To my DL friends - I need summit suggestions. This year (Juni 2015) my visit to DL will have a couple of mile-stones. I will earn my 1000th point and Mountain Goat in DL. I will also have the opportunity to activate from 1 (one) DL summit, and also activate from 1 (one) OE summit. I have activated many DM and one OK summit. I have never activated any DL or OE summits.
I will be with my wife Monika (N5NHC), and my son James and his wife (KC0WKY and KF5IWV), with two very small children. They wish to tour the Neuschwanstein Castle. (near DL/AL-283 and OE/TI-448). They are NOT SOTA activators.
I would like to know which summits in the area are the easiest to activate. Summits that I can get up and down from quickly, before the family gets too bored. The points do not matter, an EASY DL summit is more important.
Thank you very much. I hope to work you-all - 15-16-17 Juni 2015.
Vy73 - Mike - KD5KC
(Also - DL/KD5KC).
El Paso, Texas, DM61rt.
W5-SOTA Association Manager.
From the top station although it is an additional 40min walk-on. There is also a hut/restaurant on top to shorten time for your family, in case they decided to join you. The panoramic views are awesome.
There’s one disadvantage though: The summit can be very crowded, especially on summer weekends in good weather. I have never visited AL-283. DK7MG has been there once and could tell you more, unfortunately he is not on qrz.com and I don’t have his email-address.
great to hear that you have the chance to activate a couple of summits in DL and OE.
As Bernhard has mentioned, I have been on DL/AL-283. It is an easy walk from the small lake Alatsee nearby - but it might be too boring for your family as there is no view from this summit.
I would recommend Falkenstein DL/AL-167: If you like you can drive almost to the top to a nice restaurant “Burghotel Falkenstein” with a scenic view, see: http://falkenstein.panomax.at/
From this restaurant it is just a 5 minutes walk to the summit with the pictureque castle “Burg Falkenstein”.
If you have at least 2 more hours left (for up and down) you can also reach the next summit Zwoelferkopf from the same parking place. This summit is on the border DL/OE and has still two references: DL/AL-166 and OE/TI-670. This is also an easy walk with a nice view from the summit. And you can decide which of both references you like to activate.
Tomorrow morning we will leave Strahlungen Germany for Neuschanstein Castle. We will arrive Monday 15 June 2015 in the afternoon. Our plan is to tour the castle early on Tuesday 16 June, then allow the children to go sleep in the early afternoon. Moni (N5NHC) and I will then attempt OE/TI-670, then return to the motel for the night. Early on 17 June we will proceed to DL/AL-166, then tour the grounds, have something to eat, and return to Strahlungen. This schedule may be modified by family decisions.
I hope to hear many of you on the air for my first activations after making Mountain Goat.
Vy71 - Mike - KD5KC
Strahlungen, Germany - JO50cg
W5-SOTA Association Manager
Thanks for the contact from DL/AM-031 Branderschrofen yesterday Mike. I’m not sure if this was in addition to or instead of the summits mentioned earlier in the thread. In any case, I expect you’ve now hit your 1000 activator points, so CONGRATULATIONS on your Mountain Goat status!
73 Ed DD5LP
P.S. I have heard that the last section up to Branderschofen can be quite scary with a thin path and vertical drops, I’m presuming you have no fear of heights H.I.
P.P.S. If you are still heading out to Zwolferkopf DL/AL-166 today, here’s my report on my activation a few weeks ago:
Good evening Dieter. As I said, operations may be modified by family decisions at any time. Suddenly they decided that taking the kids up the tram to Branderschofen was a cool idea. So I set an alert, grabbed my gear and off we went. The kids with the baby strollers stayed below while Monika and I went to the summit. They said it was 45 minutes to the summit. We did it in 20 minutes.
Yes, the trail to the summit was interesting and could be dangerous. This is why we ran from the summit when it looked like rain. This would not be a good summit to be on when it was wet.
Zwolferkopf was a very nice summit. I did this summit alone while the rest of the family explored Falkenstein. Because they wanted to go shopping in Fussen in the morning,I only had time for one summit that day. But I got my Mountain Goat, a DL summit and a OE summit this trip. So I met my goals for this trip.
As it turnsout, tomorrow is a free day as the kids are going to a kiddy park. Legoland I think. So I was told to make Saturday a SOTA day. I have selected 3 of my favorite summits.
First will be Bramberg, DM/BM-133. It is a very nice summit,and very easy. I think it will be removed when Germany is reset, so this is the last chance for me. It has a castle ruin at the summit. You should try it.
Next will be Milseberg, DM/HE-007. It is another nice summit, but more like a West Texas bare summit at the top.
If we have time, I will do my all-time favorite, DM/HE-001. TheWasserkuppe!
I look forward to hearing you tomorrow.
Vy73 - Mike - DL/KD5KC.
Strahlungen, Germany, JO50cg.
W5-SOTAAssociation Manager.
We are all safely back home to El Paso Texas. I wanted to thank the many who gave my suggestions, ultimately allowing me to add DL and OE to the list of associations I have activated. Because I had a lot of family traveling, my time was limited. Your suggestions were what allowed me to succeed with the little time I had.
As always, if you are passing through West Texas, get in contact with me. I would be happy to allow you to use our bunk-house as a base of operations for TX and NM summits.
Thanks much!
Vy73 - Mike - KD5KC.
El Paso, Texas - DM61rt.
W5-SOTA Association Manager.
