Hi All,
Everyone recovered? Have fun? Did you achieve some new goals? I sure did. My personal achievements were passing the 250 Uniques mark which included Mt. Thielsen to Chicken Ledge with Craig KK7RIB, and also Wizard Island. Both were spectacular with unique views you will only see from those summits. Thielsen is the only place to see Crater Lake outside of the park and Wizard, well, who can beat saying you operated from INSIDE a volcano? Thielsen was not as hard as I anticipated and maybe next time I will go all the way.
The weather was outstanding with some of the best summer views I’ve ever had of Crater Lake and the surrounding area. Mosquitoes weren’t bad in most areas. Lots of playing around on new Quansheng HTs with different bands and modes, including sstv. Some summits were quite popular like Hillman, Kelsay, and Scott and some were activated for the very first time. We counted 70 hams (excluding family and friends), some only chased or visited, so you may not have heard them, but all are equally welcome to the campout. Nothing beats the eyeball qsos with everyone. I think Al, KC4M, was the furthest traveler from NC and we also had Paul, VA6MPM, join us from Alberta. For some operators this was their very first SOTA experience and I bet it won’t be their last. We are now possibly the largest annual SOTA gathering in the world! Tim, N7KOM, caught me off guard on video asking about a slogan for the campout. Thinking about one of our common phrases, I now came up with “it doesn’t have to be fun to be fun, but I guarantee the campout is!”. Or howabout: “Come join the organized chaos”. Yeah, maybe not a very catchy jingle, but sums it up.
With a lot of work and planning, Rex KE6MT, was able to achieve Mountain Goat at a first activation heading home Monday in N. CA! The elevation gain and miles hiked in a few days by Rex was very impressive. Great job!! Who gets to put on the goat horns for next year’s MG??
We also had a couple funny lost and found incidents. I lost my sunglasses and pill container while taking a break on Thielsen. Bryan K7AMM found them and brought them back to me the next day. Craig KK7RIB lost his rx glasses on Herschberger the first day, Kevin N7EMT found them set aside on a stump a couple days later. There were a couple other things left up on summits but brought down by another op. Just another reflection of the team work involved in SOTA.
We’ll see you next year with the plan being Crane Prairie Campground July 9-12th, 2026. Subject to change if needed, but pencil it in. It was a great event and I hope everyone went home with some achievements, new friends, and more memories with old friends. It takes everyone, and a special crowd to have such a successful, positive event! Feel free to share some of your highlights!
73,
Amy-AG7GP
Great video by James WA7JNJ focusing on some of the camaraderie at the campout:
Also for those interested, this is the Little Black Buzzer Oregon SOTA “theme song” K7ATN played at the photo shoot. Next year lets all sing this for an epic SOTA video! Okay?
