Fox Butte is an easy activation IF you are equipped with HF. I wouldn't rely on 2M unless maybe you bring a yagi to help get your signal to Bend. The roads are in much better than expected shape, and other that the fact that it is a long drive, it was quite pleasant and any passenger car can make the trip.
Full report here
Mt. Bailey is a 5 mile, 3600 ft ascent with a few tricky sections to test your hiking mettle. There are two access points, one is easily reached via any passenger car, the other would require a high clearance vehicle and possibly all wheel/4 wheel drive. Its a beautiful hike, but can be hot and buggy so bring plenty of food/water and bug spray (Ben’s 30% DEET worked well for us). I would consider this an intermediate hike due to the elevation gain and some of the exposure, but bringing a new/young hiker along is reasonable with the proper support.
Bald Mountain, above Sun Valley, Idaho, is one of the most interesting and picturesque activations I’ve ever done. There is no need to describe access due to the myriad of information available on-line (i.e., hike/snowshoe, mountain bike, drive, etc.) If you choose to hike, there is a foot traffic permit required. Though it costs to ride the gondola/chair lift up, there is no cost to ride them down. We decided to make the activation a fa
After climbing climbing Mt Thielsen (W7O/CS-002) with K6ARK our legs were feeling good, so we decided to try for the first activation of Hollys Ridge (W7O/CS-007). From the junction with the Thielsen climbers trail, take the PCT North. This will wrap east around the ridge line. Exit the PCT at 43.16113, -122.06537 and head down to the glacial stream. Here we crossed to the north side of the stream and bushwacked through the pines (not bad) towards the saddle between Thielsen and Holly. Here we made the mistake of going straight up the saddle.
Of the four Cougar Mountains in Oregon, this one is an easy two pointer south off of Highway 58, east of Oakridge, OR. This is a near drive up (or drive up if you are brave) and makes a convenient summit when travelling Hwy 58.
See Etienne's report for more details. I wanted to add just a few words on the road condition to the upper trailhead (road 370).
It is definitely high clearance and 4WD recommended, quite bumpy with large ruts in places.
I had hiked into the Independence Lakes area a few days earlier and was blown away with the beauty of the ancient glacier bowl where the lakes are located. From the lakes you can see Cache Peak to the south dominating the skyline, thus my interest was piqued. From summitost.org:
This was a first-time activation of the summit. There are two summits very close to each other with a shallow saddle. I ignored my GPS and arrived at the false summit and had to scurry over to the actual summit. This was a 400-foot (only 20-foot elevation) mistake.
Lovely mostly shady hike to a peak with a good view of mt hood. Highly recommended activation.
There are a few routes to get to Mount Defiance. We took the hike from Warren lake described here on Oregon Hikers (different from 2012 trip report).