Depending on how much you like the paint on your vehicle, Quilcene Ridge might be a drive-up. Even so, where the slide alder starts significantly encroaching on the road it's only a quarter mile to the summit. So walking is an option.
Shady Trail
Siouxon Peak, WA | July 2022
The activation report for Siouxon (rhymes with “Tucson”) Peak from 2013 (http://www.pnwsota.org/node/306) is still largely correct. I just put in Google maps “Siouxon Peak” as destination and “Gresham” as start. Note that you can still hike in from the Amboy side, doing it that way allows you to view waterfalls, but requires a stream crossing. I went through Carson, NF-64, NF-6403 as per the previous trip report.
Bunker Hill, OR | July 2022
This is the fourth summit I activated with my Dad while visiting Lemolo Lake KOA.
From the KOA, we drove across the dam on NF-2610 and right onto NF-2612. Then left onto NF-700 and again left onto NF-920.
Kelsay Mountain, OR | July 2022
A third summit I worked with my Dad while at Lemolo Lake KOA.
This summit is a careful drive-up with a nice turnaround at the top.
I put up the mast and EFHW antenna and proceeded to work a nice combination of 40/20m stations.
No 2m stations were heard.
We packed up and headed on to Bunker Hill (W7O/CS-090).
These 4 Lemolo Lake summits could be easily done in a day if you have the time.
I split them into 2 mornings as we were visiting Crater Lake during this trip.
Elephant Mountain, OR | July 2022
This was another summit I activated with my Dad while staying at Lemolo Lake KOA.
NOTE: This one has a final section that could be hazardous to your vehicle's paint job. The last segment after the turn off is a bit overgrown.
To start with we turned off NF-2610 from the KOA and went up NF-200 until the unnamed logging road at (43.298183, -122.229812) and continued west on to the spur road.
Basket Butte, OR | July 2022
NOTE: did I mention how many mosquitos this summit has?
I worked this summit with my Dad while staying at Lemolo Lake KOA.
The climb is very straightforward but I would bring a bug screen as they were alerted to our presence and followed us up the whole way. Once we killed off all the brave ones and we cooled off, it settled down to a reasonable experience.
Round Top, OR | July 2022
Round Top is a nice mostly drive up activation. Being me, I had to do it the hard way: Mountainbiking from Gale's Creek Campground. It is an 18 mile round trip ride with ~3000' elevation gain.
I recommend doing some stretches or warmups before heading out because the hardest part of this ride is the first few miles: steep trail that gets the blood moving. Overall the trail is a singletrack and mostly follows the creek through the forest. Not much for views, but there are the occasional waterfall and views of Gale's Creek.
Muttonchop Butte, OR | July 2022
Muttonchop Butte, Oregon is west of the intersection of Highway 58 and Highway 97. The bushwack from the north was not pleasant, see if you can find the trail that leads to 0.5 mile west of the Quarry OHV area. Take Highway 58 4.2 miles from Highway 97 and turn left onto Road 5825.
Cady Mt, There is another way!
Cady Mountain, W7W/RS-084 has been on my radar for a while. My wife's family owns a home in Friday Harbor so I have always wanted to activate this summit. I was bummed by ATN's report that it would be difficult to activate from the south side because of private property, so I did not think I could. I arrived here on Saturday and I started looking at GAIA GPS. I could see there was public property owned by the San Juan County Land Bank to the north of the summit that was still in the AZ. I could see a hiking trail just below it. I decided to give it a try.