A Random Blog for a Random Reason

Tag: First Activation

  • Tamarack Ridge W7I/NI-256

    Tamarack Ridge W7I/NI-256

    Miles: 2.66
    Gain: 497ft
    QSOs: 6
    Points: 1

    A relatively easy summit to bag, the biggest cost was the time it took drive the Forest Service roads to get to the start. This is Idaho, so it should go without saying that there’s logging activity. I keep thinking I should nab myself a little CB radio so I can monitor the posted channels when I head into these areas.

    Plenty of parking area at the gated start, there was a nice trickle of fresh snow melt coming off the hillside. The walk in was a gradual climb that’s hardly worth mentioning. Once getting a bit higher, coincidentally where all of the trees are cut down, the views are rather interesting if you can look past the coniferous carnage (pardon my poetry).

    At some point there road turns and you might be tempted to follow it, but going straight through the trees and right up the side of the hill is the quicker option. The true summit was a little difficult to find as the veg was pretty thick and I don’t think the map data is totally accurate. Regardless, I made it to where the GPS pointed me and was within the activation zone, so up the goes the wire.

    The 20-meter band was BUSY so after answering WD9DWD’s CQ for the Handiham‘s QSO event (a long-distance Idaho to Idaho call), I spotted myself and was greeted by personal chasers N0WAE and WW7D, plus a couple of summit-to-summits which I always enjoy.

    Back down the car for a nice drive out and a celebratory pint of Pilsner at Pour Company. Gotta pat myself on the back for a good afternoon touching grass and nabbing another first activation.

  • Another Dual F.A. Day: W7I/NI-268 + W7I/NI-269

    Another Dual F.A. Day: W7I/NI-268 + W7I/NI-269

    The temps have officially dipped and we’re in the shoulder season of unpredictable and generally unfavorable weather. Saturday looked to offer a bit of a window, so I dug out a rough plan to work two more unactivated W7I summits: NI-268 and NI-269.

    This pair was super close to one another and road access seemed open, and it was indeed. The drive in via Winfall Pass Road was downright pleasant with some of the widest, smoothest dirt I’ve been on all year. I parked in a saddle right between the two summits which I internally referred to as the ‘ham cleve’ and flipped a coin on which to tackle first.

    The southern summit, 268, was a nice roadwalk up to the very top. There had been some active logging recently as I passed multiple smoldering burn piles. The AZ was wide open with a few standing trees and plenty of downed branches to which I could attach the ends of my antenna wire.

    After 5 QSOs I packed up and started booking it to 269. The initial approach was much the same but this summit was still heavily treed and the roads suggested by the historical maps were no longer there. Things got thick quick, and once I found myself within the AZ I began looking for somewhat of a clearing in order to get a wire up.

    Due to limited space, I opted to just run my EFHW as a 20/10 sloper (rather than the usual 40/20/10 inverted-v). It got the job done with 5 QSOs on 20m (including 2 summit-to-summits) and 2 more QSOs on 10m. Clouds rolled in and the temps really dipped during this one, so after exhausting the quiet 10 meter band I tore down and got back down the hill to the car.

    Next time, I would follow the two-track as far as I could towards 268 before bushwhacking a little as possible straight up the hill. Not sure it’s really worth it for 1 point, but everything else about this activation was pleasant so I’m sure I’ll do it again next year.

  • Dual Idaho F.A. Day: Moses Mountain NI-207 + Tensed Benchmark NI-223

    Dual Idaho F.A. Day: Moses Mountain NI-207 + Tensed Benchmark NI-223

    Found a couple of not-yet-activated summits just north of me and across the state line into Idaho: Moses Mountain W7I/NI-207 and Tensed Benchmark W7I/NI-223. The two activation zones are only about 5.5km from eachother and the weather for this day was looking prime so I figured this would be a good opp for my first two-summit day.

    The drive out wasn’t too bad. AWD definitely needed and the clearance on my Honda Element was plenty. It was logging country and whether or not people were supposed to be out there was a little questionable, but nothing explicitly posted no trespassing, so I parked down the hill from Moses Mountain and bit off the main road.

    Tensed BM was first and very nice hike along two-track trail pretty much the entire way. At the summit a big rock cairn and that felt like a good spot to set up the radio and get cracking. After 8 QSOs I packed up, at my slice of leftover pizza from earlier in the week, and headed back towards Moses Mtn.

    The trail up towards Moses’ peak fizzled out quickly it became a bushwhack up the side of the hill. Nothing impassable, but I got some good leg scratching today. After getting 7 QSOs in the bag, I decided it was probably time to start my way back down. The air was chilling and the sun was going down on this early fall day.

    Big thanks to WW7D, my #1 all time chaser, who sought me out on both summits today.

    The ridge hike up to Tensed Benchmark.
    AZ of Moses Mountain.
    Tensed Benchmark cairn.
    Post-activation cheers.
  • Gravel Bike SOTA: Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265

    Gravel Bike SOTA: Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265

    Naturally, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time looking at the map of my surrounding summits, plotting my next weekend. Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265 was this past weekend’s target; my brother-in-law was in town with his gravel bike so I selfishly plotted a rideable activation and invited Pete, my local riding buddy. The three of us met up in nearby Potlatch, Idaho where we refilled water bottles and watched the near-distant storm lightening and thunder.

    The ride from Potlatch was about 14 miles with 2,350 ft of gain taking us near the activation zone. It was a surprisingly good route with good amount of climbing but nothing depleting. Once we got near the top, we stashed the bikes in bushes and shwacked the last 200 ft or so up to the summit.

    On top I unrolled the Packtenna 20m EFHW, got it up in the air, spotted myself and almost immediately nailed down five contacts. The calls dried up and, without any other bands to work (and with riding buddies starting to look bored), I packed up and we rolled back out.

    This was my 5th SOTA activation and, besides some 2m VHF, all of my HF contacts have been on 20m because… well that’s the only antenna I have. This is something I want to change so that I can work more potential chasers. There’s a project in my future.

    Thank you to my chasers: KI7QEK, KJ7NDY, WB6POT, AG5HV, KF9D

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