The Monadnocks Are (Fortunately Not Really) Killing Me Part 1: North Pack and Pack Monadnock SOTA
About a month ago, AA1F, Nellie (our dog), and I drove up to the northern terminus of the Wapack Trail to hike North Pack and Pack Monadnock. I convinced AA1F to leave the HF rig at home and we would use our trusty Yaesu FT-4X HTs with a homemade slim jim antenna and the Venus DR-4020 digimodes transceiver for a combined FT8 and FM activation.
The goal would be to hike North Pack Monadnock, then cross the cul to Pack Monadnock, and then backtrack back to North Pack and the Wapack Northern Terminus Trailhead for a nearly 8 mile round trip hike.
And save a few obstacles, its a fairly mellow hike. For Summits-On-The-Air, each peak (W1/HA-041 and W1/HA-203), each mountain is worth 1 single point. An eight mile hike for 2 points.
Despite our typical late morning start, the sun was still relatively high when we reached the summit of North Pack Monadnock.
I made a combination of contacts on 2 meters FM by phone and FT8 contacts with the little Venus’ four watts. AA1F felt naked without his beloved Yaesu FT-891.
The set-up is the Evolve III Maestro, Microcenter’s no-longer-in-stock $60 computer, a 3ah Bioenno battery, a Creative Labs G3 Sound Blaster audio interface, and the also now out of stock Venus DR4020 transceiver.
North Pack’s activation complete, we headed on over to Pack Monadnock, over 2 miles away.
And if you are curious what 2.3 mountain hiking miles looks like, here is North Pack from the summit of Pack Monadnock.
Despite a bright, sunny, beautiful looking day, the temperatures were dropping like a rock. We bundled Nellie up in her special doggie pajamas and had here sit on the insulated pad.
I jumped on FT8 once again, while AA1F struggled to make 2M contacts. Neither the handitalkie, nor the digimodes were very generous. I actually thought we would have to walk away and leave the SOTA point on the table.
Here is a lovely view of the setting sun. The only problem was we were four miles away from the trailhead where our vehicle was parked. We would have to descend Pack and climb North Pack (once again) by headlamp to get home. Fortunately praying for contacts sometimes works on top of a summit, and we were able to get a mixture of FM and FT8 qsos totally four for each of us! We packed up in the remnants of twilight, grabbed our bags, and headed out.
A selfie lit by a red bulb in my headlamp at the top of North Pack Monadnock…
And finally, me at the trailhead. We made it!
If you look carefully you can see my van.
Night hiking is both exhilarating and mentally and physically exhausting. The key is to have a good headlamp and a dedicated hiking gps device (mine is the Garmin GPSMAP 64st model). Have extra batteries for both devices. Be prepared with the proper gear (tarp, possibly a sleeping bag, and extra clothing) to stay out over night if need be. Call out the trail markers as you walk by them. This is key. Train yourself to walk from one trail marker to the next and turn around IMMEDIATELY if you do not see a trail marker ahead of you. Backtrack to the last trail marker you saw. NEVER EVER LEAVE THE TRAIL. Got that? NEVER EVER LEAVE THE TRAIL!!!! I can’t state it loudly enough. Make sure your GPS tracked you on the way up and that you are following the same trail on the way back. Keep moving to stay warm, even if it is in circles. Don’t be scared. The sun will come up soon enough. Or hopefully you will reach your destination well before then. The animals out there aren’t going to pounce on you — don’t lose yourself in your imagination. In fact, night hiking is a really enjoyable and peaceful activity once you acclimate to it.
Ok, that’s all. Eight miles, half of which was in the dark, two mountains, two modes…and two lousy little points toward the 1000 points needed to get the SOTA Mountain Goat award. Some day…
Your virtual hiking partner,
KM1NDY