Trailhead parking or use of the trail requires a permit, pass or other for-pay document
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.
I ordered a LiFePO4 battery, one what I wanted for a while. It is 12.8V and capable of deliver 26A. Capacity is 13.2Ah. This should be sufficient to operate the portable radios on maximum power. It weighs 1.9Kg. Now that I have a good battery, I do not want to carry the 897 any longer with the internal batteries. So it is time to get another radio, a lighter one. I looked around and at the end I decided on the 857. I think ICOM does not have any good SOTA capable radios. The 706 would be good, but cannot buy new it any longer, and I don’t want to wait for a good deal on eBay. I would not like to take the 7000 outdoors. Time to go down south into Oregon to buy a radio.
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.
This one was a workout. The drive up was fairly straightforward: Exit 47 on I-90 to Tinkham Rd, then up the hill on NF-5510, until you reach the parking area and gate. NW Forest pass required.
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 east of Mount Hood. 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!
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.