Many thanks to Bob (K4RLC) for the following field report:

SOTA Babe in the Clouds at Mt. Jeff

de Bob (K4RLC)

Two weekends ago, Alanna K4AAC & I took a short trip to the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina to combine a POTA Weekend and Summits-on-the-Air. We stayed at the New River State Park, a small newer state park that the New River (actually the oldest river in North America) transverses. New River SP is also near some SOTA peaks and the idyllic Blue Ridge Parkway, an almost 500 mile highway that follows the Blue Ridge mountains, starting near Cherokee, North Carolina and ending in Northern Virginia.

This was a needed trip to the fresh air and incredible vistas, as this year brought health problems for both of us, especially an Emergency Room visit for Alanna Easter weekend. Fortunately, with great physicians from UNC and med changes, she was able to rebound fairly quickly.

Friday, we set up a trap Inverted-V on a push-up pole, lashed to the campsite split rail fence. For the radio part, the goal was to put the new Elecraft KH1 through it’s paces. While most rave about this new hand-held CW rig, I still prefer my KX2. Anyway, Friday night with 3 watts on 40 CW with the KH1 and the inverted-V. As it was rainy, I ran the coax inside our Winnebago Solis and set up at the kitchen table (the Winnebago Solis is their smallest vehicle, really just an ergonomic camper van built on a Dodge RAM Promaster chassis).

With a 140 watt solar panel on top and two 100-ampHr batteries, you can boon dock off the grid for several days. Had a productive run of Qs sitting at the table, and with several other LICW members.

As the weather report for Sunday was bad, we decided to do a Summits-on-the-Air activation Saturday on near-by Mount Jefferson, a nearly 5000 ft peak named  for its original owners, Thomas Jefferson and his Father. This is a partial drive-up south of the town of West Jefferson (named for ?).

There are several trails on the top, including the Mountain Ridge Trail and the Lost Province Trail. The trails are incredibly well maintained, flat gravel trails, not like the rock scrabble of the AT, but a definite steep incline. Alanna did great climbing  the steep trail, only having to stop a few times to catch her breath.

About half way up, we were in thick clouds, with visibility only a few feet. It was ethereal. At the SOTA activation zone, there is a rock ledge where you can set up….but be careful, as you don’t want to tumble off the ledge, way down to the valley below. At first, Alanna operated in the clouds. She looked like a spirit SOTA babe emerging through the clouds.

A few hours later, a cold front came through and blew the clouds away. What a difference! We could see 70 or more miles, down the valley and into the nearby state of Tennessee.

Unfortunately, there was a major solar flare, with an A Index of 12, so conditions were very rough. At first, I tried the KH1 as a hand-held with the attached 4 foot whip and one 13 ft counterpoise. To make conditions better, I set up the Elecraft AX1 miniature vertical on a tiny tripod and attached four 13 ft radials, in the trees and over the rock ledge. It was still an effort, but managed to get the required SOTA contacts. As Mt Jeff (W4C/EM-021) is both a SOTA peak and a NC Park natural area, it’s a two-fer. Unfortunately, my luck capped below the required number of POTA contacts. Thanks to all who tried to dig me out. The Reverse Beacon Network spotted  us around the country, but with very weak signals on 20 CW.

Sunday, the weather was hit and miss, so we decided just to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378), stopping at breath taking overlooks and hiking some on the Mountains-to-the-Sea trail. The MST runs almost 1200 miles from the Great Smoky mountains in the western part of NC to Jockey’s Ridge State Park in the Outer Banks, where North Carolina meets  the Atlantic Ocean. We’ve section-hiked the MST, just as we’ve done on the Appalachian Trail.

Cooking  over an open campfire is the only way to get that great wood smoke flavor. Our hot dogs and hamburgers by campfire, with guacamole, were delicious.

Looking forward to trying the KH1 in decent propagation conditions, as it may be the go-to for SOTA and overseas travel.

All-in-all, the clear clean mountain air and great mountain vistas were really therapeutic for our health, and the kind of medicine you can’t put in a bottle.

73 de K4RLC Bob