W5RJD Summit on the Air (SOTA) Activations

WB6POT and I ventured to El Soreno today thinking that we had hit a clearing in the down pour, but unfortunately it started a heavy sprinkle up just as we arrived.  We put on our rain jackets and ventured up the trail hoping it would stop by the time we got there.  Unfortunately, it didn't.  We decided not to throw up the HF antenna and risk damaging the KX2. We made four contacts each on 2m FM while standing under a tree to try to keep as much rain as possible off the radio and then started back to the car. The radio made it back still working.  Not sure about the operators.  We were soaked.

Since the last summit was so fun, I broke down and bought an Elecraft KX2 and a lightweight end fed antenna so I had my own gear ready to go this time. It arrived a day before I took it on a trip to Colorado and was not able to make any contacts from the house we were staying at, so I was a bit nervous as to how it might perform. I caught up with a more experienced activator, Peter, WB6POT on 2m and he decided to come along.  He'd bring his own radio and antenna, so if something was wrong with mine we'd have backup. We started at the Pueblo Day Use parking lot in Santa Teresa County park.  Normally there is a fee to park, around $6, but because of Covid the fee was being waived.  The Hidden Springs Trail head is by the sign board and is a little over a mile up to the peak, with about 600' of elevation gain on the trail. We went through a cattle gate about half way up. I'm mainly doing SOTA as a fun way to exercise.  It was pretty clear on the way up that I needed it....