We built extra time into our schedule in case of an unexpected delay, but I never thought that delay would be a cattle drive. In the drive up to the Pine Mountain Observatory, Mark, W6IA, and I waited as two cowboys and at least one dog herded cattle off the road. We hung back just behind the well-trained border collie while he and his team did their work, and eventually it was clear. [See photo below.]
North Coastal's double-oh-seven peak is a two-pointer reachable by a mild forest road hike and a slightly bushwhack-y final ascent. K7ATN has linked to posts on Peakbagger that give good descriptions of the summit logistics including routes, but here's a quick summary:
On-Trail, 2.5 miles, +2,240 ft
Baldy Mountain is a locally popular on-trail hike to one of the high points in the East Pioneer Mountains. The foundation of the old fire lookout provides some shelter in the event of windy conditions. We saw one other party on the mountain on a nice Saturday during the summer.
NC-009, Sheridan Peak, is a good first-time activation destination. It is an easy half-mile hike (about 300' climb) from the parking lot to the summit, which is broad and flat; lots of good spots to set up. The summit is wooded and shady with a fair amount of old growth, so there are no views. Cell data service is spotty. I managed to spot myself once with SOTA GOAT though I tried four or five times. Two way APRS coverage was excellent and I spotted myself on aprs using a VX8DR.
Henry Peak is a two point summit overlooking Plains, Montana. It is due north of the intersection of highways 200 and 135. Please refer to the linked map below as I describe getting there. All forest Service roads in this description are good to fair and a four wheel drive is not necessarily needed but advised due to some bumpy and rocky spots.
Camel Hump is a summit out of St. Regis, Montana on the Interstate 90. From St. Regis you have about a 7 mile drive on paved roads, then about a 6.5 mile drive up Forest Service road 3800. At that point you encounter a closed gate but it's an easy 1 mile walk to the summit from here. Please refer to my saved map in the link below. You do not need a four wheel drive on this road, any car can make it easily.
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
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.