This was a winter activation of Bearhead Mountain.
WW7D and I decided to give this a shot based on some WTA trip reports that indicated it was possible to drive to the trailhead. We took my 1988 Toyota 4x4 truck that has big tires and is fairly capable off road.
Badger Butte is a four-point summit east of Mount Hood. It's a bit of trouble to reach and the last bit to the summit is cross-country, but only a half mile through fairly open forest. There are no views at the top to reward you - just contacts on the air with your fellow SOTA folks.
Here for some activation fun west of Trout Lake, Washington is Peak 4420 or Monte Cristo Range High Point. It's a bit out of the way, but is a near drive-up four pointer accessed by a road that a passenger car can handle.
Needless to say, a GPS is a good help for finding this summit. There are other roads leading there, but the directions below are for a gravel road in good condition.
After my first activation on Black Mountain VE7/GV-013 a week ago, I wanted another activation before the rain season starts. I chose Hollyburn Mountain VE7/GV-011 because it seemed just a little more difficult than GV-013. An extra 100m gain shouldn't be too much, right?
This is a short one mile hike 400 feet of gain that you reach by driving about five miles on a poor road. There's some bushwacking required to make the Activation Zone.
Blowout Benchmark is a short hike and cross-country summit near Detroit, Oregon. There are no views but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.
Peak 3700 is a bit of an adventure, but certainly do-able summit near Detroit, Oregon. You'll follow a long-abandoned logging road and head cross-country for the final ascent into the Activation Zone. There are no views and the final ascent is very rough, but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.
Here's an out of the way summit south of Prineville, Oregon with nice views and plenty of quiet. The drive towards the summit on Highway 27 is along the Wild and Scenic Crooked River and is lovely in itself with nice camping opportunities.
I received a note from Doug W7ZV letting me know that I had crossed private property on my hike to Wagner Mountain. In fact the SUMMIT of Wagner is apparently private property, owned by Young Life's Washington Family Ranch. The river map I was using did not indicate this, and there are no private property signs in this remote area. In short, I had no way of knowing that I would be entering private property on this hike.
0.7 miles (+940 feet, -190 feet) from saddle; 12.2 mile approach from Dearborn TH
We made this part of a 4-day backpacking trip that included W7M/CL-057 (Peak 7676) and W7M/CL-008 (Caribout Peak). See also the trip reports for these summits. The trip report for W7M/CL-082 describes trailhead parking at the Dearborn Trailhead & the initial portion of the trail to our campsite on the Continental Divide between Blacktail Creek and the Lander’s Fork.