The Road to Mountain Goat: A Retrospective

I've been working on making Mountain Goat since 2013, having only accomplished that achievement last month.  Many things occurred in that time, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan (N0PCL QRT during that time), re-learning CW, many antennas used and broken, many miles hiked, summits gained, and hours on the radio.

So, this happened.

So, having harvested the data on the SOTAData web site, my own logbook, and my own recollections, here's a bit of a look back.

Total QSOs:  1396
Total Points:  1005
Total Unique Summits where a QSO was made:  99
Total Summits (Includes summits visited more than once): 154
Total Failed Activations without a single QSO:  2 (White Mountain Peak, W6/CD-001.  Great hike, though, and Half Dome, W6/SN-040.  Half Dome was also an amazing hike.)
Total Summits with 1-4 QSOs (enough to activate, but not enough for points):  4

Screen-capture of my SOTA Goat App on my iPhone, showing most of the peaks I've activated.  A couple of the peaks have been de-listed for various reasons, so it's not a complete list.

A view of most of the summits in the Southern California area, from SOTA Goat.

View of the string of activated peaks along the Eastern Seaboard.  From SOTA Goat.

QSOs By Mode:

CW QSOs:  903 (65%)
FM QSOs:  183 (13%)
SSB QSOs:  310 (22%)

Learning point:  I started SOTA with SSB and CW, but my radio skill exponentially improved once I gave CW a go.  After MG was achieved, it made up basically 2/3rd of my total QSOs.  It also tends to be much more efficient at QRP power levels, and is generally much more unobtrusive on busy summits (you can sit there with a notepad, a key, and earbuds quietly hamming away without making noise or drawing attention to yourself).  It's also lots of fun.

Incidentally my longest-distance contact while activating a summit was from Middle Peak (W6/SC-024) in Southern California.  I had a CW contact with OH9XX on 12 meters using CW.  OH9XX was in Finland, 5583 miles away.  My power output:  2.5 watts.  Miles per milliwatt of power: 2.2.

So, from Southern California, I made contact with a man in Finland, by burning long-wave photons off of a piece of metal, bouncing those photons off the a section of the atmosphere that was ionized by the sun's ultraviolet light.  Those photons excited electrons on another piece of metal in Finland, where those electrons were amplified and converted to sound waves sufficient for two-way communications--using as much power as required to power a flashlight.

Amazing.

My shortest QSO was probably with WA6NVL, on Dictionary Hill (W6/SC-366).  He heard me on his HT, climbed up the hill I was on, and met me.  It was probably a contact that was less than a quarter mile.  It was on 2 Meter FM.

QSOs By Band:

80 Meters:  2 (<1%)
40 Meters:  177 (13%)
30 Meters:  136 (10%)
20 Meters:  621 (44%)
17 Meters:  100 (7%)
15 Meters:  44 (3%)
12 Meters:  101 (7%)
10 Meters:  30 (2%)
6 Meters:  3 (<1%)
2 Meters:  165 (12%)
1.25 Meters (222 MHz):  5 (<1%)
70 centimeters:  12 (<1%)

I've had the fortune of making activation contacts on every band from 80 Meters through 70 centimeters, except 60 meters.  My SOTA transcievers, an FT-817ND and a VX-8DR, both from Yaesu, allow exceptional frequency agility, which I have found useful.  The only reasons I haven't made contacts on other bands is because I don't have a radio that will support that (on frequencies above 450 MHz), or I don't have an antenna that allows it (on 60 and 160 meters).  I'll see about rectifying that in the future.

I was surprised at the amount of time I gave to WARC bands (30, 17, and 12 meters).  I actually made more contacts on each of those bands than 80, 15, and 10 meters combined!  This was, in part, likely due to the 12 Meter Challenge, which was popular some time ago in the SOTA world.  I also really, really like 30 an 17 meters, too, since those bands have many similar characteristics to the neighboring 20 and 40 meter bands, but they're never plagued with contest activity.  The WARCs seem a bit more gentlemanly.

All of my SOTA activations on VHF and up were FM or SSB.  All QSOs on 2 meters and up were via FM.

I'm becoming more and more interested in VHF and UHF operation, particularly weak signal and satellite work.  In the future, don't be surprised to see me try to activate some summits on those higher frequencies.

QSOs by Countries/DXCC Entities:

96.7% of all QSOs were with other stations in the continental United States.  1.93% were with Canadian stations.  The remainder were countries spread out in 11 other DXCC entities.

From Southern California, I managed to reach Canadian, German, and Finnish stations.  The rest of the DXCC entities were contacted from mountains along East Coast of the US.

Activators:

Phil, NS7P, Gary, W0MNA, and his XYL, Martha, W0ERI, were my top chasers.

Associations:

Here's a list of the associations and regions I've activated in:

890 QSOs (64%) were from the W6 association.  421 QSOs (30%) were from W4V.  6% were spread among K0M, W0C, W1, W3, W7A, W7W, and W9.

543 (54%) of my points were from W6.  394 (39%) were from W4V.  The rest, 68 points (7%) were from the other associations.

Personal Notes:

• Favorite QSO:  Mentioned above, with OH9XX.
• Favorite Hikes:  There are many.  My favorites are, in no particular order:  Mt. Badon-Powell (W6/CT-004), Alabama Hills (W6/SS-442), Robertson Mountain (W4V/SH-011), Rocky Mount (W4V/HB-035), San Gorgonio (W6/CT-001 & W6/CT-243), San Antonio (W6/CT-003), Thomas Mountain (W6/CT-016), Cahuilla Mountain (W6/CT-103), Knob Mountain (W4V/SH-017), and Pilot Knob (W6/SD-435).
• Least Favorite Hike:  Pt. 6020 (W6/SD-017).  This peak was a bushwhack through thorns and scrub.  It was barely doable.
• Easiest Hike:  Probably La Cumbre Peak (W6/SC-086), but there are others that are incredibly easy.
• Most Challenging Hike:  Pallett Benchmark (W6/CT-058), or maybe San Gorgonio (mentioned above).
• Most points earned in a weekend:  48.  From 18-20 April 2014, I activated Onyx Peak (W6/CT-044), Keller Peak (W6/CT-013), Delamar Mountain (W6/CT-050), Bertha Peak (W6/CT-054), Mount Williamson (W6/CT-011), and Pallett Benchmark (W6/CT-058).

My wisdom learned from the whole thing:

• Persevere.  Don't Give Up.  Mountain Goat is one of the most challenging amateur radio activities in existence.  It's very physical, demands, high levels of operator skill, is technically challenging, and can be frustrating.  Just keep improving.
• Analyze your failures, and be objective about them.  Need to improve your hiking shape, or learn CW, or find alternative methods of spotting?  Do it.
• Have fun.  It's immensely satisfying.

N0PCL and the XYL, on the summit of Alabama Hills, with Mount Whitney, in the background.

Activation of Thomas Mountain (W6/CT-016) and Failed Activation of Lookout Mountain (W6/CT-104)

This past Veterans Day I took the occasion to try to activate some peaks.  Of all the efforts, the only one that panned out was Thomas Mountain (W6/CT-016).

Here's the story.

Left the hotel in Carlsbad in the morning and drove to Thomas Mountain.  This peak can be done as largely a drive-up, or it can be climbed via the Ramona Trail.  I drove up due to time constraints.

Getting there is easy.  Get to the intersection of highway 74 and Forest Route 5S13.  You'll see a nice sign directing you toward Thomas Mountain.  Follow the signs to a dirt road, and follow it up.  I've driven the road in my jeep in years past, and it was obviously just fine.  This time I drove it with a rental car, and it did OK, but it required a some careful driving to ensure that the bottom of the vehicle didn't make contact with the ground in some rougher stretches of road.

Once you get to Thomas Mountain Campground, you should notice a dirt road heading up and to the left.  This road leads to additional camp sites and the summit.  I recommend parking you car here and hiking up in order to make the activation legal (as the final approach to the summit must be on foot).

It was a bit chilly at the top, perhaps 40 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff wind from the north.  After taking a quick survey of the summit for a location to set up and to sling my wire antenna, I got to operating.  I found a large boulder near the summit which provided some shelter from the wind.  I unpacked by backpack and started operating.

My operating position near the boulder in the midst of setting up.  It was much colder than it looks here.

Ice had formed on the pine trees on the summit, but it was warm enough and windy enough that these icicles would fall every so often.  So watch your head.  Also, one of the things I love about California peaks is how blue the sky can be.

It was a good day for SOTA, although was told over by other stations that propagation conditions were poor.  They weren't poor to me!  10 Meters hasn't been good in a long time but I still managed to make a couple contacts there.

Thomas Mountain Logbook.  21 QSOs in 70 minutes.

As usual, I also attempted to make contacts on 6 meters, 1.25 meters, and 70 centimeters.  And as usual, no takers there.  It's always worth a shot, though, and I like to use some of the lesser-used real estate on the band plan.

Thomas Mountain really is a beautiful area.  The crisp smells, the trees, and the views all mix to make just a lovely spot on the earth.  I think it could actually make a really interesting Field Day site, too.

View looking North.  The mountain range in the distance is the San Jacinto range.  Mt. San Jacinto and Tahquitz Peak are two 8-pointers there.

View looking south.  This was the view that I was looking at as I was operating.  The peak in the foreground is Cahuilla Mountain.  The Palomar range is behind it.

More about Thomas Mountain:  It's named for one of the 49ers.  More here.  Also:  APRS coverage is plentiful, as is AT&T 3G data services.  A National Forest Adventure Pass or an Interagency Pass is required to park a vehicle on Thomas Mountain.  The camp site at the summit is great too, with a fire pit, ample space for parking a vehicle, and plenty of room for tents.

After operating I packed up and headed back to the car for the drive toward Lookout Mountain (W6/CT-104).

I used the traditional Lookout Mountain approach, which is via the PCT.  Simply park the car at the intersection of the PCT and highway 74, and start hiking south until you reach the first ridgeline.  Turn east, and climb up.  There is a well-defined trail, but it can be brushy at time.  Anyways, following the trail, you now come across this sign:

As a German once said:  Scheisse!

So, it appears that Lookout Mountain is now off-limits per SOTA rules, unless you somehow get permission from the land owner.  Needless to say, I didn't notice KD7WPJ's warning on the SOTA page for Lookout Mountain.

It was still a very good activation day, and a great way to spend a Veterans day.  As a veteran myself, it's great to be able to experience such a beautiful country--a country that's worth fighting for.

73.