!
