NE7ET's blog

This summit is a good pairing with Cedar Mountain (W7I/NP-119), though a bit of a long hike around 8 miles RT for both.

This summit was a bit of a drive up from Highway 95.  Turn east onto E Ohio Match Rd and follow until E Forest Service Rd 1552.  This becomes gravel and then dirt and then rather rutted dirt.  A car might be able to navigate the ruts with careful driving but a high clearance vehicle or 4x4 would be better.  The upper portion of the road gets better.  Park at (47.87615426731026, -116.63432109643475) and follow the spur road around to the summit.  Hike is around 2 miles and 800' elevation OW.  The spur road had a couple tank traps in it and appears to dwindl

NOTE: not to be confused with the other Blacktail Mt, which is much farther north in the Idaho Panhandle.

For this 1pt summit, you really have to work for it.  The elevation gain is around 1800' and distance is around 2 miles OW.

I had recent occasion to visit Northern Idaho and was able to fit in a few activations.

For this summit, it seemed like there was no good way to access the Stimson property. 

However, going around the back on Baker Lake Rd yielded a locked gate onto Sunrise Hill Lane around (48.209256, -117.265011) posted non-motorized access only about a mile from the summit.

Starting from State Highway 231 northbound towards Chewalah and turn right on Hafer Rd.  The turn left on Cottonwood Creek Rd and then right on Horseshoe Lake Rd.  Finally, there is a left turn on Mud Lake Rd.  This is somewhat rough and I would not do it after a heavy rain.  Alternatively, follow 231 into town and turn right on Flowery Trail Rd to the other end of Mud Lake Rd.  In any case, you can park at the Quartzite Mt Trailhead.  There are several spots available up and down the road.

I had corresponded with Matt W7MDN and he graciously sent me a GPS track for this summit.  His previous account is here.

However, upon arrival at the gate, I was met with a No Trespassing sign which included rather explicit details about the lead that would be sent my way if I chose to ignore the sign.

I was unable to locate another way across the private property from Rail Canyon Rd to the WA Resource Management Area.

Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve.  See my previous report for details on the route.  The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte.  Still very worth it for 14 pts.

As I mentioned in my previous report from Rattler Benchmark, my Dad and I followed that activation with a trip up to Cleman Mountain.  If you are coming down Game Department Rd from Rattler, you need to drive south back towards town for a while on N Wenas Rd until you reach the entrance. 

Unfortunately, the map shows many roads leading up the mountain but we were only able to find one that was passable at (46.833565, -120.711814). The signs at the gate read "Closed from Dec 9th thru May 15th."

For Thanksgiving this year, we drove to Yakima to visit with family and the day after my Dad and I drove up to Rattler Benchmark.  Starting in Selah, we took N Wenas Rd turning right on Sheep Company Rd up to where it turns (46.778909, -120.563142) to become Bell Telephone Rd (going straight eventually leads you to Gracie Pt aka W7W/CW-096, see my report here).  This is a goat trail with many ruts and requires steady nerves and high clearance.  Fortunately, my Dad has both.  This ro

When I visited Northern Idaho, I also had the chance to activate this summit.

The route to the summit starts on Hwy 95, turning East onto Blacktail Rd.  This is followed around until it once again turns East onto Little Blacktail Rd.  Then follow the pit run (larger gravel) covered road to the top.

There are 3 or 4 repeater towers up there so I parked next to the large propane tank on the southernmost one and headed south to put some distance between us.  Even so, 20m was very noisy.  I didn't have a problem on 40m or 15m.