Sunday, January 15th, 2017 was my attempt to do Mt. Spokane (formerly referred to as Jump-off-Joe). I believe my activation is the first “winter” activation of this peak. As previously reported, there are several ways to access this summit, which even include taking the chair lift in the ski area! Previous activations from other have included driving to the top, hiking, and Mountain Biking. My attempt would be on a snow shoe trail that is well travelled.
Good Views From Summit
Quartz Mtn Winter Activation
Saturday, January 14, 2016, I attempted the first ever winter activation of Quartz Mountain. This summit intrigued me as I have previously skied on the cross country ski trails at Mt. Spokane. The trails, which many are on a Forest roads, create the basis for the cross country trail system. There is a warming hut in somewhat close proximity to the activation point. I believe it is possible to drive up to the summit during the summer. The cross country trail maps shows the road leading to the summit as “occasionally groomed”. It was unclear when or if this trail was groomed this year.
Successful 2m-FM Activation of Tiffany Mountain, Okanogan County, Washington July 3, 2016
Tiffany Mountain’s 8242 foot summit classifies it as a 10 point SOTA summit. With only a few exceptions, 10 point summits in the W7W association are technical climbs, or exposed Class 3 or 4 scrambles.
Peak 5740, ID | December 2016
Peak 5740 is one of the handful along the north side of Hwy 20 - west of Mtn Home Idaho. Although, there was deep snow, this turned out to be a good winter bonus point summit.
Mount Rainier, WA by W1DMH | May 2014
Please see this detailed blog on the first activation of Mount Rainier by Doug-W1DMH.
http://w1dmh.blogspot.com/2014/06/rainier-w7wrs-001-sota.html#comment-form
Short Note on Hampton Butte
I found that the turnoff at Lizard Creek Road off of Highway 20 was not marked by any sign. However, it is about 0.75 east of MP57 and exactly 33.0 miles from the Millican Store if you are coming from Bend.
Three Corner Rock, WA | November 2016
This is a fine hike that many should try at some point - it's 4.4 RT miles and 800 feet of gain for the 'short' version described here, with a summit pinnacle that makes for a fun scramble if you feel the need to get to the tippy top.
August 20, 2014 activation of Crater Peak (W7O/CS-026) in Crater Lake NP by NS7P
Crater Peak is a small 7263’ shield volcanic summit that is located a few miles south of the lake.
Schreiner Peak Activation, Oct 22, 2016
Let's just get this out of the way. Schreiner Peak is a beast. On the web you
can read many accounts of how difficult reaching this peak is. They're true.
Getting to the trailhead for Schreiner Peak is straight forward. I suggest you
follow Etienne's (K7ATN) excellent directions to reach the Pansy Mountain
trailhead. Specifically, you need to get to the Pansy Lake Trail #551.
Hike up the Pansy Lake Trail. You will pass trail #550 on the left. After Pansy
WA6ARA activates Wizard Island, OR | August 2014
As part of our annual summer trips Paula, N6VGW and myself (WA6ARA) try to go different routes and have fun along the way. As part of our 2014 excursion we stopped by Crater Lake in Oregon for a few days. While there we did a a couple of Summits On The Air, or SOTAs. These were Wizard Island and Mt Scott. While Mt Scott has been activated often, Wizard Island had never been activated. Wizard Island, is in the middle of Crater Lake so you can’t walk there, it is a boat trip and reservations are usually needed.