Will have my KX3+ link dipole… HT, and limited hiking equipment… oh… and a rental car.
Any suggestions would be appreciated…
Richard // N2GBR
Richard,
Here are my picks for you:
W0C/FR-109 North Table Mountain near Golden
W0C/FR-107 Green Mountain near Golden
W0C/FR-194 Genesee Mountain West of Golden
W0C/FR-076 Evergreen Mountain near Evergreen
W0C/PR-082 Squaw Mountain west of Evergreen - much more challenging
All of these summits have write-ups on the SOTA pages for each mountain. All except Squaw are at public parks with trails. The first two are closest to Denver - both are high above Denver with good views. Genesee is nice, with good access off I-70. Evergreen is a high-quality summit with a gentle trail.
Squaw has a closed road to the top, and it’s often cold and windy. It’s a mini-adventure - don’t try it, unless the weather is really nice, and you can hike in snow. It’s public land and an antenna site. It probably will be all snow and ice on the 4WD road - DO NOT try to drive the jeep road!! There are numerous summits near Estes Park, if you want to drive that far - very spectacular area, Rocky Mountain National Park, etc. Don’t try to go to any summit around here, unless it has a write-up or a bunch of activations!
This time of year we have a lot of snow - it’s snowing again now. All the mountains - even the easy ones - may have snow on the trails or on the summits, and if it warms up and melts the snow, they may be muddy. You have to do some research, look at maps, etc., to prepare for even the easiest summits. All of the high mountain summits are still in WINTER and covered with deep snow!! Most of the roads and trails up high - above 10,000 feet - won’t open til June or July!
Always carry the 10 essentials and check the weather forecast for the mountains before you go. The weather on our mountains is often much colder and harsher than what you will have in Denver. If you get lucky and have a nice, sunny day, these mountains can be fun to activate, even with snow on the ground!
Be prepared…
73
George
KX0R
Thanks for the info George… I should have enough time on Friday afternoon to get one in and then if the weather is agreeable do W0C/PR-082 Squaw Mountain and Pence Mt PR118 on Saturday… leaving the two closest to Denver for Sunday before I leave later in the afternoon…
I have been out pretty much every weekend since December and can handle about 5hours of walking in 10 to 12" of snow so as long as the WX is reasonable Squaw mtn should be OK… I’ll bring my snow boots and gaiters etc. should be enough… You’ll see my spots… hope to put you in the log with a 59 (for once)…
73,
Richard, N2GBR
Mt Herman today… great day to be out in the hills…
knocked off Pence Mtn and Squaw Mtn today… not to bad… Pence had some hip depth bad-snow and Squaw was post-holing…