W7I/BL-095

I climbed this nameless peak on one of my days off. The forecast was for a chilly day, but I figured I had brought enough gear to go up to some higher peaks safely. I drove up to the trailhead, at the end of Greenhorn Road. There was plenty of parking, and a pit toilet. I set out up the Cow Creek Trail.

Near the start, looking back to the trailhead.

The day started out sunny, but got progressively cloudier as it progressed. After about an hour I had reached the highest point on the trail, near a spring. From here it was a cross country hike up to the summit. The first part was flat, then a climb up to the ridge. I could see the peak, and it looked like there were cliffs surrounding the summit. I pressed on, hoping they were either passable, or short enough that I could still get into the activation zone.

Summit, from partway up the ridge.

As I got closer I discovered that there were gaps in the cliffs that could be climbed with a little scrambling. This was good news. I went around to the North and found a place that was easy to get up. On top I discovered that the East side didn't have cliffs, and would have been even easier to get up, and that's how I went down.

Just below the summit, a gap in the cliffs.

It was windy on top, so I quickly put on a jacket and hat, then got set up. I had good 4G service on the summit, so spotting was not an issue. I only worked 30 meters, and got quite a few contacts. The only one that threw me was a German station operating in Colorado. I was not expecting to hear a call sign starting with DL, and I had to ask for a repeat. There were good views all around, though Bald Mountain blocked them to the north-east. There was some snow on the high peaks, but only on north-facing slopes.
After about 30 minutes on top the wind was really starting to get cold, so I packed up and headed down. As I was approaching the trail again, it started to snow on me. It didn't stick, and it was a fun treat to hike in a snow flurry for a few minutes on my way down. At the bottom I had time, so I decided to go activate Dollar Mountain.

Tunnel of aspens.

Trailhead: Greenhorn Trailhead, end of Greenhorn Road.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take Cow Creek Trail to its highest point. From here, go cross-country up the ridge to the summit. There are very few trees, the route is easily visible.
Red Tape: None.

Setup on the summit.

W7I/BL-146 Queens Crown

Queens Crown is another butte in the foothills of the Sawtooth Mountains. The north side of the summit is a long cliff, so all the reasonable routes to the summit come up from the south. The USGS quads and Google both show an old dirt road that leads to the summit from Priest Road, and this is the route I took.

Looking back to the car.

There is an unmarked road, that I drove past and had to turn around, in between two fields. Simply follow this road to the top. Along the way I saw a lot of birds, including some raptors who seemed to be enjoying the wind. The road is well graded, and the only steep section is the final climb to the summit. There was plenty of room on top to set up, without getting too close to the edge.

Setup, looking west.

It was also quite windy on top, and I had to hold onto things to make sure they didn't fly away. I started operating on 15 meters, and quickly got a bunch of contacts, mostly to the east coast. I then went down to 17, where the highlight was working New Zealand, who had very strong signals. Finally, 30 meters got the chasers in the West.

Trying not to be blown away.

By this time I had been operating for an hour, and was getting cold in the wind. The wind kept me cool until I was nearly at the car and dropped behind a small hill. The drive back along the dirt roads was easy, and I quickly got back to the hotel.

Trailhead: Priest Road, at the unmarked dirt road.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the road to the top. A high clearance vehicle could probably drive up.
Red Tape: None. All on BLM land.

The road is a long way down.

W7I/BL-145 Wedge Butte

Wedge Butte was the second peak of the day, after climbing to the Timmerman Hills high point. The butte is a few miles south of the Timmerman Hills. My original plan was to drive around to the east side of the hill, then hike around and climb up the north face. However, Picabo Desert Road was very muddy after the rain yesterday, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to drive out if I went too far in. So instead I parked about a quarter mile from the highway and hiked.

View of the summit from my parking space.

I climbed up the side of the sub-peak, then contoured around to its col with the higher butte. It looked like there were some gaps in the cliff on the south face, but I didn't want to hike up and find that they were impassable, so I went around the west side. Here I followed the line of cliffs up to the top. It was quite steep near the bottom, but leveled out closer to the top.

Summit on the right.

There was a tall post sticking out of the ground that looked like it once held a sign, but there was no sign of the sign. There was a benchmark in the rock at the summit as well. I got set up, then got on 30 meters. There was excellent cell service the entire hike. After working all the chasers on 30, I went up to 17 and worked a few more. I had to get back in time for work, so I didn't spend as long on top as I would have liked.

Gully I took on the way down.

To get back down, I mostly retraced my steps, but instead of going over the sub-peak, I followed a gully down to the road, then walked along the road to the car. This probably would have been an easier way to get up. Overall, this was a nice hike. It would have been nicer if the summit was farther from the highway and didn't have car noise.

Trailhead: Somewhere along Picabo Desert Road.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Cross country. I climbed up the sub-peak, then around to the col, then up along the cliffs.
Red Tape: None. All on BLM land.

Camera looking south.

W7I/BL-144 Timmerman Hills High Point

After spending a rainy day cooped up inside, I was ready to get out and do some activations. I decided to head north on US 93 to get two peaks a few miles apart. The first was the Timmerman Hills high point. I did not see a best route after studying the map, so I chose one that I thought would be ok, and that the car could handle. I parked at the intersection of Spud Patch Road and Hillsdale Ranch Road, after driving down Spud Patch. The road was passable in a sedan, but would have been easier if it had been drier.

The first hill to climb over.

From here, I had to climb over one of the lower hills, then up to the high point. The first climb was not bad, and was open grassland all the way to the top. There are some small cliffs, but it was trivial to avoid them. From the ridge, I headed down and to the left, aiming for the col to minimize my total ascent. There were some bushes, but easy to walk through. I hopped over a barbed wire fence on the way down.

First view of the high point, on the left of the ridge.

There was not as much climb to get up to the summit ridge. Instead of going over the hump on the way, I contoured across the side of the hill. The final push to the summit was somewhat steep, but short. There is not much open space on the top, but I found room to set and set up my antenna. After sending out a spot on the excellent 4G, I got on 30 meters. I stayed on the band the entire time, and made a total of 14 contacts, mostly the usual chasers. I had limited time before I had to get back for work, so I packed up after 20 minutes for the hike back to the car. It took about 45 minutes to get up, and about 30 to get down.

Setup in the only open space. The pile of rocks is the highest point.

 Back at my car I carefully drove back to the highway and over to Wedge Butte.

Trailhead: Intersection of Spud Patch Road and Hillsdale Ranch Road. If you have a more capable car, you could start somewhere closer.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Cross country. I climbed over the hill, then went down to the saddle, then climbed up to the high point. See the map above.
Red Tape: None. All on BLM land.

Sawtooth Range in the background.

W7I/CI-139 Kimama Butte

I was in Idaho for work, and I had some time off, so I decided to go get some SOTA activations in. My first was Kimama Butte, an easy, drive up summit in the middle of the state. From the interstate, I took Idaho 27 north, then left on road 1100. This is a well maintained dirt road. There are other intersecting roads, but the one to the top is obvious. Google was also able to direct me there. Some people reported that the road from the south was locked, so I didn't try to go up that way. I parked about a quarter mile below the summit and walked the rest of the way up.

Parked on the side of the road. Looking North.

There are a lot of towers and antennas on the top, but I didn't have a problem with interference. After tagging the summit, I descended a little to try and get out of the wind. It was cold (at least to a Californian), and the wind made it colder. I ended up sitting on the side of the road. I put the loop together, and got on 30 meters. I quickly got my four contacts, then got four more. There was excellent 4G service (Verizon) on top.

Benchmark at the summit.

I then went up to 17 meters, but the noise floor was higher, so I decided to call on 15. The band was open to the east coast and New England, and I quickly got five more contacts, despite some fading. I called for a few minutes on VHF, but didn't get any responses. There is a low population density here, so I wasn't expecting much from the higher frequencies.

Looking to the summit. The sun did come out briefly while I was up there.

It was getting chilly, so I packed up and walked back to the car. On the way I stopped to watch some crows that seemed to be harassing a raptor. They must have had a nest or something in the rocks they were flying around. The drive back was easy, but Google kept trying to send me down roads that didn't exist, or were in really bad condition. Overall, an easy activation, with not another human in sight.

Trailhead: Park somewhere along the road, or drive to the summit.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the road to the summit.
Red Tape: None.