Short Version - Wildcat Mountain is only an hour from Portland. You can drive to the trailhead and the two-ish mile hike along a well-maintained, if not well-marked, trail gets you to a small clearing on a summit with wire-ready trees. APRS messaging and 2M FM contacts are both easy and it is a good location for working HF. You are unlikely to be alone, as the Douglas and 781 trails are quite popular; if you like solitude, get there early. And be prepared for snow, even in early November.

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Burma Rd HP, AKA Point 4,230, W7O/CE-304.  Prior to coming to the Bend / Sunriver area, I had contacted Ron, W6PZA, who lives in Bend, Oregon.  I had seen on-line that he had been a very consistent Activator in this area, and reached out to him to possibly arrange some joint Activations.  Happily, things worked out, we hit it off, and wound up doing 2 joint Activations - this one, and also North Paulina Peak, the subject of another Activation report.

This was #3 of 3 outside of the town of Rogue River I did on a day trip. This was quite a climb but not as bad as the one prior (W7O/SC-229). The hill is steep with no trail other than by wildlife but there is quite a bit of open, grassy, pine needled areas rather than brush and rock like the first two today. There was a lot of bear sign up here but I did not see any. Due to time (and bears), I did not go to the very top but activated in the AZ on the SW facing side that was very open and had a great view of Applegate Valley.

This was #2 of 3 that I did outside of the town of Rogue River during a day trip. This one was a killer. When I click treacherous trail it is because there was none. I drove the main road (BLM 37 5 1) until what seemed to be the highest you could drive to on the north side but the bank is very steep and brushy so it was difficult to find a good starting point. And boy was it hard. This hill is mainly fist sized rock that is mossed over, crumbling beneath your feet, with a very steep angle to climb. It was difficult to stay upright.

UPDATE: last trip I walked the bermed  road. A bit longer but much easier and safer. Tracks on sotamap.

Blue Nose is a US Forest Service Lookout built in 1934.  The structure still exists. From the summit are good views of the steep slopes of the Salmon River Canyon and high summits of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The final access road is a bit

This is a burned-over flat-summit on the Idaho/Montana Border.  Access is via an obscure 4x4 road that takes off to the north from FS#038.  Along this road after several hundred feet is a flatten area used as a dispersed campsite most commonly in hunting season.  Beyond this area the road becomes an ATV track weaving through a sn

Lakeside Ridge is an easy to get to summit with a nice hike of about 1.5 miles one way on a dirt road.  It offers plenty of space and plenty of small trees to lean a mast against or string an antenna on.  It's a pretty nice place for an activation.  We had some pretty nice weather, the sounds of cows nearby and good DX.  I was able to log New Zealand and France.

Haystack Butte (W7O/CE-221) is located in the Crooked River National Grassland, which is part of the Ochoco NF.  There are some private grazing lands around the base and at the very top that you'll need to avoid, but access to a large activation zone is available via public lands.  Note that some online mapping platforms such as CalTopo do not accurately show the public/private land pattern in this area.  

This un-named summit on the Idaho/Montana Border has similar views as Skookum Butte Lookout to the east 1.5 miles.  The route also has good views looking down on Granite Lake.  Distance views are peaks in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness.  It combines a vehicle drive, mountain bike road, a hiking trail and off-trail hike.