This is an easy summit near Bellingham, WA. A good gravel road leads to a large parking area about 100 yards or so below the summit. I prefer to operate from a flat rock outcropping up the hill and west of the parking lot. There is just enough of a clearing to string up a 20 meter dipole and operate from the rock.
"Mt. Electric" (W7W/PL-165) is a small hill on a logging property with easy, non-motorized access to the summit along a logging road. This one-point summit has pretty good views overlooking the Naselle River and parts of the Naselle Valley. This is an ideal summit to activate by mountain bike.
It was a sunny day yesterday when my wife and i went to Bald Peak for a SOTA activation attempt (she thinks i am crazy for doing this). The view was great. It was a busy day at the park, lots of visitors coming and going. I had never been there and until i starting researching SOTA i had no idea it existed. learning about SOTA has allowed me to discover a different perspective and i can't wait for the next opportunity to combine the great outdoors with radio. I was able to make 6 contacts yesterday and with my little 2meter HT.
Nestled between Tiger Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain, with their mobs of users, Taylor Mountain offers a serene road hike (or bike) leading to a broad peaceful summit sans radio towers, fences, and concrete. Taylor mountain is an easy two-pointer with a few good views along the way. The route I took provided a net elevation gain of about 1,200 feet plus an additional 400 feet along the route over an 8 mile round trip.
As hikers, we've often considered hiking up Guye Peak, mainly due to it's prominance and close proximity to I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass. It has an appealing pyramidal shape when viewed from eastbound and westbound on I-90. The are 2 main routes; an eastern and western approach. I chose the less technical western approach, using the access path adjacent to the very popular Snow Lakes Trailhead in the Alpental ski area.
Cowan Lookout is an abandoned fire lookout site that sits at 1,955' on top of a ridge that, at the other end, hosts an antenna site. Locally, the place is known as "Radar Hill." It is located in the hills that overlook the town of Naselle, WA, and the Naselle Valley, due west of the intersection of U.S. 101 and WA 4. You can drive to within a short distance of the activation zone, but the final 100' of ascent is a bushwhack.
Having made my QSOs at Pine, scrambled down the summit, and headed back over the observatory and down the south access road - 4x4 only and not for the faint of heart. Once on the valley floor, took NS-2310 south toward East Butte and China Hat, swinging back to pick up NS-1849 and circle up toward the summit. The easiest route to China Hat is to take China Hat Rd NS-18 from south of Bend, but I was on the wrong side of the basin for that. Parked the truck and hoofed it the last mile as the manzanita was encroaching on the double track pretty tightly.
Inspired, I guess, by yesterday's peformance by American Pharoah, I had intended to attempt a trifecta of 6 point peaks this day - Pine Mountain W7O/CE-058, China Hat W7O/CE-053, and Paulina Peak W7O/CE-009.
A dual Activation weekend trip with my friend Tim Nair, KG7EJT, and Dexter the SOTA Dog. This report covers mountain number 2, Three Brothers West, activated on Sunday May 31, 2015. The weather was very nice, company great and success on both peaks made for a memorable, if strenuous outing. The Greater Teanaway River Basin and surrounding mountains offer more than 15 SOTA Summits, and are a favorite of area of Tim and me.
