SOTA activation in Kentucky - Pine Mountain - A QRP Adventure

Nice job! We were actually thinking of doing that summit on the way back from our Mount Guyot expedition a few weeks ago. It was raining buckets though and we were pretty whooped from Guyot so we passed.

We should chat about some of those other summits nearby. That area is the closest real mountains to me and I have been eyeing some of the others in that area. I would love any on-the-ground info you might be able to provide.

73,
Joe

 

Hi Joe:
Holy Cow! Did you activate Mt. Guyot? I was wanting to activate that one, looks like you might have beat me to the punch! I was trying to convince Mark to try and activate it with me... de W4ALF

 

I did! The report is here along with a few photos:

http://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/mount-guyot-w4t-su-002-report/17016

It ended up being one of those epic trips you never forget. It was a trip of firsts: my first first activation, Guyot's first activation (also first winter activation), my first cw activation.

If you get the chance, definitely do it!

73,
Joe

 

I don't know why it happens but cell videos turn sideways frequently when posted online. There is a trick to fixing it but I forget how.

 

Nice job! When I go camping in bear country I play my banjo.....keeps EVERYONE away. I also bring a shootin iron along but thank God I've never had to use it.
Some the narration was a little low audio wise but I really enjoyed seeing the scenery, it made me want to be there. Your antenna selections were good choices and the background music was right on. A lot of YouTubes have ridiculous heavy metal guitar noise that covers up the narration.
Keep up the good work and I hope to work you on your nest activation.
73...WB6FQZ

 

HAhahaha. This is some great advice. I usually just try to talk a bunch and make noise. But maybe I should look into bringing a banjo along as well...

 

The Harmonica seemed to work well. No Bears and no people! Deliverance music is good repellent in God's country

 

I will be working on better video and audio next time around, I promise. Iphone video was the extent of my documenting for this trip. de W4ALF

 

Fantastic video!! i really enjoyed the scenery and the music,, good balance of talking and showing the details of the trip. Well done

73 de fernando ke4ymx

 

I keep foodstuff's sealed and safely stowed or hung. So far no problems with ADK black bears - knock on wood.

Amen, brother! Damn wannabe producers/DJs. Bleh!

Speaking of their "nest" activation, how about this?

http://www.wildcenter.org/visit/wild-walk/a-nest-with-a-view/

 

Very nice. How many miles was the hike?

 

Great video of your trip to Pine Mountain State Park in SE Ky. I grew up and operated near there from 1977-1989 before moving to Mn. It is nice to see the park remain so primitive and beautiful. The Bears were introduced by the USFWS after I left there - not the smartest policy idea if you ask me! Propagation was always great from that region of the USA.

 

There were signs of bears everywhere. Yet we saw none. The first night was nerve racking for me, but after that I was not worried. Don't let wildlife deter you from going to places like these. It was a great trip. Someone mentioned ticks, I sprayed all my gear with permethrin, my hiking buddy did not, we both saw none nor had any ticks the whole trip. Typically you will see less ticks at higher elevations, we only camped one night at lower elevation. The biggest threat on this trip was not bears, it was dehydration. We under estimated the amount of water needed and at summit no water, we came back down and filtered water and drank to hearts content - at summit I had symptoms of dehydration, made operating that night difficult. The accumulated elevation gain/loss was about 3200ft, the trail was up and down the whole way. Lessons learned and great experience both Ham operating and backpacking. Next trip is either TN or CO for another SOTA. de W4ALF

 

I want to say is was only 7mi? but the constant up and down of the trail had us huffing and puffing in the heat.

 

A presentation on SOTA that I modified to talk about the trip and about SOTA - de w4alf

http://k4co.org/MiscDocuments/W4ALF_Pine_Mt_SOTA.pdf