Quartz Mountain was our 2nd activation of the day. We were prepared for a walk but it turned out to be a very short 1/4 mile from the road to the summit as we were able to drive up the entire way. Its only about 3 miles as the crow flies from Fox Butte but with windy forest roads it was about a 5 mile drive.
The walk is very short through what appears to be a fire line cut through the manzanita. The Summit is quite pretty, with 2 distinct rock outcroppings from which to operate. We chose to setup just one rig and bang out our 4 contacts so we would have time for China Hat Butte before Bill needed to be back in Bend.
While Tim and Bill setup HF I worked 2m and once again raised the YL, Randi, KK7HJL from our home base station. There was also a S2S Operator, K7AMM up near Mt. Hood who we were all able to work as well, but that ended the 2m work so we each got our requisite CW contacts on 20 and 30M with lots of QSB. The bands were starting to get hinkey…. foreshadowing our last butte of the day.
Quartz Mountain is a drive up if you don’t mind a lot of pin striping. While narrow with manzanita and snow bush on both sides, the road bed is in excellent condition and any passenger car should be able to make it up. I would be cautious during wet weather however, it looks like it might get very slick. HF is probably a good idea, just like Fox Butte, a yagi might help out for VHF/UHF but it could prove to be a challenge.
W7MTB: Amateur Radio Notes 