Camping on W4V/SH-005 (The Pinnacle)

Activation Reports Pre-Planning
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My buddy and I are considering camping on or near the summit of W4V/SH-005 in order to activate the summit and simultaneously operate on VHF for the ARRL June VHF Contest.

Neither of us have activated this summit yet, so we’re not familiar it (we have done other nearby summits). As far as I can tell, there are no NPS restrictions on camping at the summit assuming we can get far enough from the trail (20yds IIRC). We would be parking at the Jewell Hollow Overlook parking lot, hiking up, doing the daytime activation/contest activities, then setting up our hammocks in an appropriate location for the evening. We’d probably some during the night, then again in the morning before breaking camp and heading home.

I’d appreciate some intel from folks who have activated the summit:
Can we set up camp on the summit itself and be far enough away from the trail to comply with NPS regulations?
Is the summit busy during typical summer days?
What is the temperature differential between the summit and Northern VA (I’m assuming about 10deg)?
Are there any springs or streams between the parking lot and summit we can use for water (I have a purifier)?

Thanks!

1 Like
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KB1HQS has a nice write-up on the mapping page. Pinnacle (W4V/SH-005), Virginia | KB1HQS

KN3A and NK8Q were just there this morning (23May2021).
73 Gary

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I saw Stuart’s write-up before posting, but it lacked the detail I wanted.

I may KN3A and NK8Q.

Chris

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1 Like
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I read that before posting here. I’m looking for information that isn’t on that page.
For example, we have to camp at least 20yds away from any trail. On some summits there isn’t 20yds on the summit, so that would be an impossible requirement to meet if we wanted to camp on the actual summit (Cove Mtn in SW VA comes to mind).

Pinnacle doesn’t seem to be on the camping prohibited list. It’s not subject to the Rock Outcrop Management Area restrictions either.

Chris

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Have you tried calling the “local” NPS location? I did that for some of the parks out here on Eastern Shore and they were super helpful.

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Not yet. I know several folks who frequent this board have activated on that summit and was hoping they would have intel.

NPS will be my next stop.

Chris