The Kearsarge Saga: Five More SOTA Winter Bonus Points, Or How This Little Mountain Kicks Me Around Over And Over Again
I don’t like to talk too much about Kearsarge. This climb has kicked my backside four years in a row. Every year, I vow that this is the last time. But five SOTA points for a 4-mile, 1600 foot hike?! Like clockwork, greed gets the best of me, I forget my Kearsarge pain, and I do it again.
Look closely at the skyline picture above. You can see AA1F disguised as a tree. Below, I turned the camera around to myself and tried for a summit selfie. I almost got blown over. As staged as that may look, it isn’t. I could not actually get the wind gusts (20 mph? 30 mph? 150 mph?) to cooperate and let me get one decent pick showing I was at the top too. Oh well, you get the point anyway.
Our first year climbing Kearsarge, the temperature was 0℉…in Boston! I was a mess at the summit, it was so cold. That picture of me with the tarp in that post is one of my favorites — I did not think we were going to make it out and I still look at it and wonder if my body was going to be used as a landmark, much like the unfortunate souls that froze to death on Everest.
The section in the picture below is the most treacherous part of the Kearsarge hike. This part of the trail becomes a frozen waterfall as the late winter thaw-freeze cycle begins. Every year it is different. Honestly this year, it was not too bad.
Finally, last year we brought Georgie, our shepherd. This is one of the very few mountains we never hiked with our beloved pooch Nellie. Our problem last year? Our usually very capable Kahtoola MICROspikes were not gripping the icy rind of the trail at all. Can you guess why from the image below? Yup, the bottom spike is from my old, very worn down set of spikes. The top spike is from the set I wore this time. PSA! Replace your microspikes, lest you end up with a very poor set of ice skates!
So what went wrong this time?!
ME! I went wrong this time! Remember we mentioned that we were using a new handi-talkie for activations, the Yaesu FT-60? It seems I need to study its manual more. I managed to turn on the “WIRES” mode (great reference here), having exactly zero idea what the “WIRES” mode was. Well, it is the internet connectivity mode that sends out a DTMF tone in order to establish connection. So instead of transmitting my voice on 146.52 MHz, it was repeatedly muting our voices and sending out a tone. Embarrassing Amateur Amateur Hour! And trying to troubleshoot in the blustery wind and cold on the summit was difficult for my frozen neurons. But fortunately we got it figured out, and with the help of a roll-up J-pole, we got our four contacts for the activation. (Astute observers will recognized the Yaesu FT-4X on my pack; AA1F and I still each bring up these for trail communications. We keep the FT-60 tucked away until the activation.)
So how did the FT-60 handle this summit which is particularly lit up with RFI given its huge number of commercial antennas? Lets just say we could not hear ANYONE coming back to us on the FT-4X. But we were able to get full-quieting reception for the chasers who came our way with the FT-60. The difference is stunning! And most importantly to us, we made the activation without needing to set up the HF rig, which is never a lot of fun to do in the cold.
Ok Kearsarge, see you next year I presume!
KM1NDY