Lava Butte is an easy and fun four pointer if you are ever in Central Oregon. It is a drive-up summit part of the year. There is a sometimes staffed lookout at the top and enough room for operating and most any antenna. Since it is a popular spot, you could get plenty of questions about ham radio when it is busy.
Overview: Table Rock is just south of Mollala OR. Although it is in the Table Rock Wilderness Area, active logging occurs in the area. Watch out for log trucks! This is a popular hiking destination so expect to see a lot of hikers on the weekend. On a clear day, Mt Rainer to Mt Mount McLoughlin can be seen. The east side of Table Rock has the 1000 ft cliff face seen in most pictures.
On September 1st, Taylor and I returned to the site of our first "real" SOTA activation almost a year later. Before climbing High Rock in late September 2011, my SOTA activities had been confined to one and two point locations where one had to make an effort to travel far enough from the vehicle to satisfy the spirit of the game. Until this fourth summit came along, I was able to carry way too much stuff the short distance from the vehicle to the operating location.
"Llao is the god of the underworld in the mythology of the Klamath Native American tribe. Llao fought a great battle with the sky god, Skell, which caused the eruption of Mount Mazama, creating Crater Lake." (from Wikipedia ). I'm not sure of the correct pronuciation of "Llao".
Black Butte is one of those mountains that is very recognizable and easy to spot on the horizon. Not because it has any disctinctive features, but rather because it has none. It looms darkly over the desert of central oregon as a perfect cone, easily distinguished from its sharp and craggy neighbors like Mt. Jefferson, Mt.
Barlow Ridge is a pleasant three mile or so hike (OW) east of Mount Hood with about 1000 feet gain. Although relatively close to Portland the trail is seldom used, (especially past Barlow Butte) and has a nice 'wild' character about it. In other words, the trail seldom sees maintenance. It's a leg stretcher with about 1000 feet of net gain, but quite a bit more elevation change with all the ups and downs along the ridge line. Quite a bit more.
When a more complex plan failed to come to fruition Friday night, we decided late that we would head to Lookout Mountain in Oregon for Saturday's activation. We had been there before, and it is one of our all-time favorite SOTA summits. Just before we were heading out the door Saturday morning, I realized I had forgotten to alert us because the decision had been so late. I was shocked to see that K7ATN was scheduled for the same summit that day!
Buck Mtn and its "sister" summit, Mt Tom make a good two summit day, which is how I did it. They are about a mile apart and nearly the same elevation at over 3100'. They are north of Mohawk, OR and accessed from them same mountain/logging roads. They are easily reached from the Eugene/Springfield area. Take the 42nd St exit from I-105 in Springfield, which provides access to the Marcola Rd north. Follow that road to Hill St, and turn L onto Hill. Take that a very short distance to the Mohawk Store. Go R at the store on Donna Rd. tu
This past weekend, Taylor K7TAY and I successfully executed our first overnight SOTA activation. We went to Waldo Mountain in Central Oregon, a 6-point peak with a three-mile (each way) trail ending at a spectacular view and one of the few remaining lookout structures in Oregon.
This is the most ambitious of the three Tiger Mountain State Forest SOTA summits. It appears to be about six miles (one way) from the Tiger Summit Trailhead parking area and 1600 feet of gain. Using the upper parking lot probably would only save you a few feet of elevation gain and isn’t much shorter. If you use the upper parking lot head east on the Connector Trail and then left up the road. Remember that a Washington Discover Pass is required at the trailhead and that there is an unattractive outhouse at the upper parking lot.