Not much to say on this one, basically posting in order to aid subsequent activators:
TF-019 gets busy early,
Not much room
I didn’t fancy my chances of slinging up a pole with so many people milling about, and had neglected to bring my JPC-12 vertical - not that you’d have gotten a spike into the ground anyway. Calling CQ on 2m with the ID-52 was fruitless, probably due to the early start.
Maybe with a bit of planning you could get some S2S contacts on VHF with TF-014, TF-010, or TF-016. Ascent is half an hour with very convenient parking close by, and, if all else fails the sunrise can be spectacular.
Hehe, I like the optimism there Fraser. But I’m not a good ambassador for the hobby, not unless I really really try. And it was too early in the day for that, hehe.
I hope you arrived back home safe and sound. I’m just waiting for check-in and want to give you my experience with this summit I just activated moments ago.
@DL1CR is right: Christian F5WBN once came back to a CW CQ call whilst on Pike of Blisco using my Mountain Topper (probably putting out about 2.5w) and an EFLW. Only the EFLW wasn’t plugged in, so my antenna was a piece of coax about 1m long lying on the ground…
It’s a good point Christoph @DL1CR, I didn’t think of that. There were some steeps drop-off which should have been safe in terms of trip hazard, so I’ll consider it next time. I guess my only reservation would be that those volcanic rocks are super sharp and instantly abrade anything they touch - like my expensive camera backpack. Grrr…
Now there’s being a smart-ass! Only kidding Stephan @HB9EAJ - I am learning all the time and will be much better prepared. Wanted to ask about the radials for your vertical but I have a feeling that the answer will be in your linked document. (we made it back OK on Saturday, I’m hopelessly behind on email and personal admin)
Amazing stuff Mark @M0NOM, I can relate. When we arrived home two days after the big storm, I saw the three 6m fibreglass poles supporting my 80m EFHW sloper bent over comically; all three tiers of 4 guys had held but 97 mph winds flexed the poles sufficiently to partially collapse the mast in on itself, drooping the element lazily over the lawn. Amazingly there appears to be no obvious drop in WSPR spots from the ZakTech beacon that’s running 24/7 while my IC-7300 is unplugged.
Makes you wonder why we spend so much time ‘perfecting’ those antennas.
… except my failed attempt to climb and activate Cruz de Gala, EA8/TF-007. I should ask @OE6FEG how he managed to hike up this summit with trainers from South-West (from the bus stop La Cumbre). After an easy start, I tried to climb a wall until my wiser partner said that it’s probably not worth to get rescued on the first day. And that was still on the easier T3 classified path…
Smart-ass mode on again:
Until now, I always found a solution with an earth spike, even on a rocky summit like this one, as one can see from my picture.
You just have to collect some loose stones and fit them around the spike. Quick 'n easy! If there are no loose stones, use your backpack (mine has already a lot of holes, hi).
Whoops, sorry if I created a false impression for this trail. I never said I did the route in trainers, I did it in hiking boots. It seemed to me like it could be done in trainers and that is what I meant. I judge easy and hard after a lifetime of scrambling and soloing easy rock climbs up to V-Diff. To anyone who climbs regularly, that is easy. Easy-going ramblers may see it differently. So let’s say now, probably do this one in boots.
73 de OE6FEG
Matt
I failed on that one. However, I couldn’t do anything about it.
I arrived and started walking up. Got a 1/3 of the way, then I was stopped by a worker… “path closed, we are working higher up”. I couldn’t find out when the work was end so I didn’t return that week.
No worries Matt and thanks for your input! Misunderstandings and different interpretations happen all the time.
My understanding was that the T4 path doesn’t correspond with the Alpine classification, seems easier and could be done with trainers, but I got already stuck at the first T3 trail with my low hiking boots.
Probably I wasn’t following the intended path, because after about a kilometre or so, there was no visible path, no cairns and no other markings, only my GPS route. So I tried several approaches, but finally gave up.
The next summits on that day were so easy (EA8/TF-009 and EA8/TF-017).
