Ben Smith (Peak 2592) is a summit with a short but steep hike in the Coast Range of Oregon - specifically in the Tillamook State Forest. Roads in the Tillamook Forest are usually good - however the signage and documentation are remarkably poor. What's on the ground doesn't necessarily match your GPS map or what in Google Earth and vice versa.
It makes for a very long day (about 17 miles total), but this Wildcat Mountain (WV-046) can also be reached from Huckleberry Mountain via the Plaza Ridge Trail #783 and the Douglas Trail #781. It's also quite beautiful - a stunning ridge hike in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness.
Take highway 101 north out of Florence and turn on to Tenmile Creek Road. Stay on this nice road for a couple miles then turn left onto NF -5694. This is a good, mostly paved road. After a few miles you will see a hiking sign on the left side of road. Don't turn, stay straight ahead. From here go about a quarter mile and you will see a yellow gate on the left before you make a big left turn. I parked here and hiked about 4/10 mile easily to the summit. If you go passed the trail head to the big fork in the road with FS Road 5000, turn around.
Red Hills of Dundee HP is a summit on private property with all of the Activation Zone apparently also on private property.
Githens Mountain in the Clackamas River drainage is a short, one mile hike and only about 500 feet of gain. It can be activated along with nearby Tumala (Squaw) Mountain from the same trailhead. Finding the summit may require a GPS, as it's not on the trail and isn't particularly distinct.
Timber Butte is a practically unknown destination not far from the busy trailhead for Triangulation Peak.
This is a drive-up to an old USFS fire lookout that should be accessible to most vehicles, although the road is somewhat rutted. There is a picnic table located on the spacious, forested summit that makes for a comfortable operating position. The road is closed to vehicles fr
Sheridan Peak is on the east side of the coast range, about 23 miles from Carlton, Oregon. Carlton itself is quite out of the way, being about 12 miles east of Newberg. But it's a nice short hike of about half a mile through some nice second growth woods, and the road is paved the whole way! (I.e.: if your GPS takes you to gravel, it's not the right way...)
Home is Tacoma, WA, but since I acquired lightweight QRP gear a couple of years ago, I’ve been tempted to take it with me when I travel. I finally did so, on a trip to visit family in New England.
We spent the weekend climbing and camping at the nearby Spring Mountain climbing area. This is a great climbing area with nearby camping. Just a short distance away is Sugarloaf Mountain. It looked much forested and the road/trail access was questionable, but a previous activation said it was doable.