French Point is the site of a former lookout west of Darrington in Snohomish County, and a 1 point summit.  I decided to activate later on a June day, after activating two other summits near Darrington.  The hike is 2 mile round-trip, with ~500 feet of gain.  While a relatively short hike on a decommissioned service road, it's made a bit more difficult with what summitpost.org called "tank traps".  There are multiple deep ditches dug across the road to limit access, and it was more of an annoyance as parts of the road continue to grow over.  This was the first SOTA

0.5 mi, +200 feet

4.3 mi, +2,800 feet; -80 feet

From the town of Augusta, drive west past Nilan Reservoir to the vicinity of the Benchmark Airport.  The trailhead is near the south end of the airport runway 0.15 miles after crossing the bridge over Fairview Creek.  The trail (Fairview Creek, TR-204) is clearly marked.  Park in the wide area alongside the road just past the trailhead.  The Benchmark road is a gravel road that is suitable for all vehicles.

Starting from the High Prairie trailhead for Lookout by KI7EMX Mountain,  https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/High_Prairie_Trailhead head west on Bennett Pass Road from the Lookout Mountain “T” intersection.

This looked like a simple drive-to peak from the topo maps. However 1.25 miles from the summit I encountered a Forest Service gate blocking the road so I walked the remaining easy road to the summit. The views are excellent but the presence of large communication towers ruined any attempt I had at getting out a signal. I'm currently just using an 5 watt handheld on 146.52 FM voice. I've connected in this way up to 50 miles in the past. I had K7VK waiting to hear from me in Missoula and although I could hear him clearly, he could not hear me.

Williamson Peak is a nice day hike in the Cascade Lakes region west of Bend - located in the Three Sisters Wilderness area near Lava Lake.  The best way to reach the mountain is from the Lucky Lake Trailhead, just off Cascade Lakes NS Byway/Lava Lake Road.  From there the hike up to the summit is a little under 4 miles via the Senoj/Six Lakes Trail.  The trail grade varies from near flat to moderate with a total elevation gain of around 1600'. 

This was my second activation of McDonald Peak and this trip I took some friends and we hiked from McDonald to Wagner Butte view Split Rock Trail (see summary for Wagner CS-027). Well marked short hike to the summit. Rocky at summit but there is also some meadowy areas in the AZ to set up in. Great views and if you are a hiker I recommend extending your hike to Split Rock Trail or even going clear to Wagner. McDonald could also be done same day as Mt. Ashland as they are both quick hikes to the summit and same vacinity.

There is a 2 car parking spot at trailhead beside the 20 RD.

I managed to activate this peak today with three out of the four required contacts. Close but no cigar as it started getting cold, windy and rain was coming in. We had to leave when we did. Another day for the points.

I used a Yeasu FT-2D 5 watt handheld with a 42 inch foldable tape measure type of antenna. I worked 146.52 MHz FM voice. From Big Hole Peak, about 12 miles to the west, I have had 59 quality conversations with Missoula, so the reach is far at these heights in 146.52 MHz.

I was not fortunate to get any contacts nor activate this peak today. This was mostly due to my current limitations in radio gear. I used a Yeasu FT-2D at 5 watts with a 42 inch tape measure type of antenna. Although well within the exposed activation zone, the forested summit prevented me from reaching out to the northeast where I easily picked up two contacts earlier from Mount Baldy a few hours prior. I was calling on 146.52 MHz FM voice. I had a great line of sight to five other summits in the Plains, Montana area.

This was a failed attempt of activating this summit.

Driving the route to the "trailhead" involves a 21 mile stretch of Forest Service roads that takes you within a thousand feet of the summit. Take Forest Service road 412 that starts at Montana highway 135, just south of Quinns Hot Springs. 412 intersects with Forest Service road 97 that takes you to the summit. See link below for the map of this route. These are well maintained roads but Four Wheel Drive is highly recommended. Some rocky spots and deep potholes from the rain. Allow 90 minutes to drive this.