A month and a half ago, Dan (KK7DS) and I attempted Silver Star Mountain on snowshoes from the north side. Sadly, we never made it to the summit due to strong gusts of wind that nearly blew me off the moutain :) Yesterday, we decided to approach it from the south side following the Grouse Vista Trail, a 6-mile roundtrip hike (here's a link to our GPS track).
Activation Reports
2012-05-13 Huckleberry Mountain W7/KG-093 CN97FD27
Start elev.: 4291 ft (1308 m)
Max elev.: 4881 ft (1488 m)
Total ascent: 604 ft (184 m)
Trip odometer: 2.6mi (4.184km) Up: 1.5mi (2.414km) Down: 1.1mi (1.770km)
Total time: 7h20m Up: 1h37m Down: 36m
Video
2012-05-11 Divide Ridge W7/KG-094 CN97FD65
Start elev.: 3948 ft (1203 m)
Max elev.: 4870 ft (1484 m)
Elevation gain: 1058 ft (322 m)
Trip odometer: 2.5mi (4.023km) Up: 1.3mi (2.092km) Down: 1.2mi (1.931km)
Total time: 8h42m Up: 2h38m Down: 1h32m
Video link later
Beacon Rock is an 848-foot basalt column (860 feet ASL) that formed the core of an ancient volcano. It is located in a Washington State Park of the same name about one hour east of Portland, Oregon.
First off - Chasers Rock! There was no way to self-spot and Phil - NS7P, found me and moved with me to 14.064-cw to get things started. And then, long after our QSO was done, Rich - N4EX, noted my QSY to 14.309-ssb and spotted me there. The climb of Mount St. Helens is different depending on the season - currently there is snow from trailhead to summit while late summer will find you on scree and pumice and rock the entire way. Myself, I prefer the great white stairmaster (snow), because I ski.
Putney Mountain could be a minimalists activation dream if you live in Southern Vermont - it was for me as the B&B we stayed during my visit was just ten minutes from the trailhead - only a few miles outside of Putney, Vermont.
This 2-point summit is located about 0.9 of a mile SSE from the old Air Force Radar Station near Condon, OR. There is a dirt road leading south from Richmond Road to Zero Butte. The altitude difference between Richmond Road and Zero Butte is about 8' (per Google Earth). There is a dip in the road about 0.2 mile from Zero Butte that is about 12' below Zero Butte.
The ease of access and great operating position are some of Marys Peaks many advantages. This must be balanced, however, against the multitude of communications antennas already on the site. The 145.13 and 146.78 repeaters are on the summit in addition to a lot of USFS and other government installations. This can make the site RF noisy at times. That being said, there is a reason why the gear is up there. The site overlooks the entire valley and now that the antenna on the 145.13 repeater is repaired, it is capable of contacts with an HT all the way in Portland, at least 80 miles away.
Today JD (K7JDF) and I headed out for an easy 1-point summit: Wildcat Mountain. This summit is on the eastern edge of the Tillamook State Forest and is very accessible from the Portland metro area and provides an excellent operating position at the top as well as a fantastic view. After turning left on Hayward Rd from US26, we went a few miles and parked at the gate blocking Wildcat Mountain Rd.