I was just along for the ride on this one, having been invited by Rich KR7W to join him on a before-the-roads-close jaunt to activate Kelly Butte, a popular peak that has been activated at least twice already this year.
Home is Tacoma, WA, but since I acquired lightweight QRP gear a couple of years ago, I’ve been tempted to take it with me when I travel. I finally did so, on a trip to visit family in New England.
This second day of the NA SOTA Weekend dawned wet and misty, but with the promise (unfulfilled, as it turned out) of clearing at some point, and it wasn't really raining. So Joe K7ZG drove us to Green Mountain, where we intended to find the road that allows a drive-up to a parking area somewhat below the summit. I thought this road was north of the Gold Creek Trail trailhead parking area, but I wasn't sure how far or how it would be marked. We turned around before we got to it (as we learned later, see below), and decided to just do the entire hike.
On this Saturday of the NA SOTA Weekend, at about 10:45am, our party of four set out from Sunrise on Mt. Rainier to walk the Mt. Fremont Lookout trail. The Lookout promises spectacular northward views of the Grand Park meadows, and the entire trail is hugely scenic. More to the point, about ½ mile before the Lookout, the trail passes a few hundred feet below the summit of Mt. Fremont, and that was, of course, the real destination for the hams in the group: myself and Al N7OMS.
During the first week of October, I was delighted to receive an invitation from accomplished SOTA activator KR7W to accompany him to the not-yet-activated Huckleberry Ridge summit. I expected to take my HB1B along, but testing my equipment, the day before our outing, I managed to toast something inside while trying to get a good antenna match. So I petitioned Rich to let me pack along his trusty KX3 as an alternative to the HW7 he was planning to bring for his own use.
Pinnacle Peak is a popular spot for beginning activators in this area: it's very accessible, and there are both northen and southern trail routes. My YF and I used the Cal Magnusson trail on the North Side. It is a popular spot for hikers (often with dogs) and runners -- steep but only about a mile to the summit. One runner told us she'd made the ascent in 32 minutes. We took more like 50 minutes.