Easy Trail

Mt. Sawyer (W7W/KG-052) is a fun, easy 6 point summit that offers outstanding views of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and way beyond. The trail head has good accessibility from good gravel roads. The summit rises to 5,501' along the western end of the Tonga Ridge. The hike to the summit has 1,200' of elevation gain over about 3 miles (one way). The trails are well-maintained most of the way, although the final ascent includes some sections with vegetation encroaching into the trail. The summit itself has plenty of room for radios and masts, and some reasonably tall trees for wire antennas.

A four (4) point SOTA Summit, close in to Seattle Metro area.  This makes a great first Activation objective.  A quick return trip outing, just before the weather turned bad.  We still ended the Activation early, as it started raining.  Accompanied by my wife Sharon and our Labrador Retriever Dexter the SOTA Dog.

Trout Creek Butte is a convenient activation site from the town of
Sisters, Oregon. Its only about 12 miles from the town center. This
summit could probably be considered a drive-up, provided the gate
near the top was open and you had a suitable vehicle.

From the west side of the town of Sisters, take Oregon 242 west. Just
after passing Sisters High School, NF-15 will head south on your left.
My description begins here (mile-point zero) at the junction of NF-15
and Oregon 242.

Take NF-15, heading south initially on blacktop. The blacktop turns to

Round Mountain near La Pine, Oregon is a straightforward and interesting activation in the summer. There is a fire lookout tower on the summit and the 360 degree views are magnificent.

A return Activation of Norse Peak.  This time I was with Tim Nair, KG7EJT, two other non-Ham friends, Neal & Sherri, and Dexter the SOTA Dog.  On probably the hottest day of the summer, 2015, we escaped the heat of the lowlands by starting relatively early, choosing an objective with substantial tree canopy and being at nearly 7,000 feet elevation.  Good company, lively conversation and a successful Activation made for another memorable SOTA outing.

An Activation...yes.  A great trip...undoubtedly!  However no points to show for the effort, as I only managed to eke out 3 + contacts on 40M ssb...

UPDATE Dec 2021 - High Prairie Trailhead for Lookout Mountain (and other summits in the area) are not accessible from Dec 1 to April 1 due to closure of NF-44 and other routes to vehicles more than 50 inches wide. SO - if there's snow and you've got a snowmobile, have at it. See the photo below.  

Shortest route is 2.2 miles round trip. 

On the first day of Summer, 2015, a short and easy hike up to a lookout tower providing one of the best views of Mount Rainier.  Shady forest walk, a beautiful lake and a final ascent to a lookout tower that is periodically still manned.  A fine weather Sunday made for crowds, however 90% + of hikers stop at the lookout tower, which is not quite the actual summit of Tolmie Peak.

This is an easy summit near Bellingham, WA.  A good gravel road leads to a large parking area about 100 yards or so below the summit.  I prefer to operate from a flat rock outcropping up the hill and west of the parking lot.  There is just enough of a clearing to string up a 20 meter dipole and operate from the rock.

"Mt. Electric" (W7W/PL-165) is a small hill on a logging property with easy, non-motorized access to the summit along a logging road. This one-point summit has pretty good views overlooking the Naselle River and parts of the Naselle Valley. This is an ideal summit to activate by mountain bike.