Quick search of sota summits finds 30 Goat Mountains, exclusive of my favorites: Old Goat Mountain and Scape Goat Mountain. Can unfortunately relate to both of those.
There are six in W7W and 2 in W7W/LC. This blog is about W7W/LC-035. The plan for this trip was found on summitpost: https://www.summitpost.org/goat-mountain/153737. Andrew, K7AHR, and I followed those directions to a successful activation.
We built extra time into our schedule in case of an unexpected delay, but I never thought that delay would be a cattle drive. In the drive up to the Pine Mountain Observatory, Mark, W6IA, and I waited as two cowboys and at least one dog herded cattle off the road. We hung back just behind the well-trained border collie while he and his team did their work, and eventually it was clear. [See photo below.]
North Coastal's double-oh-seven peak is a two-pointer reachable by a mild forest road hike and a slightly bushwhack-y final ascent. K7ATN has linked to posts on Peakbagger that give good descriptions of the summit logistics including routes, but here's a quick summary:
On-Trail, 2.5 miles, +2,240 ft
Baldy Mountain is a locally popular on-trail hike to one of the high points in the East Pioneer Mountains. The foundation of the old fire lookout provides some shelter in the event of windy conditions. We saw one other party on the mountain on a nice Saturday during the summer.
4.3 mi, +2,800 feet; -80 feet
From the town of Augusta, drive west past Nilan Reservoir to the vicinity of the Benchmark Airport. The trailhead is near the south end of the airport runway 0.15 miles after crossing the bridge over Fairview Creek. The trail (Fairview Creek, TR-204) is clearly marked. Park in the wide area alongside the road just past the trailhead. The Benchmark road is a gravel road that is suitable for all vehicles.
This looked like a simple drive-to peak from the topo maps. However 1.25 miles from the summit I encountered a Forest Service gate blocking the road so I walked the remaining easy road to the summit. The views are excellent but the presence of large communication towers ruined any attempt I had at getting out a signal. I'm currently just using an 5 watt handheld on 146.52 FM voice. I've connected in this way up to 50 miles in the past. I had K7VK waiting to hear from me in Missoula and although I could hear him clearly, he could not hear me.
This was my second activation of McDonald Peak and this trip I took some friends and we hiked from McDonald to Wagner Butte view Split Rock Trail (see summary for Wagner CS-027). Well marked short hike to the summit. Rocky at summit but there is also some meadowy areas in the AZ to set up in. Great views and if you are a hiker I recommend extending your hike to Split Rock Trail or even going clear to Wagner. McDonald could also be done same day as Mt. Ashland as they are both quick hikes to the summit and same vacinity.
There is a 2 car parking spot at trailhead beside the 20 RD.
I managed to activate this peak today with three out of the four required contacts. Close but no cigar as it started getting cold, windy and rain was coming in. We had to leave when we did. Another day for the points.
I used a Yeasu FT-2D 5 watt handheld with a 42 inch foldable tape measure type of antenna. I worked 146.52 MHz FM voice. From Big Hole Peak, about 12 miles to the west, I have had 59 quality conversations with Missoula, so the reach is far at these heights in 146.52 MHz.
This is an easy drive-to summit on Forest Service roads. See link below for map of route. It will take you approximately one hour from downtown Plains, Montana to get to the summit. Four wheel drive not needed. The only downside are the large communication towers that will interfere with your transmitting. I found that if you drive to the far side of the loop road and get the towers out of sight, you can get a good signal to and from Missoula and up to Whitefish. Let me know when you plan to activate this easy one and I'll chase you as I live in Plains.