A Random Blog for a Random Reason

Category: film

  • Three First-Activations in Northern Idaho

    Three First-Activations in Northern Idaho

    Most winters necessitate late-May to early-June starts for bagging some of these deep-in-the-forest peaks in Northern Idaho. Negotiating the mountains themselves generally isn’t too bad, but given the forest road conditions it’s just not possible to get close enough to access things, unless you’ve got a snow machine. My Honda Element doesn’t quite cut it.

    This very mild winter we just had was absolute hell for the ski resorts, but it meant I could make some attempts on my W7I hitlist much earlier than normal.

    The first one to fall was no-named hill 4634 outside of Elk River: W7I/NI-253. I tried for this one a couple of weeks prior, but about an hour into the drive and my 230k mile Honda began pitching a fit so I had to abort. Well, now that the SOTA-wagon is fixed up it was time to go for it again. Parking at the point where I could no longer drive, I hopped over the snow burm and my first dozen steps sank me mid-shin deep into crunchy snowice. That wasn’t going to work.

    Summit straight ahead, going left actually the route to take.

    Lucky, I my trekking skis still up in the Yakima gear box. Slapping those things on, I easily made my way about a mile and half up the snow road to the base of the mountain. I jammed my skis into the snowbank, strapped on the microspikes and climbed up into the AZ.

    Band conditions were not great. I spent about 90 minutes operating and only got 3 contacts before daylight and cold convinced me to head back down. So no, I didn’t get my hard-earned one point but I did activate the summit and to me, that was worth even more.

    Back down to the skis, I glided (sorta, it was icy) back to the car and called it a success. Any day you get to goof around in the backcountry is a good one.

    A couple of weekends later the temps were bumping even higher. It was Easter Sunday and there were two summits in relatively close proximity to eachother that I’ve been eyeballing for over a year. Unactivated and difficult to get to as they’re deep behind logging access gates, I had a full day’s worth of water and snacks packed expecting to log a shit ton of miles.

    As I rolled up to the access road, my eyes widened as I recognized a wide-open gate–something I have never seen in the dozen or so times I’ve passed by this entrance. This was indeed going to be my day. I entered and happily, but cautiously, drove in towards the first summit.

    I never did encounter another person or obstacle, though the driving was still slow and tough given the road conditions. Both of these summits were pretty straightforward ascents. Nothing too shwacky and just long enough to get a bit of a sweat on.

    About the point at NI-244 where I needed to park and start hoofing it. The road got me another half mile closer to the top.
    From the AZ, looking across the valley at the dusted top of my next target W7I/NI-229

    I grabbed 6 QSOs and then packed up determined to go nab the second one. Who knows if/when I’d ever be able to drive in this far, so today needed to be the day I go for both of these.

    The Honda making it’s way onto the next summit.
    I spotted one live moose and plenty of moose sign in these hills. Gotta keep your head on a swivel.
    Nearly to the top. This area has been decimated by logging. Yay Idaho.
    In my original planning to move super light and fast, I opted for the AX1 antenna and not a mast-EFHW system. Seemed to work just fine.

    So after nothing in February, I bagged three FA’s in March plus a 6+3 pointer with Mount Spokane and the winter bonus. My CW is still rough but I’m loving it and it’s passable. On to April.

  • Smoot Hill W7W/WE-033

    Smoot Hill W7W/WE-033

    It’s been a mild January thus far and this weekend, although windy, was a prime 42F. Running a bit short on time, a close-to-home hill would be on the menu and Smoot was today’s flavor.

    To be honest, I’m not exactly sure about the accessibility of this summit. Some fencing along the nearby gravel road has Washington State University signs declaring no trespassing—but I’ve spoken with two individuals who have assured me that as long as you are traveling by foot and being respectful there is no issue.

    Parking is obvious at the Rose Creek Nature Preserve. Considering the above, I booked it rather quickly up the hill until slipping into the trees where I’m a little less exposed to the road. The summit approach is rather unremarkable. There’s a lightly groomed path, probably for researchers to access the wildlife preserve, which meanders the ridgeline towards the summit. It’s straightforward until eventually reaching an intersection. Now heading south you’re less than a quarter mile and under 200ft elevation from the AZ. Plenty of trees there for a bit of a wind break (or shade).

    This was the first activation using my new mast, the “POTA Explorer” which is a rather stout 33ft carbon fiber pole. Because it’s so much taller, with thicker diameter segments, than my trusty SOTA Beam 6 (19.6ft), the Explorer’s penchant to tip is more significant and I had to prop it up in a tree to keep it from falling over. I’ll be adding some prusik cord for next time if I need to guy it.

    The activation was relatively smooth with a dozen contacts including a summit-to-summit.

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    Also this year, I am planning on photographing all of my activations on film. This was a bit of a test run as I haven’t shot much film in the past 20 years and I haven’t developed film myself since college circa 2001-2003. I’d say this turned out to be a success and am looking forward to the added pain in the ass this will all surely be.

    Nikon F2 | Ilford FP4+

    Thanks to all of my chasers, this was a good solid run as I shook the dust off my SOTA skills. The S2S with K7FOP and K7ATN was especially a treat, as always.

  • Shots in Salt Lake City

    Shots in Salt Lake City

    Meet up with the college buddies for a good ‘ol fashioned football tailgate. The weather was miserable as was the outcome of the game, but Utah fans were the absolute best. Shot with a Kodak disposable.

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