Spring W4 SOTA Campout April 19-22, 2018

We will be having another weekend of camping, activating and general hanging out and relaxing on April 19-22, 2018. Combining this with the NA SOTA Spring Activity Weekend and NA/EU S2S event seems like a win-win situation and should yield a lot of activations and camaraderie. This event is in the very early stages of planning and details will be light at the moment, but I wanted give everyone as much advance notice as possible. The general plan is to find a suitable group campsite in the area of the TN/VA border along Interstate I-81. This will allow activators easy access to summits in W4T, W4V, W4C and W4K.

Update - Roan Mountain State Park has been selected as our campground. More details in Post #14

Area summits and recommendations in Post #15

Attendee List
Cabin # 6 - WD4CFN - Steve & Patty - Fri-Sun
Campsite 4A - AC1Z - Bob - Th-Sun
Campsite 6A - KB1RJC & KB1RJD - Herm & Merle - Wed-Sun
Campsite 17 - KN4BBC, WF4I & AB4PP - Alan, Derek & John Paul - Th-Sun
Campsite 35 - WG4I - Ryan - Th-Sun
Campsite 36 - KI4SVM & WH6LE - Pat & Pete - Wed - Mon (at least for myself)
Campsite 37 - AE9Q & N4SFR - Dave & Ron - Th-Mon
Campsite 39 - KM4JKM & KJ4RSW - Del & Lanier - Th-Sun
Campsite 40 - KW4JM - Scott - Th-Sun
Campsite 52 - KI4TN & K1LIZ - Ron & Liz - Wed-Sun

Visitors
KJ4ZFK - John
K4LPQ - Patrick - Section hiking the AT in the area and activating summits. Hopefully joining us for dinner one night.
NE4TN - Walt
AC4M - Craig
W4LSV - Barry

73, pat - KI4SVM

5 Likes

Put me on your mailing list. I have a 17 trailer and 100 Watts of solar power

John W9FHA

You can put me on the ol email list too Pat, I’m putting it on the calendar in RED PEN!

Jason, KE0FKE

I hope to make it Pat… I like the locality to I81 corridor too…

Richard // N2GBR

Anyone interested in night ops the evening before on 40-80-160? I’ll probably be activating in W2.

Edit: I just checked the calendar, there’s a good chance I’ll be in the UK for a conference the week before. If I can swing it, I’ll stay an extra week and do the event from there. If so, I’ll not be doing night ops from W2. I’ll give notice of my plans well in advance. I’d hate to solicit people to do a night op with a funky 160m antenna and then not show up.

1 Like

Put me on the list, love to make it if work allows.

Wow, great response from the out-of-towners! :smiley: Ease of access was a big part for the location. I hope everyone so far can make it and if you are around Kevin, we should be able to manage getting a 160m antenna built before then.

2 Likes

I’m just in it to ride in the Unimog :wink:

count me in of course!

1 Like

Sound great! Do you have a campground in mind yet? I have a 28ft camper trailer I might could bring… Id have room for a few folks…

Please count me in! I have a retro 23’ trailer, 30 watts of solar and lots of batteries. I also have a pneumatic antenna gun where we can shoot a fishing weight over the trees for that 160 Meter antenna… :smiley:

Kent K9EZ
Salisbury, NC

1 Like

With reference to my earlier request for people who might have 160m capability, I now plan on being in the UK for the event. I therefore won’t be operating on 160m. Looking forward to some S2S with NA.

Kevin AC2KL

I hope to make it this year! Dave, AE9Q

Based on summit density and activation activity, I have decided on Roan Mountain State Park as our base for the campout. It is located within 30 minutes of I-26 with some of the best summits in the southeast within a hour’s drive. Roan Mountain State Park has sites for RVs/trailers, tent sites and even cabins are available (across the main road from the campground). The tent sites can accommodate more than one tent, but there will be an additional charge for more than four people staying at one site. There are several group camp sites suitable for 5-6 tents which share a common fire pit and picnic table. Individual tent/RV sites can be reserved online but if you are interested in one of the group camp sites, please contact me directly to coordinate. RV/Trailer sites 1-19 are the better sites for those guys (bigger/flatter) and the tent sites are numbers 20-40.

Campsite reservation link - https://tnstateparks.itinio.com/roan-mountain

Here is a drive-thru video of the campground - lower campsites start at 6:34: Roan Mountain State Park TN - YouTube

73, pat - KI4SVM

W4 SOTA Campout Summits Map

Here are some logical summit pairings for those not familiar with the area.

Roan Mountain State Park is located at the base of the Roan massif, which is the home to several spectacular SOTA summits. Just up the road from the state park is Carvers Gap, trailhead for W4T/SU-005 - Roan High Knob and W4C/EM-001 - Grassy Ridge Bald. You can go from the dense spruce and fir covered Roan High Knob to a 3 mile hike across open balds to Grassy Ridge Bald. Further north along the Roan Massif is W4C/EM-003 - Hump Mountain - a bit longer hike at 4+ miles but most of it through beautiful grassy balds. W4T/SU-015 - Little Rock Knob is easily accessed from the State Park as well. All four of these summits are located along the AT.

Banner Elk area drive-ups - W4C/EM-007 - Beech Mtn, W4C/EM-011 - Sugar Mtn and W4C/EM-022 - Grandmother mountain are often done together due to proximity and ease of access.

Moses Cone Memorial Park - W4C/EM-032 - Rich Mtn and W4C/EM-026 - Flat Top Mtn are nice hikes along old bridle paths and a natural combination near the touristy town of Blowing Rock, NC.

Three easy Blue Ridge Parkway summits - East of Boone along the BRP, you will find easy targets with W4C/EM-060 - 3070, W4C/EM-043 - Thomkins Knob and W4C/EM-058 - 3730. If you still have time left, you can head up to W4C/EM-021 - Mount Jefferson.

Amphibolite Mountains - North of Boone, NC you will find W4C/EM-005 - Elk Knob and just across the valley is W4C/EM-011 - Snake Mtn (which is reputed to be one of the finest hikes in NC). Not too far away is the drive-up summit of W4T/SU-022 - 4580.

Linville Gorge Summits - Along the western rim of the gorge, W4C/EM-046 - Laurel Mountain is a short and easy hike and W4C/EM-066 - Dogback Mtn is a drive-up summit. W4C/EM-059 - Dobson Knob is a short hike from the end of a Forest Service road off of Old NC 105. Wiseman’s View and Linville Falls are both worthwhile tourist stops along the western rim. On the eastern rim, W4C/EM-049 - Hawksbill Mtn and W4C/EM-051 - Table Rock Mtn are excellent summits with great views of the Gorge. W4C/EM-070 - 3161 is a longer hike that shares the trailhead with Table Rock Mtn and takesy ou through the rugged Chimneys before climbing the summit on the north end of Shortoff Mtn.

Shady Valley Summits - Heading up to the Shady Valley area along Hwy 91, you will pass the drive-up summit of W4T/RV-001 - Holston High Point. W4T/SU-037 - Rich Mtn and W4T/RV-002 - 3940 are both located just off the AT and W4T/SU-038 - Grindstone Knob is a very short hike along the Iron Mtn Trail.

I-26 Summits - Closest to RMSP is W4T/SU-058 - Pinnacle Mtn which offers a longer 3 mile hike from the I-26 side or a shorter 0.75 mile hike from the west. Heading north W4T/SU-062 - Whiterock Ridge is a short hike and easily accessible from I-26. To the south on I-26, W4T/SU-024 - High Rock is a nice and shorter hike along the AT and W4T/SU-010 - Big Bald is a virtual drive-up if access is pre-arranged.

W4V/W4K Combo - Although a bit longer drive from RMSP, these two drive-up summits are easy to access and is the easiest way to add W4K to your list of activated associations. W4V/GC-001 - High Knob and W4K/EC-001 - Black Mountain

73, pat - KI4SVM

I’m reserved - Site 13… Bringing camper… Have room for 3 more if anyone wants to share the camping fee.

Since you are the first person with a site with a electrical hookup, I guess that makes you the official battery charging station! :heart_eyes:

I will keep updating the attendee list and any important info in the first post.

This is going to be fun…

73, pat - KI4SVM

Yep! I can bring a extra radio for a 2m-fm / HF-SSB base station too.

1 Like

Pat,
I plan to be there, but not as a camper. I will join the group in the evenings, driving up from my home in Gray, Tennessee. I look forward to meeting many of those who have either been chased by me, or who have chased me. It ought to be a lot of fun. Looking forward to it.
–John. KJ4ZFK

Most excellent, John! I, as well as I am sure many others, will enjoy meeting you in person. It is always good to make a contact with you, either as a chaser or an activator. Maybe you can scare up a few more of the locals too!