My wife and I took 2 weeks of holidays on Sao Miguel. We did hiking on the island and thankfully my wife waited for me when doing SOTA.
My rig was QCX transceiver, 20 m, 12 W and antenna 21 m end fed, feed point at bottom of 6 m fishing pole plus antenna tuner according to KX0R.
Pico Bartolomeu CU/SM004 was easy, driving there was very spectacular. Steeply downhill on right and left, but not dangerous and impressive nature. Unfortunately, I got RF break through in my QCX from the VHF transmitter on this summit. I was impressed by the strong US stations, did never have this in Germany, but Azores are a tad nearer to the US.
Pico Barosso CU/SM002 was also easy access, but tremendous RF break through, also from VHF transmitter on this summit. First thought it would be impossible to receive any station, but could get the strong once, sorry for not copying
the weak stations. I should modify my receiver for the next time.
Serra Gorda CU/SM008 was 1h walk, nice view and very windy, despite that nothing special.
Pico das Eguas CU/SM005 was with some rain and almost all the time in the clouds. On the summit very strong storm so that I was in doubt wether to do the activation. But on one place I found some shelter, where wind was acceptable for me.
Monte Escuro CU/SM003, the day before departure, that was a pity! Thought it would be an easy one. But when we arrived, the trail I have had chosen was closed with a gate and padlock. So we started to search for another access. 1h later, no path. we went back to the initial gate in order to contemplate wether it could be ignored. It was a difficult decision. The path behind the gate looked so good. And with a little effort, the gate could have been passed. And there was no sign saying “don’t do”. But finally we decided to respect the locked gate. I had to revoke my alert. What a pity.
It seems to be common, that the summits on Sao Miguel are in clouds and very windy, at least.
Best 73,
Axel, DF1ET