First used for fire detection in 1932 with a 30′ pole L-4, a replica of this original tower was constructed in 1995. Staffed in the summer, it is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register.1
East Butte is approximately 45 SE of Bend, OR and is easily accessible by any passenger car via FS-23/25 (paved) and FS-18(very good gravel), then via a couple of well maintained side roads. The access road to the lookout is gated and closed when the lookout is in active operation, August-October. There is ample parking at the gate and it is a nice 1.5 mile hike with 600 ft elevation gain along an OHV trail that is closed to motor traffic while the lookout is occupied.
One can hike the road or the OHV trail. We chose the trail both up and down. The grade is steeper than a passenger car road but the trail is wider than a traditional hiking trail and offers so spectacular views of Fort Rock, Christmas Valley and the east side of the Newberry Crater National Monument.
It took us about 40 minutes to ascend the trail to the lookout tower, which was occupied. The lookout did not come down to say hello, so we found an open area to the north of the tower to setup and operate. We first setup the 4 Element Arrow Yagi and mounted it on a tripod, pointing towards the North East. Our CQ’s were quickly replied to and we had our requisite four contacts on 2M within 10 minutes.
At this point N7KOM and I setup our HF rigs, though reports were not looking great for propagation. Fortunately, I was able to collect a handful of contacts on 40M CW using the FT-818 I recently acquired. I love the tone of this radio but it could benefit from a narrow band filter. I have a Sotabeams Laserbeam unit I need to find time to install and I suspect this will become my Rig of choice for CW activations.
KK7HJL, setup her 10M SSB rig and was able to make 4 ground wave contacts with ops in Redmond and Prineville.
We operated for around 1.5 hours before our non-ham party member started to get antsy. I was also getting a little tired of calling CQ. I was able to make contacts on 17M, 20M and 40M using the K6ARK End fed random wire with the LDG Z-817 Autotuner that came with the FT-818. I tried 15M and 30M but conditions were deteriorating and I wasn’t able to hear anyone.
East Butte is a moderate hike with fairly easy access that most passenger cars would have no problem with. It has beautiful 360 views of SE Deschutes County Oregon and is very worth the drive. It would also make a great motorcycle SOTA outing when the trail to the top is open.
W7MTB: Amateur Radio Notes 
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