Trailhead has ample, free, accessible parking
Check out my blog at http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2014/03/larch-mountain-w7wlc-103-sota.html for additional information.
Here is my everytrail post with downloadable GPX tracks - http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2713566
A very long day to get ten points - the usual for the Northwest. Here in Oregon and Washington, we can't do several drive up ten pointers in one day - it might take 12 hours of hiking just to get to one ten-point summit and back down again.
We left Portland at 2:30am to drive to the trailhead at Marble Mountain Sno-Park off Road 83 a bit past Cougar, WA. Unusually great weather was predicted for this March day. For the majority of the climbing season, permits are sold advance. See https://www.recreation.gov/permits/4675309.
Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain is a nice late season snowshoe near Mount Hood. It's about 4 miles one-way and 1850 feet of gain to bag this four-point summit with iconic views of Mount Hood. It's a bit of work with some route-finding on snowshoes, but hopefully this trip report will help you get there. A Forest Pass is required from May 15 to October 1 - a SnoPark is required November 1 to April 30.
Peak 3534 is a near drive up in the Tillamook State Forest west of Portland off Highway 6. It would be a good combination activation with South Saddle Mountain, W7O/NC-002.
If you are tackling Peak 3534 on its own or to start first on South Saddle, use the directions here http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7nit/2013-august-13/south-saddle-mtn-or-ju… to find the "major triangle intersection" and consider using a GPS and a good map while in the Tillamook State Forest.
These eleven miles (RT) seem much farther when you are on snowshoes - take that into account if you should decide to try this winter activation. If you have 4WD, very high clearance and nerves of steel, you you might consider driving a bad road in the summer - see the other trip report below.
The trail starts from Highway 35 - the trailhead coordinates: 45.3395 -121.5703. See the trailhead photo below with an unsigned post just north of a bridge over the Hood River East Fork.
Here is an urban 'pavement' activation - the closest one to downtown Portland. The summit proper for Cornell Mountain is on private property with the Activation Zone accessible from a neighborhood street with very limited shoulders. This summit is near a number of very large comm installations and 2m FM was totally blocked with S9 noise on my Yaesu VX-8G - 70cm FM might be a better choice and HF isn't a great option as there's only a small shoulder spot in the AZ big enough for HF antennas - and that's where you can park.
A fairly short snowshoe near Mt. Hood gets you two points - in the summer this activation may be a bit more challenging in the bushwack. From November 1 through April 30 an Oregon Sno-Park permit is required - from May 15 to October 1 a National Forest Pass is required.
A near "drive-up" two-point summit in the Clackamas River drainage with good views. This area is likely busy in the summer but it was mostly quiet on this December day. Note that this area seems to be a popular place for target practice, although there are some areas where the discharge of firearms is prohibited.
UPDATE March 2023: W7O/CE-213 has been retired (prominance 480 feet).
Awbrey Butte is a summit in suburban Bend, Oregon. Although the Activation Zone is surrounded by private property and the summit proper is a fenced site for multiple radio installations, there are several Bend city parks near the summit and a trail between them that make an activation possible.
Quickly, after Old Scab I activate this plateau as well. So far the most-most easiest "hike", or more like a walk in a park. Driving only a mile further up from Old Scab trailhead I reach the top of the mountain. Here is a big open space. Park the car in the shade and start to collect this giveaway six point.
