Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:

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Activating W7U/SL-022 on a Layover

by Micah (N4MJL)

As an airline pilot, I’m always on the lookout for POTA/SOTA sites that are near me when I have long layovers in different cities across the country. Salt Lake City, Utah is no exception. I always carry a modest assortment of ham radio gear with me when I travel.

I jumped at the chance to knock out a SOTA and POTA activation when a 23 hour layover showed up on my schedule for Salt Lake City. A month earlier, I was in Salt Lake City on a shorter overnight, and I had scouted out a SOTA activation for W7U/SL-022 which is located just to the east of Salt Lake City inside the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which happens to be POTA US-4398.

I plotted my route on Gaia GPS–a free app that I highly recommend.

In fact, you can look up my route that I used for this activation.

My route to the summit started at the Natural History Museum of Utah and would be a 5.6 mile one way ruck up to the summit with 2,800+ ft Ascent. I would leave the museum heading towards the Living Room trail head, but then branch off towards Mount Wire.

Mount Wire has an elevation of 7,110ft MSL and provides incredible views of Salt Lake City. Once you make it to the fire tower located at Mount Wire your ascent is almost over. However you still have another 3.1 miles traversing the ridge line before reaching the real summit located at 7,500ft MSL. The activation zone is very easy to determine since it is at the very end of the ridge line.

Sunday morning (11 August 2024) I got up at 0700 and packed up my REI Flash 22 day pack. I was taking with me a full 2 liter hydration pack along with 2 more 1 liter water bottles (4L water total), along with assorted snacks and electrolyte additives.

My radio gear consisted of the following:

• Rig: Elecraft KH-1
• Ant: SOTABeams Band Hopper III (resonate on 40\30\20)
• Key: BaMakey TP-III
• Mast: SOTAbeams Tactical Mini 19.6ft
• Battery: Bioenno 12v 3Ah (just in case)

I scheduled an action for both SOTA and POTA on their websites. I knew from my previous trip here that I would have cell reception to at least Mount Wire, but I wasn’t taking any chances that I may not have cell reception on the summit. I would be depending on the reverse beacon network to get me spotted.

I also made sure I sent my wife and my captain my planned route, and when I should be back in contact with them. After all, this was going to be a solo 12 mile ish round trip with some modest elevation gain. I am an experienced backpacker, and I am not going to take unnecessary risks without a backup plan.

It was a beautiful day to go hiking. It was forecast to be 93F in Salt Lake City that afternoon. I live in Virginia where the humidity is absolutely gross when it’s 93F, but out here, there is essentially no humidity which makes it very pleasant.

Not to mention up in the mountains it’s typically about 15 degrees cooler. Rucking up the gully, there is some shade on the way up the Living Room trail, but once you get out of the gully heading up to Mount Wire you will be in direct sun for the majority of the ruck.

Mount Wire has amazing 360 view of the area at 7,110ft MSL. The fire watch tower is a favorite location for some “extra curricular activities” from the local college kids. It affords amazing views of the city. The tower also represents the end of the strenuous elevation gain for this hike. The picture above shows the ridge that I will now follow for the next 3.1 miles to the real summit of 7,500ft MSL.

Once past Mount Wire, the ridge line will narrow out considerably and, at times the trail will almost completely disappear in the brush, however if you keep pressing forward along the ridge line the trail will eventually re-appear.

I’m guessing this may be a VHF repeater?

After several geological saddles I finally catch a glimpse of the activation zone further up the ridge.

Looking back behind me, along the ridge in the direction of Salt Lake City/Mount Wire, the Fire tower is no longer in sight. I truly am on my own. Just the way I like it!

As mentioned before the activation zone is pretty large and easy to find. It is the farthest north east on the ridge line that you can go before it drops down to the valley. I set up on a small knoll on south east section of the activation zone. The knoll contained a few small trees that I used as support for my mast and wire ends. I decided to stay out of the shade since it contained lots of poky weeds, and possibly field mice that might also attract snakes.

My linked SOTA beams band hopper III is my go-to antenna of choice whenever I have the room to set up. It is a linked dipole that allows it to be resonant for three bands: 40m,30m, and 20m. The Elecraft ATU tunes the 20m section to work on the 15m band with very little difficulty.

Getting set up is very quick, typically less than 15 minutes. I was excited to find that in the activation zone I had very good cell reception. I quickly pulled up the SOTA alert page and found AA7OY who was activating W5N/GW-007 in south western part of New Mexico. We successfully established a S2S summit to summit on 14.062 MHz at 1808Z.

After a few minutes of listening to 14.117 and calling QRL with no response, I start sending my CQ. I checked the SOTA alert page and after the third CQ call the reverse beacon network (RBN) did its job, and I now have an active alert on the POTA and SOTA pages.

I chose 14.117 because I am most definitely a noob, and anyone who tunes to that end of the CW band knows what they are getting into even before they hear my pitiful attempts at CW.

I get my first caller at 1824z, and by 1846z I have 11 contacts on 20m. What a rush! It was a huge confidence builder.

I have never activated a park or summit that quickly before. A big thank you to those 11 who slowed down for me and waited patiently! You are all a true class act! All those hours of practicing are finally showing some small successes!

After several more CQ calls with no response, I sent QSY moving to 30m. I turned off my radio, got up to stretch, make a phone call, and attach the links for the 30m section of my dipole. After monitoring 10.115 for a bit, I started calling CQ. Once again, it didn’t take more than three calls before the RBN picked up my CQ and updated the POTA/SOTA sites with my new frequency. At 1909z N0XE called me and sent MO for his state. I was very excited because that was the farthest east that any of my contacts had yet sent. As soon as I finished working N0XE I was greeted to a true pileup of callers…..

Unfortunately, at that point my KH-1 gave me a HI TEMP warning. I sent a quick “radio too hot QRT ” CW message, and posted that I would be taking a break. At this point I started to evaluate my situation. I had 12 contacts in the log.

I wanted to do more radio, but I had to have an honest evaluation of my situation. I now only had 1.5 liters of water left for a 5.6 mile ruck back in direct afternoon sun. I already drank 2.5 liters of water, and I didn’t even count what water I drank before leaving my hotel room that morning. The scary thing was, I had not yet needed to go to the bathroom. While this may sound like an odd thing to write about, it actually is a big deal.

My shirt, my ball cap, and my backpack were almost completely dry. In Virginia, in the summer, I would normally be soaking wet with sweat by now. Since up here in the mountains there is little to no humidity, my sweat was evaporating almost immediate. I was losing water fast! As much as I wanted to stay and play more radio, the reality was that I was alone, on a mountain, 3.1 miles from any frequented trail. It was time to pack up and get back to civilization.

My hike back was un eventful, and my step seemed light for some reason. Maybe it was lighter because I was carrying a lot less water. Or maybe it was my increasing confidence in my CW skills.

I’d activated a new state, a new park, and a new summit.

Let’s be honest I’m still a Lid, and if you try sending something outside the usual CW exchange it’s probably going right over my head. I am on a journey to one day be fluent with CW. I am definitely not there yet, but I do know I’m better than I was a month ago!

72,

Micah (N4MJL)