If you find yourself near out of the way northeast Oregon, you might consider driving the scenic Tollgate Road between Weston and Elgin, and then activating Peak 5500 near the top of the pass. 

It was a cool rainy day in Spokane. My wife Sarah, our friend Kelly, and I wanted to do a hike. And I wanted to do an activation. So we settled on a hike to Quartz Peak. Quartz Peak is another peak within the Mount Spokane State Park. The peak is right in the middle of the Mount Spokane Nordic Park, a premier location for cross-country skiing in Eastern Washington. Parking for the hike is easy. Simply park at the cross country ski area parking lot. You'll need a Discovery Pass when the ski area isn't open, and you'll need a sno-pass when the ski area is open.

This summit is only about a mile from a large parking lot on the road to the top of Mary's Peak but it requires some strenuous up-hill bushwhacking from that readily accessible parking lot.  There are some old logging roads in the area, mostly grown over with bushes, that will get you close to the summit but getting to a logging road from that particular parking lot was quite a workout.  Looking at the satellite view there appears to be an easier, albeit much longer access route via a logging roads (for hiking) a bit farther to the north from where I started.

It has been foggy around here all week long. Today was a good day to rise above it all and find some sunshine! Anderson Mountain's good access, gentle trail, and easy scrambling made for a rewarding summit to play radio on! Having plenty of time on top for a change made this a very pleasant activation.

Wow... there must a lot of easier ways to get a 4-point activation. I knew there wasn't a trail to this peak and there would be some bushwacking involved because not many folks go there. But oh my gosh, this trip turned into an ordeal!

About 35 miles from downtown Spokane, Mount Spokane (aka W7W/WE-006 Jump-off Joe) is a fixture of Eastern Washington outdoor recreation.

This not-so-epic activation took place Saturday, on probably the busiest peak in the area. The constant flow of hikers up and down the trail didn't slow down until early evening. Be prepared for lots of company on this one. 

For the NASOTA weekend, I took the easy way out and went to a peak that I'd already been on, Black Butte, near Sisters, Oregon. It was just me and the sotadog "Cooper" this time so we got a 5am start to head towards central Oregon.

This was my first activation, and we had a perfect day for it on Sunday. The peak is in the Olympic National Forest and the Colonel Bob Wilderness area North of Aberdeen, WA near Quinault Lake. Two trails go to the top - the Colonel Bob Trail, and the shorter Petes Creek Trail that we used. The roads in to the trailhead were in great shape.

Triangulation peak is a great SOTA activation site. The trail (#3373) comes off
of FS road 2233. FS road 2233 intersects Hwy22 just east of Idanha. See any of
the hiker websites to find exact directions. The trailhead did not indicate what
trail it was but from the map its obvious.

The road to the trailhead is somewhat rugged. 4WD is not necessary, but I wouldn't
take a prized sports car up there. This road becomes gated later when snow starts
falling as this area is a mecca for snowmobile folks.