On a beautiful early October day, my XYL and I headed south to check out a W7O/SC-xxx summit. We chose King Mountain, a 5264 ft, four point peak with RF facilities on top. To get there get off of I-5 at Exit 78 and head east onto Speaker Rd. This road merges onto 33-5-10 which continues on past Azalea, OR.

Peak 2445 - just another nondescript peak in Oregon’s Coastal Range, or is it? It turns out that this is an easy drive-up peak a little more than a half hour’s drive west of Forest Grove and should be considered a good peak for SOTA beginners.

Birkenfeld Mountain is a summit that can be done as part of a challenging three peak traverse that would include Three Corner Rock-W7W/LC-101 and Greenleaf Peak-W7W/LC-104.

Saddle Mountain might be considered an Oregon "Classic" SOTA hike. Positives are easy access to the trailhead, a lovely hike, wonderful views (in good weather) and a reasonable five miles round trip.

Seeing that this is one of the closest, biggest peaks to the QTH, it was a no-brainer that we would make this an early target for our newfound SOTA fascination.  On a nice Sunday afternoon, the sudden call was made that we should load up the Jeep and make the scramble up the hill.

Wind Mountain is a nice hike in the Gorge with good views (in clear weather). It's about 2.5 miles round-trip and 1000 feet of gain. There's no pass required at the trailhead and it's often less busy than nearby Dog Mountain.

Head east on Highway 14 from Stevenson, Washington about 6.2 miles to Home Valley. Then turn onto Wind Mountain Road for 1.0 miles to turn right onto Girl Scout Road and go about 0.6 miles. This leads to a large dirt parking area at the end of the paving near 45.7145°, -121.7533°. This is usually the best place to park.

5.8 miles, 3,200 ft

Beartooth WMA – Open May 15 - December 2

Directions (From Wolf Creek – North of Helena):

Drive-Up in Summer, Ski or Snowshoe up in Winter

Directions (should be drivable by mid-late June):

Very Short Hike (0.1 Miles, +144 ft.)

Directions:

From Townsend – Drive east 2.4 miles on Hwy-12

Turn left and drive North 15.6 miles on Hwy 284

Turn right and drive 6.4 miles up Confederate Gulch (Good gravel Road)

Turn left and drive 3.3 miles up FS-4161 (Good USFS dirt road – may want some clearance)

4wd + Short Hike

Directions:

Exit east from Exit 85 on I-15

Drive 4.3 miles south on Hwy-91

Turn left on Burma Road – Continue 3.1 miles

Turn left on 2-track at Chokecherry Gulch (by gravel pit)