Tag / drive-up

by KE6MT

Green Mountain – W7W/RS-074

I was up in my home state of Washington (not DC) for a family wedding and wanted to squeeze in a little bit of SOTA fun.  This summit fit the bill, and also looked like it’d be really enjoyable, with a good view.  Too bad I injured my knee just a few days before the trip!  But not to worry: it turns out this summit has a drive-up option if you don’t mind a few miles of dirt road.

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Activation Date: 22 July 2018
Transport: Drive-Up / Short Hike Distance: 0.5 miles
Elev. gain: 120 feet Time: 12 minutes
Rig(s): MTR-3B, FT-817 Band(s): 40m/20m (cw/ssb)
Antenna(s): Linked EFHW 40/30/20m
Cell Service: Moderate (T-Mobile)
Parking: Summit Lot, via Green Mountain Summer Road
Trailhead: Vista Trail
Fees/Permits: Discover Pass ($11.50 daily, $35 annual)
Route: Walk up the Vista Trail
Dogs: Yes Toilet: Yes
Antenna Support: Lots of trees, fence RF Noise: Low

I was up in my home state of Washington (not DC) for a family wedding and wanted to squeeze in a little bit of SOTA fun.  This summit fit the bill, and also looked like it’d be really enjoyable, with a good view.  Too bad I injured my knee just a few days before the trip!  But not to worry: it turns out this summit has a drive-up option if you don’t mind a few miles of dirt road.

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by KE6MT

Mount Umunhum – W6/CC-052 – 2018

Mount Umunhum is very close to me “as the bird flies,” but it takes almost an hour to get there.  Nonetheless, with the family out of town I decided to do this drive-up summit after work one day.  It may be an hour drive each way, but there’s just a few minutes of walking up some stairs to get to the top. 

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Activation Date: 16 July 2018
Transport: Drive-Up / Walk Distance: 159 stairs
Elev. gain: 100 feet Time: 10 minutes
Rig(s): VX-2R, GD-77 Band(s): 2m/70cm (fm/dmr)
Antenna(s): 12.5″ whip
Cell Service: Moderate (T-Mobile)
Parking: Summit Lot
Trailhead: N/A
Fees/Permits: None
Route: Walk up the stairs
Dogs: No! Toilet: Yes
Antenna Support: Couple of short trees RF Noise: Med-High

Mount Umunhum is very close to me “as the bird flies,” but it takes almost an hour to get there.  Nonetheless, with the family out of town I decided to do this drive-up summit after work one day.  It may be an hour drive each way, but there’s just a few minutes of walking up some stairs to get to the top. Last time I activated it, it was in the fog. This time I was able to see a lot more!

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by KE6MT

Ben Lomond Mountain, W6/NC-178

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Activation Date: 29 November 2017
Transport: Drive-Up Distance: N/A
Elev. gain: N/A Time: 5 minutes
Rig(s): LNR Precision MTR-3B Band(s): 30m CW
Antenna(s): End-fed half-wave
Cell Service: None
Parking: Side of Empire Grade
Trailhead: N/A
Fees/Permits: None
Route: N/A
Dogs: N/A  Toilet: No

I was over in Santa Cruz for work, so decided to make a “quick” detour on the way back over the hill so I could activate this summit. I’ve had my eye on it for a while, so I posted an alert on SOTAWatch and squeezed in some time to do it. The detour isn’t actually very “quick,” but it’s within reason.

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by KE6MT

Mount Umunhum, W6/CC-052

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Activation Date: 20 September 2017
Transport: Hike Distance: 159 stairs
Elev. gain: 100 feet Time: 10 minutes
Rig(s): Yaesu VX-2R Band(s): 2m, 70cm FM
Antenna(s): 12.5 inch flex whip
Cell Service: Moderate (T-Mobile)
Parking: Summit Lot
Trailhead: N/A
Fees/Permits: None
Route: Walk up the stairs
Dogs: No  Toilet: Yes

Ever since moving to the SF Bay Area, I’ve wanted to explore this summit. When I first moved here about 10 years ago, I wondered what the big “cube” was on top of the mountain. After finding out what it was, and that it was closed to the public, I really wanted to go there. Having patiently waited years, the time finally came—it opened to the public on September 18th, 2017.

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by KE6MT

Oak Hill, W1/HA-179

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Activation Date: 14 August 2017
Transport: Car Distance: 25 yards
Elev. gain: N/A Time: 5 minutes
Rig(s): FT-817, VX-2R Band(s): 40m, 20m SSB
Antenna(s): End-fed half-wave, 12.5 inch flex whip
Cell Service: Excellent (T-Mobile)
Parking: At the top of the hill
Trailhead: N/A
Fees/Permits: None
Route: N/A
Dogs: Yes  Toilet: No

For my family reunion, most of my siblings and I stayed at a chalet in Madison, New Hampshire. Very near where we were staying was this drive-up SOTA summit. I actually ended up visiting several times, and doing SOTA operations twice. The view is absolutely amazing.  The day I activated this summit, I tried twice. The first one, at sunrise, was completely unsuccessful with zero contacts made.  The second one, at sunset, was successful, but zero points with only three contacts made.

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