Get yourself to Keno, Oregon and you'll be within a few miles of a couple of good summits. Hamaker Mountain may be the only six point PAVEMENT drive up in Oregon. Keno is about 12 miles SW of Klamath Falls on the Green Springs Highway 66, or about half that distance to the NW from Highway 97 on the Keno-Worden Road from the wide spot that is Worden, Oregon.
Get yourself to Keno, Oregon and you'll be within a few miles of a couple of good summits. Chase Mountain has a lookout and is a drive up in most any vehicle. Keno is about 12 miles SW of Klamath Falls on the Green Springs Highway 66, or about half that distance to the NW from Highway 97 on the Keno-Worden Road from the wide spot that is Worden, Oregon.
Here's a sort of easy hike close in to Klamath Falls, Oregon. You'll keep your car clean as the trailhead access is paved all the way into the parking lot.
Skunked In Switzerland!
My ambitions for activating several SOTA Summits in Switzerland fell far short. Switzerland has been experiencing one of the worst "summer" seasons in many decades. This is impacting tourism, and certainly impacted our plans.
I was not able to activate the high SOTA summits I had planned on in Graubünden and Bern Cantons. Persistent rain, fog and thunderstorms prevented us from safely doing so. Especially with thunderstorms about, “discretion is the better part of valor”.
This is an easy hike in the Washington Olympics that is not far from Highway 101. The views should be great on a nice day.
Mount Walker is a nice drive-up or summit hike just off Highway 101 on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. There is a good view of Puget Sound from the summit and thus it makes for a good spot to try your hand at VHF/UHF contacts.
Applegate Peak is another summit in Crater Lake National Park, but has more challenging route-finding and hiking than others. It is about 1.7 miles one-way cross-country - there is no trail or significant landmarks. A GPS with waypoints and a feeling for following the 'easy way' up draws and drainages will be useful for finding Applegate Peak, and more importantly, you way back.
Along the park's southern portion of Rim Drive, park in the small pullout near 42.87885 -122.10983. There are no other nearby places.
Highway 12 between Morton and Yakima is out of the way, but a scenic delight. If you find yourself driving through, this is a nice summit to activate. There are a number of other summits in this area - several of which appear to require significant rock climbing skills but this one is a straightforward hike.
Big Butte is a near drive-up (in an SUV - the higher clearance is necessary) in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest that you could do in a passenger car with a bit more hiking (less than 2 miles each way on a road). From Portland, take I-84 to Cascade Locks and cross the river on the Bridge of the Gods (toll). Or take Washington 14 out from Vancouver past the Bridge of the Gods, through Stevenson and continue east on 14 to turn north towards Carson about four miles past Stevenson. After 12.3 miles on this Wind River Highway you will turn right onto NF-3080 or Hollis Creek Road (paved).