{"id":1035,"date":"2011-12-22T20:34:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T03:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2014-04-07T17:22:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T23:22:44","slug":"wfr58-emerald-mountain-2810-9237-ft-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/wfr58-emerald-mountain-2810-9237-ft-2\/","title":{"rendered":"W\u00d8C\/FR-\u00d858 (Emerald Mountain) \u2013 2810 M \/ 9237 ft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I got up at 6:00 AM this morning, facing a moderate 18 degrees F (approx. -8C) and clear skies outside &#8211; just a sliver of the moon and clouds over Longs Peak towards the west. A winter storm warning was issued for later in the day, but I thought I had enough time to activate <a title=\"SOTAdata info\" href=\"http:\/\/sotawatch.org\/summits.php?summit=W0C\/FR-058\" target=\"_blank\">W\u00d8C\/FR-\u00d858<\/a> (Emerald Mountain). The dogs were not too excited to go for a walk in the dark and at these freezing temperatures &#8211; but I guess they were relieved that they did not have to join me on the mountain.<br \/>\nThe drive up through Thomson Canyon followed the frozen river all the way up to <a title=\"Wikipedia entry\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Estes_Park\" target=\"_blank\">Estes Park<\/a>. Entering Estes Park through US34 always presents a perfect overview of the surrounding mountains. Even though I was still driving under clear skies, clouds were settling in the mountains in every direction &#8211; guess the weather forecast had not lying.<\/p>\n<p>Trailhead: 8244 ft \/ 2513 m<br \/>\nSummit:\u00a0\u00a0 9237 ft \/ 2810 m<br \/>\nElev. gain: 1245 ft \/ 380 m<br \/>\nRoundtrip: 2.2\u00a0 mi \/ 3.5 km<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Summit Comparison\" href=\"http:\/\/schnizer.com\/SOTA\/\" target=\"_blank\">Compare this summit with my other activated summits<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to get there:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Take US34 from Loveland towards Estes Park through Big Thompson Canyon. Emerald Mountain is on the south-west side of Estes Park. Stay on US34 towards <a>Rocky Mountain NP<\/a>. Go left on County Road 66 (or Tunnel Road), following the signs to the YMCA campus. Follow the road all the way to the end. There is a campground at the very end &#8211; so is the <em>East Portal of the <a title=\"Wikipedia entry\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Colorado-Big_Thompson_Project\" target=\"_blank\">Big Thompson Project<\/a> Pipeline<\/em>. Park your car at the loop of the road (there is room for about 10 cars on a gravel strip at the south side of the loop.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Parking\/Trailhead<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=+40%C2%B019'41.29%22N+105%C2%B034'33.00%22W&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=68.218693,70.136719&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.328136,-105.575833&amp;spn=0.03288,0.034246&amp;t=p&amp;z=14&amp;output=embed\" height=\"350\" width=\"425\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<small><a style=\"color: #ffffff; text-align: left;\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=+40%C2%B019'41.29%22N+105%C2%B034'33.00%22W&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=68.218693,70.136719&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.328136,-105.575833&amp;spn=0.03288,0.034246&amp;t=p&amp;z=14\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<p><strong>Red Tape:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1048\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3764.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1048\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1048 \" title=\"Emeral - East Portal\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3764-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1048\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">East Portal<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At the <em>East Portal of the Big Thompson Project Pipeline<\/em> is a small (really small) reservoir &#8211; and the surrounding area is Federal property. You are not supposed to park, fish, boat, pee etc. within 100 yards of the dam &#8211; Homeland security and such. Emerald Mountain is &#8211; at least partially &#8211; within the RMNP, ergo it is a fee area and their rules apply (no dogs etc.) I am not sure about RMNP entry fees&#8230; since the trail starts outside of the park, I think you are not required to have a NP pass. I have a yearly pass anyway and did not investigate this aspect so far.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>The Ascent:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1046\" style=\"width: 1650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ElevationProfile.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1046\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1046\" title=\"Emerald Mtn. ElevationProfile\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ElevationProfile.jpg\" width=\"1640\" height=\"372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ElevationProfile.jpg 1640w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ElevationProfile-300x68.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ElevationProfile-1024x232.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1640px) 100vw, 1640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1046\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elevation Profile<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I selected the south face of the mountain for my ascent. It can be tackled from almost any side but I was hoping that the south would\u00a0 have less snow compared to the other options. In addition, for part of the way I could use a trail going from the East Portal TH to the Glacier Basin campground in RMNP. I just passed the reservoir of the East Portal when I realized I forgot my camera in the car&#8230; so I turned around to get it. That is when I broke my sun-glasses&#8230; not that I needed them today but still&#8230; #$@%. Walking back to the reservoir, snow flurries started to fall and a stiff wind came up from the west. I continued the road uphills when a Jeep drove towards me, driving downhills but backwards? It was\u00a0 Sam, a RMNP Ranger patrolling &#8216;his&#8217; park. We talked for almost half an hour. He was very interested in SOTA and I was interested in his insider&#8217;s know-how of all the different routes to SOTA summits in the park and around Estes Park. We finally parted ways and I headed uphills in a (almost) straight line, trying to make up for lost time to keep my appointment on the summit. Luckily the south face was almost snow free &#8211; even better, the soil was frozen and I made good time. Every now and then, I could even see a faint trail going up the mountain<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Summit:<br \/>\n<\/strong>The summit is rather small. I pretty much used up most of the space with my antenna guy-lines. It could host two small teams of activators. There are some rocks which can provide shelter from the wind &#8211; unfortunately the lee side was filled in with a deep snow drift. I had about six inches of snow on the top with some clear areas under (Christmas) trees &#8211; I claimed this spot immediately as my operating position.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1051\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3771.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1051\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1051\" title=\"Emerald - K0MOS on the summit\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3771-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3771-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3771-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111221-IMG_3771.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1051\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Operating position<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Setting up the equipment and antenna took a little longer than usual &#8211; fiddling with\u00a0 Buddipole coil-taps with cold fingers is not easy. I did not want to drop one into the snow. Turned on the SWR analyzer and&#8230;. nothing&#8230; lets hope it is just an empty battery. So I had to use the internal meter of the FT-817. Turned on the radio on 20m and I experienced S8 noise throughout the band&#8230; I am used to S8-S9 noise at home but on a summit? No clue why&#8230; I had activated several summits nearby and never before had an issue on 20. Two adjustments to the counterpoise and I was on the air, calling CQ 20 minutes ahead of plan. The temperature was below freezing and the wind ~15-20 mph (guesstimate). There was a small blue cloud and the sun tried to peak out every now and then but finally gave up, overwhelmed.<br \/>\nThanks to the high noise level, I could only hear strong stations. After 12 contacts on 20m in 25 minutes I had to wrap it up. My feet and hands started to get uncomfortably cold and I was shivering.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><strong>The Descent:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Soon after leaving the summit it got warmer. Getting out of the wind and moving my body certainly felt good. I soon found a faint trail and followed it all the way down directly to the car &#8211; a route I would recommend to the next activator.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Some video impressions:<br \/>\n<\/strong>httpvh:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PcCG2f8j5og<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PcCG2f8j5og\" target=\"_blank\">Youtube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I activated this summit again on January 10th, 2012. You can find the trip-report right <a title=\"Trip Report\" href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/p1XRZT-k8\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<HR>\n<p style=\"font-size:10px\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/dd\/Achtung.svg\/877px-Achtung.svg.png\" alt=\"ATTENTION\" style=\"float:left\" height=\"41\" width=\"41\"> \n\n!! WARNING !! There are <b>old<\/b> mountaineers, and \n<b>bold<\/b> mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. \nHiking 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!\n<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I got up at 6:00 AM this morning, facing a moderate 18 degrees F (approx. -8C) and clear skies outside &#8211; just a sliver of the moon and clouds over Longs Peak towards the west. A winter storm warning was &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/wfr58-emerald-mountain-2810-9237-ft-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[25,17,28,10,36,23,7,6,22,21,8,18,19,27,26,9,24,29,57,20],"class_list":["post-1035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sota-trip-report","category-wo","tag-activation","tag-amateur-radio","tag-buddipole-antenna","tag-colorado","tag-estes-park","tag-foothills","tag-ham","tag-hiking","tag-k0mos","tag-mountain","tag-mountain-topping","tag-nature","tag-outdoors","tag-rmnp","tag-rocky-mountain-national-park","tag-sota","tag-summits-on-the-air","tag-trail-description","tag-w0fr-058","tag-wilderness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3987,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/3987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}