W7O/WV-099 Cooper Mountain

 This mountain west of Portland is an easy activation. There are a few places you can activate from. The traditional spot is at the Winkelman dog park on SW175th Ave in Beaverton. But the Cooper Mountain Nature Park on SW Kemmer Road is also in the activation zone, and this is where I chose to set up. See the video linked at the bottom for a longer exploration of the actual activation zone.

Not the greatest view, but at least I was in the shade.

There was plenty of parking on the Thursday afternoon I stopped by. There wasn't much shade in the parking lot, though, so I walked a few meters down the trail to a picnic table under a tree. I wasn't in the mood for setting up HF, so I only brought my HT and did 2m. The hill is in the middle of the Portland metro area, so there were plenty of chasers. Most people were on 58, but I did get one random person on 52. There was a bit of interference from something, so I was glad to have the band pass filter with me.

Getting those QSOs.

After I had made half a dozen contacts, N7KOM took his dog up to the park, and I drove over to have an eyeball QSO. It is always nice to meet SOTA people from other areas. It was hot, and I was getting tired, so after talking a while I headed back to the city.

Trailhead: Winkelman Park or Cooper Mountain Nature Park

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Both parking lots are in the AZ, so find somewhere comfortable to set up.

Red Tape: Dogs are not welcome at the nature park, and I wonder if they really want people stringing wire antennas around there. I had no issues doing VHF only.  

Video: ham_bitious YouTube