NOTE: This route is only available during ski operations of Mt Bachelor Resort. The Summit Chair ski lift only runs during winter and spring ski operations.
Mount Bachelor offers one of the easiest 10-pointers in Oregon, if you want it. It is possible to buy a lift ticket and take the Summit Chair ski lift nearly to the activation zone. It is only a short hike to the summit proper from the top of the lift.
Thomas Cairn is a 4321 ft peak located 0.6 miles northeast of it's better known sister Snow Peak (4292ft) in Linn County, Oregon. The peaks are 14.3 miles east of the town of Scio. This summit could be accessed entirely on public lands (BLM) but it would be extremely difficult and treacherous when there is snow on the ground. This attempt was completed using a combination of BLM and private lands. The 7.0 mile round trip hike featured 1325 feet of elevation gain and was mostly done on BLM-access roads, jeep trails, logging roads and a bit of bushwacking.
I was looking for a reasonably tough snowshoe that could be accomplished in a day, and with few bonus point opportunities, and only so many sno parks, I kept coming back to my favorite mountains from last year. I decided to give this a try, and all things considered it went very well.