Activation Reports

This is my 3rd winter activation this year on W7I/ER-054, Red Mountain. It was a great ski tour and a successful activation. I made a short video to show what it's like to do a ski tour activation in the winter in Teton Valley Idaho. Lesson Learned: The skiing is much better in January than in March.

https://vimeo.com/791703045

This is a pretty easy hike, with some elevation gain. My watch clocked 1070 ft of gain in 2.6 miles from where we parked the truck. The primary access road is pretty good dirt that turns into a pretty ok jeep track. It would be possible to drive up the ok-ish jeep track to a point where there is a barbed wire fence gate and the road turns into a true jeep road. 

See a detailed report here

I called Mt Hood Clackamas District Ranger Station and they said NF-45 is closed to vehicle traffic but open to hikers, so have at it, intrepid hikers!

An update to operating in the Activation Zone of the urban summit, Skyline Ridge. This location describe here (about 705 feet elevation) is about one-eighth of a mile from the summit proper (761 feet elevation). An address for navagation is 860 Skyland Drive, West Linn, Oregon. 

I took my kids on a snowshoeing adventure this past weekend.  There were several SOTA activators scheduled to be out activating and we joined them for a fun time.  The distance is around 1.7miles one way but we had very nice snow conditions.

Traffic was very heavy heading up to Mt. Hood and several vehicles turned around but we persevered and it eventually improved.  It did add around 30mins to our arrival time.

Starting from the Frog Lake SNO-PARK and heading across the hwy slightly to the north is the Pacific Crest Trail crossing.

Bunsen Peak is an ancient volcanic cone characteristic of Yellowstone National Park. The peak is a very popular summit hike in Yellowstone Park near Mammoth Hot Springs. The trail is wide and even in October I found folks I could tag along with per the guidelines of not hiking alone in the Park. When I begin to lag, a young woman from Israel with her American boyfriend returned to check up on me and over my macho-objection she kept with me at my slow pace to the summit.  She also reminded me to not hike alone. Makes an old duffer feel quite good. 

Point 118 hosts a Missoula County communication site.  It is a rocky prominence with excellent views of the distant Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness’ rugged northern mountains.  Access is by foot or bicycle on a permanently gated road.  The summit is approximately 200 feet from this communication site. I experienced no RF interference or desense from the communications site at the summit.  There are various sized trees available for hanging antennas or attaching antenna poles.

Hike or Bike miles roundtrip:  4

Elevation gain: 475’

Turner Mountain in northwest Montana is approximately 22 miles north of Libby on Pipe Creek Road #567.  Turner ski area opened in 1961. It is currently active with a mile long double chairlift with 2100’ of vertical rise. The 1.8-mile vehicle access road is closed in the summer but open to mountain bikes and foot travel. I borrowed an ebike and rode to the summit via the reasonable grade ‘jeep road’.  The ride is 2.68 miles from the chair lift base to the summit, a rise of 1380’. Stops along the way were necessary to view the scenery, think ‘panting rest-stops’.

The Roundtop name matches well this broad round summit.  It was intensely burned, twice with very few snags and live trees remaining now.  Even though the hike is short, considerable downfall impedes travel over many routes. Google Earth is a good resource here to identify areas with less snags and stringers of unburned forest.  I traveled in a lightly burned forest stringer due west of the summit breaking into the open brush and grass area near the summit.

UPDATE March 2023: W7W/CN-024 has been retired and replaced by Frog Lake Buttes W7O/CN-106 ~ 1/3 mile northeast.

Here's an easy 14 points: snowshoe 3 miles up to Frog Lake Buttes (W7O/CN-024) on New Year's Eve.

The snow is usually already packed down by avid snowmobilers and, in our case this year, we didn't even need snowshoes.