W0C/FR-060 Berrian Mountain 2783 M / 9147 FT
Nov 02, 2013 by KX0R
Berrian Mountain is almost a secret mountain. It’s very prominent north of Aspen Park near Highway 285, close to the Denver area, and it’s a fine SOTA peak. The summit and approach are owned by Denver Mountain Parks (DMP) and held as conservation property, so the peak is not developed. However, most of the land around the mountain is private, so access is tricky. Fortunately there is an unmarked trailhead with a small parking place along a public road on the northwest side of the peak.
The trailhead is on Armadillo Trail road, about 1000 feet north of “Grand Summit Trail”. Look on Google maps for this. If you look at the satellite image, you can see the parking area on the west side of Armadillo. The DMP land extends all the way down to the road, and the land at the trailhead is posted “DMP”. There is an official sign for the trailhead up about 100 feet east of the road, but it’s hard to see from the road while driving. Please obey the rules posted on the sign to preserve public access. In particular, camping, fires, and bicycles are prohibited.
A trail heads up a small gully behind the DMP sign, and it leads to a massive fire-mitigation and deforestation project on the ridge above. The trail is hard to follow through the cut-down forest, but just keep heading uphill, following the ridge SSE, and eventually ascend into the uncut forest. The upper trail is distinct, and trees are marked with red and orange paint along the path. When you come to a large elevated rock formation below and northwest of the summit, climb up and have a look at the fine view. This nice spot is the primary destination for hikers and locals who enjoy their mountain.
From the rocks, head east about 50 feet, and then climb SSE up the ridge on a faint unmarked path until you come to the ridge-top. There are several rocky summits spaced along the ridge, all within a few vertical feet of each other. The northern summit is probably the actual peak, but it’s almost academic. The southernmost summit has a really fine view south, so be sure to go there and have a look down at Aspen Park, Highway 285, and across to several other peaks visible around the area.
The Berrian summit ridge is mostly flat and forested, and there are several nice sites to set up an antenna and operate. There are some sunny spots with shelter from wind, and the trees are high enough – over 40 feet – to be useful for supports. Few people visit the summit area, so it’s relatively private. This is a good SOTA peak for the fall – hunting is not allowed. The road is maintained, so winter access is probably good. The ascent route looks OK for snowshoes. It’s a little more than a mile up there, and about 1000 vertical feet.
Please treat this mountain, the trailhead, and other visitors with total respect so that access is preserved. Berrian Mountain is one of the best SOTA peaks near the greater Denver area; practice Leave No Trace if you visit this special place.
George Carey Fuller
KX0R
A few pictures:
Small Parking Area at Berrian Trailhead
Berrian Trail near the Rocks
View of Mount Evans from Berrian
Doublehead Mountain from Berrian Mountain
View East from Berrian
KX0R Radio Gear on Berrian
Berrian Mountain from Highway 285
Berrian Trailhead Sign and Rules
KX0R Antenna and Gear on Berrian
View NW from Berrian Rocks
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
The Needles are the highest points along Lumpy Ridge, an elongated mass of granite summits and cliffs located north of Estes Park, next to the McGregor Ranch. It takes considerable effort to activate the Needles, but it’s a rewarding expedition.
The most practical route up to the Needles starts at the Gem Lake Trailhead, located northeast of McGregor Ranch. Drive into Estes Park on route 34 or 36, follow the bypass (34) west past the Stanley Hotel on the hill, and turn right, north, on the Devils Gulch Road (43). Go north about 2/3 mile, pass the left turn to McGregor Ranch (where parking is no longer allowed), and drive northeast for about ½ mile on Road 43. Turn left on Lumpy Ridge Road and go north a short distance uphill to the marked Gem Lake Trailhead.
From the popular trailhead, start up the trail, and be careful to choose the route northwest to the Black Canyon Trail and McGregor Ranch – don’t go north up toward Gem Lake. The hike traverses the wide valley of McGregor Ranch and passes several climbing areas along the cliffs of Lumpy Ridge. After a couple of miles you’ll see the Needles high above. Below the Needles the route crosses an impressive mudslide path created during the September 2013 floods; this slide gushed down from near the Needles all the way to the valley floor. After the mudslide, the trail gains altitude steadily for about a mile, until it reaches a junction with the Cow Creek Trail. Turn right, go about 100 yards east to an obvious saddle, have some water, and head southeast up the northwest ridge of the Needles. Climb steadily up through the trees along the ridge until it gets craggy; then head slightly north of the ridge and continue climbing, while heading toward the summits. If you try to follow the ridge all the way it’s too craggy. Avoid the obvious NW summit – it’s a false summit. Stay on the left side of the ridge going up, north of the first summit, until you see the middle summit. The third summit, The Needle, may not be visible until you pass the middle summit. As before, stay left – north – of the middle summit until you come to the higher Needle right behind it.
If you have time, climb the middle summit – it’s a fun scramble up from the west end of its summit rock.
The third (actual) summit requires a bit of class 3 scrambling, and the peak is a very airy point. It feels as high as it appears from below! The views are spectacular in all directions. Estes Park and Lumpy Ridge lie below, prominent McGregor Mountain is close by, and Ypsilon and Fairchild are just a few miles away. This hike would be much more popular if there were a trail up to the Needles.
Please note that the final half mile of this climb is not recommended unless you have experience with off-trail hiking and navigation. From the developed trail at the saddle, there is no reliable path, and visibility is limited. The route gets progressively rougher, and there are many large rocks and fallen trees to climb over toward the top. When I climbed the Needles, there were a couple of inches of snow in the woods, and care was required to negotiate the slippery slope northeast of the ridge.
The dramatic summit area near the Needles can be very pleasant; I found a nice sunny spot with protection from wind right below the summit rock; this was a better place for my activation than the exposed summit. There are several small trees and useful rocks, and propagation is excellent in most directions.
Except for the off-trail part of this expedition, this is a scenic low-altitude Rocky Mountain National Park hike, with grand views and a variety of terrain. The total distance is about 10 miles, with a vertical gain of about 2500 feet. Trail use is light to moderate. This climb is not recommended unless weather and other conditions are right. On the right day, the Needle is a classic SOTA peak, offering a rich experience for the operator who enjoys activating high, isolated places.
A few pictures:
Trail Sign at the Junction West of the Saddle
Route NW of the Summits Showing Challenges
NW Side of the Summit Rocks
KX0R Activation of the Needles
ATS3B and Tuners
McGregor Mountain and Middle Needle from Summit
Exposed Summit of The Needle
Ypsilon and Fairchild from the Middle Needle
Middle Needle and Summit from Below
Mudslide at Trail Crossing below The Needles
George Carey Fuller
KX0R
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
W0C/PR-114 (Bald Mountain) 3040 M/ 9994 Ft
Central City Area
Oct 06, 2013
by KX0R
George Carey Fuller
Bald Mountain is a wonderful SOTA peak in the historic mining zone southwest of Central City. While it’s partly surrounded by private land, mines, and new homes, the summit is on National Forest land, and so is the hike and parking!
This is not obvious at first…
Drive to Central City and follow Main Street, which climbs and becomes the Nevadaville Road, west about 3 miles, until you reach a high point near 9500 feet. Turn right north on Co Rd 1N, go about 2000 feet to a junction, and turn left on Bald Mountain Lane. If you see Bald Mountain ROAD, do not follow that, it’s private, and they do not want you there! Bald Mountain LANE leads immediately to the Bald Mountain Cemetery, down on the right side, which has many historical graves and some spooky tales associated with the dead who are buried there. Google it for more info…
If you drive a little farther north from the cemetery, you will see USFS signs marking the forest boundary, and now you’re all set! Just go a bit farther, find a convenient parking spot on the east side, and park there, off the road. Cross the road and hike up the NE slope of the mountain on game trails – there is no marked route – just head straight up the slope through the forest. You’ll see the remains of old prospects here and there. It’s about 600 vertical feet and about 2/3 mile to the summit. If you go too far south, there is posted private land – but the NE route and the summit area is all in the National Forest.
The west summit is the high point – but the east summit is almost as high. There are lovely meadows surrounded by aspen trees all around the spacious top – this peak is colorful when the trees turn gold in the fall. The views are fabulous, right up to the Divide, and all around. Bald Mountain is a classic, and few people know about it or climb it.
You can set up and operate wherever you like within 75 vertical feet of the top. There are trees that could be used for an antenna – or bring a pole.
When you get down, it’s fun to drive around the Nevadaville – Russell Gulch area to see various old mines and buildings. The Virginia Canyon Road 279 provides an interesting alternative descent road down to Idaho Springs.
Some pictures (click onto the picture for a larger version):
Bald Mountain Summit
Bald Mountain Radio Gear, ATS-3B and Tuners
Bald Mountain Meadow
Bald Mountain Activation Setup – KX0R
Bald Mountain View West from Summit – Continental Divide
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
Fairburn Mountain is a convenient and pleasant SOTA peak with great access. The trailhead and parking are at Cold Springs Campground, about 1000 feet southwest of where Golden Gate Canyon Road 46 intersects Highway 119, near the major hilltop at about 9350 feet on 119. Park in the free lot just to the right of the forest road – do not enter the campground.
There is no developed trail up Fairburn, but there’s a path with some cairns most of the way up the south ridge. The ascent from the parking lot to the SE summit is 1000 vertical feet in about 1 mile – it’s a pleasant hike up through aspens and evergreens. Unfortunately the SE summit at 10,360 feet is a false summit. The actual SOTA peak at 10390 feet, 3161M, is almost ½ mile to the northwest along the forested ridge. Fortunately there’s little loss of altitude between the summits, but you have to pick your way through some fallen trees, rocks, and other minor obstacles – there is no real trail. Few people visit the real summit. There are numerous places to set up and operate within 75 vertical feet of the top, and good trees for antenna supports are available.
This summit offers the possibility of camping for an overnight outing, and winter access seems likely as well.
It might be possible to access this peak from the Missouri Gulch Road Co Rd 51-S to the west, via the NW ridge of Fairburn, with less ascent and a shorter hike; but I have no information on whether that route is practical.
Fairburn Mountain provides a good SOTA outing with a moderate amount of effort required. Its proximity to the Denver-Boulder area should make it more popular for SOTA activations.
Fairburn View to James Peak and Continental DivideFairburn Southeast Summit Area
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
I just wrapped up a trip in Europe and I could not resist to activate a few summits while I had the chance. Staying in Austria (OE), I was able to activate two nearby and new (for me) associations (HBØ and HB). I also took the opportunity to make a second attempt on HBØ/LI-ØØ4 – Augstenberg. This summit eluded me last year due to extreme winds in excess of 100 km/h (60 mph). We had to turn around shortly before reaching the summit. This time the WX forecast looked more promising.
As usual, Herbert/OE9HRV organized the activations when I visit his neck of the woods. Arno/OE9AMJ and Ramon/OE9CSH joined the activation and what these guys had in store for me was quite a trip. Weather and time permitting they were planning to continue on a loop with the possibility to activate three more summits for a total of four. The best part… HBØ/LI-ØØ2 or Naafkopf was one of them. This unique SOTA summit is a rare gem. The border of three countries, Lichtenstein (HBØ), Switzerland (HB) and Austria (OE) meet exactly at the summit and it is therefore worth 30 SOTA points in total. I am not aware of any other SOTA summit which has a similar setting.
Panorama from the summit station
The complete trip could potentially rake in a total of 58 points on a ~20 km (12.5 mi) loop with 1700+ m (~5600 ft) elevation gain including two new associations for my log. Needless to say that I was motivated :)
This trip report is focused on the Naafkopf only.
The route we took in red
Trailhead: 5243 ft / 1598 m
Summit: 7740 ft / 2359 m (Augstenberg)
8432 ft / 2570 m (Naafkopf)
6860 ft / 2091 m (Nospitz)
Elev. gain: 4832 ft / 1473 m (exludes gondola - hiking only)
Roundtrip: 10.2 mi / 16.4 km(exludes gondola - hiking only)
We headed south from OE towards the Principality of Liechtenstein (or Liechtenstein for short.) Liechtenstein is a rather small independent country near the Lake of Constance and shares the border with Switzerland and Austria. With an area of just over 160 square kilometers (62 sq mi), it has a population of ~35’000 and a total of eleven SOTA summits – all of them already activated. We started our hike in Malbun, the only ski resort in Lichtenstein.
From Malbun we took the gondola from 5274 ft (1608 m) to the Sareiserjoch at 6526 ft (1990 m). At the top we were greeted by an Alphorn player – a nice touch to start our day – and we could hear her tunes for quite a while across the valley. The first ~2.5 mi (4 km) follows a trail to the Chalbergrad and continues along a very pronounced ridge towards our first summit. Great views in both directions of the ridge. The last 0.4 mile (0.6 km) before HBØ/LI-ØØ4 – Augstenberg, are kind of steep. The summit is a rocky outcropping on a rather large, sloped and green summit. The obligatory cross at the summit served as a backdrop for our first SOTA summit photo of the day.
OE9CSH, OE9AMJ, KØMOS, OE9HRV (l to r)
On the summit we setup two stations, a CW station for Arno/OE9AMJ and an SSB station for the rest of us. No problem to activate a summit on 40m in Europe :)
Within 40 minutes we all had our contacts logged and were on our way to the grand prize of the day. Reluctantly we decided to skip Gorfion (OE/VB-241) to allow plenty of operation time on the Naafkopf. In retrospect a wise decision, considering that we reached the car just as the sun went down.
Haeding towards Pfälzerhütte
From the summit of Augstenberg (2359 m/7740 ft) we had to descend to the saddle, where the Pfälzerhütte is located at 2108 m/6916ft. A great location for having a beer, assuming you have the time… we decided to continue on to the next summit – a 462 m/1516 ft ascent over 1.8 km/1.1 mi. There is still a well defined trail up the steep slope and only one ‘critical’ spot we had to navigate. Some lingering snow from last weeks nasty weather in combination with the steep terrain slowed us down just a bit about halfway up to the summit. After that it was smooth sailing.
The Summit:
Setup on the summit:
We reached the small summit around 14:00 local time under blue skies and with very comfortable temperatures. An artificial wall built from rocks, ~40 cm/16 in. in height, is dividing the summit along the border lines and building the base for the dominating summit cross. To make it really easy for us, each section of the wall was clearly marked with the name of the country so we would always know where we are :)
We followed the same procedure as before; Arno setting up a CW station with his FT-817 and an Alex loop, and Hebert setting up the KX-3 with a 20m J-Pole for the SSB crowd. I got the honor to go first and I chose to start on the Swiss (HB) side of the summit – hoping to activate my 10th SOTA association.
Arno/OE9AMJ on the summit
We took turns on the radio. Every 15-20 minutes we announced an operator change so we all had the chance to activate every section (association) of the summit. But announcing a summit change after the first hour stirred up some confusion in the chaser community. Changing the operator and the summit within 30 sec. on the same frequency is not very common. A short explanation of the situation kept everybody’s log in sync.
Taking turns on the summit worked out great, giving me enough time to talk and share stories with other SOTA operators and to take plenty of pictures and video footage of a perfect day.
The view towards the east with Arno’s Alex loop
We saved the best for last. With just 11 SOTA summits, Lichtenstein (HBØ) is a rare opportunity for chasers. We changed our antenna for the 15m band, hoping to get across the Atlantic and catch some stations in the US. The plan worked, NA1RL/Richard in Connecticut copied my signal and so did K2JB/Jimmy and AE4FZ/Chuck both in NC. The highlight for me however was the contact with YC5YZ on Sumatra Island – my first contact with Indonesia :)
Following my motto ‘always stop when things are at the top‘I announced another operator change and handed over the mic to Ramon.
Ramon/OE9CSH on 20m
The Descent:
Alpine ibex
We almost had to detach Herbert from the radio by force… as longs as he has some space left in his logbook, he will not quit. But there was another summit beckoning from the distance. It was already late in the afternoon and a cool breeze forced us to put on another layer for the descent. Arno led the way down. A herd of Alpine ibexretreated from us and gave us little chance for a decent photo. At the Pfälzerhütte we turned west towards Alp Gritsch. Arno could not believe that we passed up the chance to have a beer, but chose to press on to activate another summit. Luckily he is a great guy and readily admitted that the chance to activate another HBØ summit does not come along everyday for me. I guess I owe him a beer.
Tälihöhi with Nospitz in the distance
We passed by the Alp towards Tälihöhi, the last ridge we had to get over before heading down to Malbun. The Nospitz can be easily reached by a short ascent from the Tälihöhi. From this ridge it was another 45-50 minutes back to town and to the car. We all started to feel some wear and tear in our bones and joints and reached the car just when the sun went down – perfect timing.
Needless to say that it was an incredible day. The weather cooperated, amazing views, a great hike, special camaraderie and overall perfectly organized by Herbert – a trip I will always remember.
Here some additional pictures:
Alphorn player at the summit station
Ramon & Matt on the ridge
Herbert & Matt on the ridge
Heading up Augstenberg
The summit of Augstenberg
Setting up on Augstenberg
Setting up on Augstenberg
The view from Augstenberg with the Naafkopf
40m Bazooka
KX3 ready for action
Herbert
Matt
Herbert & Arno
Short break: Ramon,Arno and Hebert
Ramon heading up Naafkopf
Arno, Ramon, Matt
Arno, Ramon
Arno investigating a boundary stone
Slippery when wet
Waiting for Herbert
Operating on the HBØ side
Arno is setting up his station
Arno is setting up his station
Arno is setting up his station
Arno is setting up his station
Arno is setting up his station
Please don’t trip
Ready to go
CQ CQ
Arno celebrating
Arno celebrating
re-tuning the Alex loop
The view towards the east with Arno’s Alex loop
The view towards NE
Labels on the summit (FL-Fürstentum Lichtenstein)
Labels on the summit (S-Schweiz)
Labels on the summit (Ö=Österreich)
Hebert in his element
Matt on the OE side
Ramon on HB side
Ramon a little closer
I am in HBØ
Heading down
Arno with Pfälzerhütte in the background
The last summit of the day: Nospitz
Some video impressions:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA8NaYhz1fQ
If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through Youtube.
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
W0C/PR-021 (Mt. Parnassus) 4129 M / 13574 ft
W0C/FR-006 (Bard Peak) 4150 M / 13641 ft
August 21, 2013
by KØMOS
Mount Parnassus (no, not the famous Mountain from the Greek mythology) and Bard Peak are two summits in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. They are just along I-70, shortly before entering the Eisenhower tunnel (coming from the east). I have driven by these unspectacular mountains numerous times without even noticing them. They are rather easy to access via Herman Lake TH which is right at the exit 218 of I-70. Looking at the SOTA map for WØC, I decided to pay them a visit.
Mt. Parnassus as seen from the TH (almost)
Trailhead: 10313 ft / 2526 m
Summit: 13574 ft / 4137 m (Parnassus)
13641 ft / 4150 m (Bard Peak)
Elev. gain: 4574 ft / 1394 m
Roundtrip: 9.0 mi / 14.5 km
From Denver, take I-70 West and take exit 218. If you go through the Eisenhower tunnel, you went too far. Take a right at the end of the ramp and drive back, parallel to I-70, for 0.15 mi (0.25 km). Information kiosk and outhouse are right there.
Red Tape:
Both summits are part of Arapaho National Forest and their rules and regulations apply.
The Ascent:
The elevation profileTrail splits after 300 yds
The first part of the trip follows the Watrous Trail. From the info kiosk I headed out east. After a few hundred yards the trail splits… I continued east on the trail through dead and downed trees and lots of noise coming from the highway :(
When I tried to take a few snapshots with my trusted Canon G9 I only got a ‘Lens error, restart camera’ error message combined with an ear piercing whining noise in return. A couple of restarts gave me the same result – the lens was stuck in the open position – therefore all photos were made with my video cam. My excuse for the ‘great’ quality of all the pictures. What I did not know at this point, more camera problems were to come.
Down and dead trees
After about a mile into the hike the trail starts to head towards the north, along what I can only assume is Watrous Creek. Even though the creek was still carrying water, the noise coming from I-70 was still prominent. Eventually the forest/dead-tree environment makes room for alpine tundra with quite nice scenery and views of Woods Mtn. and Mt. Parnassus. The trail follows along the west side of the creek and disappears soon after it crosses over to the other side towards the saddle between Woods Mtn. and Mt. Parnassus.
View of Mt. Sniktau
From here it is a straight shot to the saddle after passing through a few remaining trees. Conveniently, somebody erected a stone cairn near the top of the saddle. You can barely see it from here but aiming for the cairn brings you into perfect position for the last 3/4 miles or so up a rocky/grassy slope to the top of Mt. Parnassus. The views are rather nice, nearby Mt. Sniktau (WØC/PR-Ø31) clearly visible with Quandary Peak (WØC/PR-Ø14) in the background under mostly blue skies with only a few white clouds.
Aim for the stone cairn
View of Mt. Parnassus from the saddle
The Summit:
The rather steep west slope flattens towards the summit. The stone shelter can be reached without any obstacles. The large summit could host quite a few activators with their gear and antennas without getting too crowded. The views are stunning in all directions. Lot’s of high altitude SOTA peaks are in clear view.
Just after I finished shooting a 360 degree video, the battery of my remaining camera quit on me. Now I was sitting at 13574 ft / 4137 m with beautiful weather and a second summit to activate, and no camera – very disappointing.
Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt with the saw-tooth route in the distance
With hardly any wind and with very comfortable temperatures I started to setup my antenna and gear. I logged my first QSO at 16:00 UTC, exactly as planned. I handed out the wrong SOTA reference number at first. Realizing that something was fishy, I asked Glenn/N4MJ to verify it for me. I only logged four QSO’s in 25 minutes. Since I had still a lot of ground to cover and because there were no more takers, I started to pack-up and move towards Bard Mountain.
Bard Peak as seen from Mt. Parnassus
Mt. Parnassus to Bard Pk.: The decent from Parnassus down to the saddle is similar to the west flank, a steep grassy slope with some rocks. Larger outcroppings can be circumnavigated without any problems . From the bottom of the saddle it is another ~600 ft (183 m) of elevation gain to the summit. I started to feel my knees and other body parts but having another 10 pointer so close by released some new energy.
It took me more than an hour to get to the top, slightly longer than planed. Setting up my shack went without hick-up under still amazing weather conditions. Logged 12 QSQ’s in 15 minutes on 20m SSB. Looked like all the chasers were finally awake ;)
After a few more but unanswered CQ’s I started my long hike back to the car.
The Descent:
Nothing noteworthy on the descent… took the same route via Parnassus. It felt like it took forever going down to the saddle and up again before heading down to the saddle of Parnassus and Woods Mountain. I reached the car, conked out after 9 miles and 4574 ft ASL (14.5 km / 1394 m). A snack and fresh water supply in the car gave me back the necessary energy for the drive home.
73, Matt/KØMOS
Feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
I had been planning all along to participate in the CO-14er Event this year. This event is organized by Bob/KØNR, for Portable Mountaintop Operation on the 54 official 14er summits (Summits higher than 4267m) in Colorado. It was however uncertain until late Friday whether I would actually be able to do so. Since it is mainly a VHF/UHF event, I home-brewed a lightweight 4-element Yagi-Uda for 2m – you can read more about it in a separate blog entry.
I selected Mount Evans as a target since it is ‘only’ a 2.5h drive from my home QTH and it has several other SOTA peaks nearby… a good chance to bag more than one summit.
The Plan:
I planned an early morning (8:30 MST) SOTA activation of nearby Gray Wolf Mtn. (4138 m/13602 ft), hoping to be on the air by 11:00 MST on Mt Evans (4339 M / 14264 ft) via Mt. Spalding (13842 ft / 4219 m). A total of 5 miles (8 km) and 3100 ft (945 m) ASL.
The route I took
I drove up to Summit Lake in the Mt. Evans Wilderness to start my hike. I left my car at 6:30 MST under blue skies but with a fierce and chilly wind. Wool hat and gloves felt nice.
Summit Lake AreaBighorns at the lake
There were only a few cars at the parking lot and a small herd of Bighorns observed my last preparations. I set my HT to 146.52 and 147.42 (Co-14er event primary frequency) hoping to catch any early 14er activators on my hike up. I moved quickly to warm up and passed only one group of hikers in front of me. The initial steep ascent towards Mt. Spalding had the desired effect and I could remove one layer of clothing under heavy breathing. I talked to two stations near Denver on 146.52 who were already aware of the event going on before I moved on.
Elevation Profile
I joined another hiker from Boulder who was also heading towards Gray Wolf Mountain. We continued our hike through the ‘wetlands‘ between Spalding and Gray Wolf. It’s a delicate endeavor to cross the fragile alpine tundra under any circumstances but with the wet area in front of us we had to pick our route carefully to keep our feet dry and our impact to a minimum. The remaining route is pretty straight forward, a steep and rocky final ascent and and we reached the summit at 8:30 MST as planned.
My shack on Gray Wolf – Mt. Spalding (center) / Mt. Evans (left) and Mt. Bierstadt (right) in the background
Just as I was setting up my HF antenna I heard W1DMH/Doug (a SOTA Mountain goat) calling CQ on 2m from Mt. Bierstadt – just ~2.5 miles S of me. My first S2S contact in the log :)
Thanks to decent propagation conditions, 20m contacts were easy to make and my log filled-up fast. I was just done with packing up my gear to continue towards Mt. Spalding, when I heard NM5S/Alan and WSØTA/Fred on 2m. These accomplished SOTA Mountain goats are normally not heard on voice frequencies – two more S2S contacts in the log and my first on the air contacts with Alan and Fred.
Mt Evans as seen from Mt. Spalding
I was now 30 minutes behind my schedule and started to head down the mountain towards the ‘wet lands‘ again. For quite a while now, I had been hearing a dog barking towards the east of me. That’s well off the beaten path of Mt. Evans and I was wondering what was going on. The continuous barking was frantic at times so I finally decided to investigate and check what was going on… perhaps a runaway dog ? Hiker with dog in distress? It turned out to be nothing like that at all, just some morons climbers who decided to tie their dogs to a rock and go rock-climbing – it was not appreciated by the dogs at all.
Now I was really behind schedule and I rushed up Mt. Spalding, hoping to make good on some of the lost time. From Mt. Spalding I talked to KCØRPS on Quandray Peak and WE7C on Mt. Bierstadt. Coming up to the ridge-line to Mt. Evans, I could copy NØBCB/Bryan on Castle Peak (another 14er). Since I wanted a S2S contact I pressed on to the summit, not realizing that Bryan was already in process of packing up for the day.
I reached the summit of Mt. Evans at 11:35 MST and had my first contact at 11:37 MST with KDØWBB/Scott, a young ham in Loveland on 2m, using my new homebrew Yagi-Uda antenna.
On Mount Evans 4339 m/14264 ft – WØC/FR-ØØ3
My log from Mt. Evans:
[table id=2 /]
At this time, most of the other 14er activators had already left the summit or they were packing up their gear. It was now past noon and rain clouds were moving in. With the strong monsoon season this year we are currently blessed with daily rain showers and thunderstorms (at least in northern Colorado).
I was in a comfortable position… with a road going all the way to the summit I was planning to hitch a ride back to Summit Lake where my car was parked in case of rain/thunderstorm. A friendly couple from Cincinnati gave me a ride. Shortly after reaching the car… the rain started :)
My final word: Mt. Evans is very crowded thanks to the road going all the way to the top. Barking dogs, crying babies and screaming people (out of excitement) made it sometimes hard to copy the signals. Even though I was sitting at the very edge of the summit, I constantly had to be careful not to poke somebody in the eye with my antenna. Putting down the Yagi is also a bad idea… it might get crushed. That’s why I opted not to setup my HF antenna. If you decide to activate Mt. Evans, go early in the morning and if you are lucky, you might have the summit all to your self.
Feel free to leave questions and/or comments below.
73, Matt/KØMOS
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
Ring Mountain (W7Y/EW-020), the second activation of the day, presented some obstacles… my planned route coming from Jelm Mountain (see picture below) was blocked by a closed gate with a NO TRESPASSING sign. There is a separate trip report for Jelm Mtn. if you are interested.
Green = route to Jelm Mtn. Blue = planned route to Ring Mtn. Red = actual route to Ring Mtn.
To find public access, I continued to drive south on Wy10. The only possible access I could find was a small two-track, not even a dirt road… I almost missed it and had to back up to turn east.
Access to Ring Mtn.
Being hot, tired and thirsty from my prior 10+ mile hike up Jelm Mopuntain, I decided to drive my old Subaru as far up the hill as I could. It was an adventure for the old Subi, some of the ruts were deeper than the ground clearance of my Subi and I had to make sure not to get stuck up here… who knows when the next car would come by… towing would become expensive.
US Forest Service Gate
I managed to reach a gate with the car hitting the ground only once. I was sure hoping not to encounter another NO TRESPASSING sign. Luckily it was a US Forest Service gate, just 0.5 miles from WY10. I passed the barbed wire fence/gate in no time and continued to follow the two-track up the hill.
Finally the track disappeared completely and it became too steep to continue by car. I left the vehicle, declared this point as the trail-head and continued my climb by foot.
Trailhead: 8288 ft / 2526 m
Summit: 8818 ft / 2688 m
Elev. gain: 519 ft / 158 m
Roundtrip: 0.8 mi / 1.2 km
Red Tape:
There is private land everywhere and the two-track seems to be the only public access to the summit.
The Ascent:
The elevation profile
The summit is close and clearly visible. Taking the route of least resistance, I crawled up the mountain in scorching temperature. The ground beneath me radiated the heat to uncomfortable levels and no shade was in sight.
View back towards the TH (you can see the car if you look closely)
The Summit:
My shack with Jelm Mtn. in the background
The summit offers a nice 360 degree view, Jelm Mountain with the WIRO dome clearly visible just a few files to the north. The sun was already high in the sky and the scarce vegetation provided no shade what so ever. I used a dead tree to tie my mast to and tuned the antenna for 20m, only to encounter the same kind of QRM I ‘enjoyed’ on Jelm Mtn. This time I did not try other bands but moved my shack immediately a little further down the mountain to have the summit between my antenna and Jelm Mtn, still blaming some of the radio installations up there for the noise – BINGO, the noise was gone and Phil/NS7P answered my call, spotted me and I logged ten contacts in no time – thanks Phil.
Panorama view towards north-west
The Descent:
Nothing noteworthy on the descent… did I mention that it was HOT? I reached the car, turned on the air-condition to max and carefully navigated my way back to the road while nibbling on my sandwich – thanks to the heat with a layer of melted cheese – yummy.
Some video impressions:
If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through Youtube.
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
I felt like it was time to explore the association just north of me, W7Y or Wyoming. The closest mountains are just ~60 mi / 100 km from my home QTH (as the crow flies) and are in the SE region of the association. To ‘justify’ the ~300 mi / 480 km drive I was planning to activate at least two summits. Jelm Mountain (W7Y/EW-006) and Ring Mountain (W7Y/EW-020) seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The two summits are just three miles apart and reaching Ring Mountain is about a two mile extension coming back down from Jelm Mtn. (see picture below) – so much for the plan.
Green = route to Jelm Mtn. Blue = planned route to Ring Mtn. Red = actual route to Ring Mtn.
During my research for the hike to Jelm Mtn. I discovered two notable facts:
1) The summits hosts the WIRO, the Wyoming Infrared Observatory and therefore a dirt road connects WY10 with the summit.
2) The yearly organized Jelm Mountain Run is following the same road. The course record is held by Nik Deininger who finished the 10+ mile course in 1:10:30 in 2012. The challenge was on… could I beat his record? ;)
I was not seriously planning to break Nik’s record but I was hoping to get a tour of the observatory.
Trailhead: 7622 ft/ 2323 m
Summit: 9656 ft / 2943 m
Elev. gain: 2627 ft / 801 m
Roundtrip: 10.5 mi / 16.9 km
Jelm Mountain (incl. the dome of the observatory) is visible for miles and miles (even before reaching Laramie) and it is straight forward to get to. From Laramie WY, take WY-230 W for about 26 miles.
Take a left onto WY-10 S for another three miles.
You will see the sign for the WIRO on your left (see picture on the right) with a maintenance building from the county with ample space to park your car… You can’t miss it.
Red Tape:
This is private land and the dirt road seems to be the only public access to the summit.
The Ascent:
Jelm Mtn – Elevation Profile
It does not get any easier than this. Just follow the dirt road all the way to the top. It was a very hot day (upper 90° F / 35°+ C) and the route does not provide any shade. It’s just you, the heat, tons of mosquitoes and a long long dusty road to the top. The views are completely different to what I am used to from the Front Range. Less dramatic but appealing and captivating nevertheless.
Snowy Range in the distance
The Summit:
A few antennas on the summit
The summit is occupied by the dome (observatory), attached living facilities, and a few antennas with a container for equipment which seem not to be related to the WIRO. Even though there was a car parked in front of the observatory, I did not meet anybody… so much for the tour I had been hoping for.
I setup the Buddipole behind the dome, attaching the mast to a dead tree. Turning on the radio presented me with S8 noise on 15, 17 and 20m… I could not hear a thing. I blamed it on the observatory and switched to 2m and my tape-measure Yagi antenna, hoping to get the necessary four contacts. The only contact was with K7HRO/Tom in Cheyenne (~60 mi with a few mountains in between). Signals were barely above the noise but we finally had a valid QSO.
Trying to get below any potential radiation patterns coming from the antenna on the summit, I moved my stuff further down the mountain, careful not to leave the activation zone. Setting up the antenna on the west side – with the antenna well below the summit – achieved the goal… noise on 20m was down to a ‘normal’ levels. I was now more than two hours beyond my posted SOTA alert but WØMNA/Gary and WØERI/Martha returned my call immediately and spotted me on SOTAwatch, rescuing this activation – thanks guys.
The Descent: I picked up the pace on my way down to make good on my time, not easy with these temperatures. I felt like a turkey on Thanksgiving… HOT.
Closed gate / No Trespassing
According to my plan I was supposed to ‘swing over’ to Ring Mtn., the blue route on my map (see picture above). Unfortunately it was impossible… a closed gate with a NO TRESPASSING sign blocked my way to the second summit of the day. Disappointed I moved on to the car, hoping to find public access further down the road. I found the car where I left it, jumped in, started the engine to get the air-condition going and made a serious dent into my water supply stored in the car.
I continued driving south on Wy10 in order to find access to Ring Mountain. Feel free to add your questions/comments below and/or Read on…
More photos:
Snowy Range in the distance
The Observatory at the top
A little closer to the summit
A few antennas on the summit
Dome occupies most of the summit
Behind the Dome
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
ATTENTION: This trip report is outdated. The City of Estes Park implemented a (new) trail up the mountain. You cannot access the summit legally from the new trail. Reports say you can get into the AZ.
Prospect Mountain is a prominent landmark in downtown Estes Park, the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). It is easily accessible by a short but enjoyable hike up the south side or even with a tramway from the north. The actual summit is about 300 ft above the tramway summit station and can be reached by walking along a gravel road. The summit hosts a bunch of communication equipment, which is visible from most of Estes Park. I have chosen to hike up the south side, an approximately 30 minute hike.
The Trailhead
Trailhead: 7977 ft/ 2431 m Summit: 8900 ft / 2713 m Elev. gain: 1001 ft / 305 m Roundtrip: 1.8 mi / 2.9 km
How to get there: From downtown Estes Park, take S. St. Vrain Avenue (US 7) towards Allenspark. Take a right onto Peak View Drive after about 2 miles (there is a wind turbine on the left, just before Peak View Drive). After about 1.1 miles, park you car at a small pull out with a cinder block structure on the right (see picture above) . The trail starts behind the cinder block structure.
Red Tape: There is some private property along the trail.
The Ascent:
Prospect Mtn – Elevation ProfileWildflowers along the way
The ascent does not present any challenges. The well established trail follows along private property before turning north east. Every now and then you will find stone cairns to help with navigation, increasingly towards the summit. It continues to meander through Pines and rock outcroppings before reaching the flat and rather large summit. Since we had some late moisture this year, wildflowers and Cacti are blooming everywhere and hummingbirds were buzzing around my head.
The Summit: There is plenty of space to setup the equipment on the rather large summit, even for larger groups of activators. Many trees, dead and alive to strap you mast or antenna to.
Buddipole on the summit
I have chosen a large dead tree with one of it’s branches sticking up in the air to bungee my mast for the Buddipole to. With all the commercial antennas up on the mountain, it was no surprise that my SWR meter went bonkers. The FT-817 was fine though and I was calling CQ on 20 m in no time. Since this was only the first of several activations planned for today, I spent only a short time on the summit, packing up after I did no longer get any responses to my calls.
The Descent: Descent is straight forwards, following the same route I cam up.
Some video impressions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSL8PRR1MNo
If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through Youtube.
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and
bold mountaineers… there are no old-bold mountaineers.
Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required – enjoy!
