Activation Reports

Short Version - Being a two point hill two or more hours from Portland, Green Point Mountain doesn't get much love. But from a single trailhead you can pair it with Mount Defiance or if you want to do an overnight, three or four other hills near Lost Lake. Greenpoint has an open summit, great views north and south, and plenty of trees on which to hang a wire. ATT service is good and, like Mount Defiance, you might be able to activate it using a 2M HT with a decent antenna.

Short Version - the Mount Defiance hike from the gorge (north) side is a project, with roughly ten miles RT hiking and 4900 feet of elevation gain. But there are other options, including a southwest approach that is six miles RT and 1100 feet or so of climbing. This writeup describes the southwest approach on trail 413, which begins on Dead Point Road at (45.63628, -121.74261). The drive from Hood River is about an hour on a combination of paved and dirt roads.

Divide Butte is a 2 point drive-up summit located in the Mouth Hood National Forest. It takes about 2 hours from Portland but can be combined with South Fork Mountain (W7O/WV-030). It is South of Estacada and SE of Molalla. The summit (and nearly entire area) is a burn scar. Expect downed trees early season or after a storm and bring a saw or chainsaw.

Pluto Peak is located in the Olympic National Forest and is accessed via a decommissioned forest road. The RT hike is 4  miles with 850 ft elevation gain.  Access is at Dosewallips Road (47.69872, -122.89640) off of Hwy 101. Distance from Hwy 101 turn to parking is 9.8 miles.  I did not have any cell coverage at the summit (ATT) but there is a robust APRS infrastructure in place in these mountains and I had full two-way APRS messaging for spotting.

TL;DR - Activation Details
Summit: Black Mountain, W7W/WH-172
Operator: N7JTT
Distance: 14.21 miles
Ascent: 4,087 feet
Moving time: 5:06:18
Average moving speed: 2.8 mph
QSOs: 8
Activation time: 17 minutes, 17 seconds
Radio: Elecraft KX2
Power: 5 watts QRP
Antenna: AX1 with 13-foot counterpoise
Cell coverage: Usable T-Mobile service at the summit

I attempted this summit in Nov 2025 and encountered what appears to be a private land owner blocking what appears to be a public road. Since the No Trespassing sign had an AR-15 on it, I opted to turn around. Pics below of where I encountered the rope blocking road. My GPS and maps showed the road as "West Rock Creek Road."

Black Hills High Point is minutes from downtown Olympia and adjacent to a popular city park with numerous walking paths, bike trails, and logging roads. Despite its proximity to population centers it had been activated only 4 times before my visit, most recently in 2019.

This unnamed summit in the Rattlesnake Recreation Area is a good option for a newer activator, especially in an area where many summits require full bushwhacks. I chose it early on because there is a trail that gets you most of the way, and although I expected to be off-trail for the final stretch, there is actually a clear social trail along the ridge. It's close to town, physically reasonable, and has reliable cell service, which makes it a low-stress activation.

It has been many years since the first activation of this summit. Since that time it appears a Rock Quarry is now in place and the main access road is marked "No Public Entry"  It appears that there is Green Diamond land behind the quarry, but could not find an alternate route to get there.  The gate is open during the week for quarry traffic, but locked on the weekends.  Pic below of gate and sign.

W7O/CM-024  Irish Mountain

I activated Irish Mountain in July 2018 while backpacking with family in the Three Sisters Wilderness.  We used the Crossings Way trailhead (via Forest Road 1958) and hiked to McFarland Lake where we set up camp. This is along Trail #3307, Crossing Way Trail.  It was from here I hiked up to Irish Mtn as a side trip to activate the summit.