3-24-22 W6/NC-298 (Vollmer Peak)



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11-2-23 W6/NC-399 (Coyote Peak)

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  I decided to go for a hike at lunch today, and the trailhead for Coyote Peak is a few blocks from my office, so I grabbed my SOTA kit and took off.  I've done this peak already a couple of times, the last time being just after I recovered from Covid and I remember it wasn't very fun, with all the respiratory issues I was having at the time.  I was hoping today would be easier. Just after entering the park, there is a kiosk to pay the $6 day use fee.  The automation station only takes credit cards and not cash. There's no permit required, but if you don't have the parking ticket on your dashboard you'll get an expensive ticket. I know they weren't charging during the pandemic, but that's over now. I parked in the main lot.  The trailhead here heads up to the Bay Area Ridge Trail.  Right at the start is a supply of paper maps. I'd suggest taking one if you've never been on these trails before, and then returning it when you're done with it.  They...
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7-19-23 W4C/WM-001 (Clingmans Dome)

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  I did this as part of a two week trip to Tennessee.  It's right on the TN/NC border and technically in North Carolina I think. Park in the parking lot (which is also a place to do POTA), and walk up toward the visitor center. Then keep going to the dome, a walk of roughly 1/2 mile.  It was a little misty the day I was there. It was not cold, however, just wet. If you have a disabled plate you can drive to the top I think.  There are a few places to set up off the trail, and lots of trees you can throw a wire into. One thing I read was that the rangers can get nasty and tell you that you need a permit.  I didn't encounter any on this activation, but the top was very crowded with people. So you have to be a little selective where you set up.  I chose to be bold and set up right in the crowd, with my antenna hanging in trees behind me. This allowed me to have some good conversations with people about what I was doing, at the risk of being scolded by rangers....
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11-10-23 W6/NC-221 (China Grade Benchmark)

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  I did this one after activating Ben Lomond Mountain.  It was maybe an hour away down some fairly windy one lane paved roads. But it was midnight GMT so technically a different day. This summit is literally along the road to Cutter Scout Reservation, where've I've been to a number of times before it was burned to the ground in the fires a few years ago.  There is a locked gate just a few hundred feet past the summit, but it's accessible.  A parking turn out was maybe 80 feet down the road. The summit itself towers about 50 feet above the road, and there's some deer trails that seem to go to the top, but when I pulled my phone out and noticed the AZ extended to the road, plus it was going to be dark in an hour, I decided not to hike up.  There was a very nice rock right at the gate that made a perfect chair, so I decided to set up just inside the gate. There were a couple of tall emergency cones on either side of the gate, one of which made a perfect place to st...
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