June was terribly hot in EA5, and I have interrupted SOTA activations for a while, except for… moonlit nighttime SOTA. Two or three midnight SOTA so far, cannot remember; this would be my second one without any company.
Last month, on June 10, “strawberry moon”, I activated EA5/AT-096 Alt de Cortina. It was quite warm but clear skies and views of the cost were with me all the way. A 2.5 km hike, steep at times, and a pleasant activation. What I expected.
Last night, July 10, I thought I could activate EA5/AT-066, Serra de l’Aguilar. I had activated it three times in the past. One parks the car at the end of a narrow, winding, but paved road, and walks around 800 m through abandoned terraces and then following a thin path through a pine wood to the summit, ascending only 90 m.
After 45 minutes of driving, and about 3/4 of the way from home to the parking spot, the car reported a nice temperature of 21 C. However, cloud cover obscured the full moon and I hit a few foggy patches, so I had to exercise extra care. I parked the car in my usual tight spot (which looked a lot tighter at night), put on my boots and started to walk. It was quite dark, and 100% humidity brought immediate sweat. It had rained during the day (and I knew this!): the winding dirt road that once serviced one end of the terraces was muddy, and the second-to-last terrace, which I had to walk from end to end to reach the path, was even muddier. In the wood, I lost the path a couple of times, had to use the flashlight on my mobile phone to look for a way to the summit (my GPX trace there is only approximate). My clothes were all wet from the contact with bushes when I arrived to the activation zone.
As I set up, the fog cleared, and the moonlight broke through the clouds for a little while. A nice activation: 20 m was open to America, and I made a few CW contacts. I had promised 40 m LSB to my colleagues in EA but could not manage to couple the antenna. Did some 20 m USB, and then topped up as usual in VHF — a few good mates were waiting for me before going to bed. I bagged 12 contacts and the two points.
Then, as I packed up, the thick clouds and the fog came back. The trees in the fog made up an eerie horror-movie scene, and I laughed. The way back: approximate following of the path this time with my headlight on (I hate headlights, but I had to wear one this time), hitting the wrong terrace, one terrace too high, and having to go back to the path to hit the right terrace to find the dirt road at the other end. Mud, darkness, fog and sweat again, but got to the car at around 01.00 local. For Hertz’s sake, this was going to be an easy one.
Drove back home listening to the whole Close to the Edge album by Yes, and was between the sheets, ahem, not actually, but on top of them, with the ceiling fan on, at 02.10. The temperature was 29 C in Alacant.
Hey, EA5/AT-066, you’ll be a nice daytime summit in 2026 for me.
