Two W7N summits bagged on May 1 for this newbie activator

Mt Scott - W7N/WC-028 - at the south end of the Virginia Range near Carson City required no walking/hiking at all; just drive up Goni Road from Carson City and park on top where all the dozen broadcast stations are located. The six mile mountain road climbs steeply on a washed out gravel road requiring a high clearance 4x4. I posted my own spots with 5-bar cell service on Verizon and RBN was working reliabably as well. The chasers turned out heavy. Had the company of a dozen wild mustangs grazing! Beautiful views of the snow-capped Sierra's too.  Steamboat Hills HP -W7N/WC-083 - is off Rte 431 south of Reno requires a 1mi. dirt road drive using high clearance 4x4, and then a 1mi. hike to the summit. Very rocky and sage brush made for challenging setup. It's an easy peak to bag with great views of Reno and the Washoe Valley. Spotted a pair of deer on the summit trail. Perfect cell service, but RBN had stopped working during the afternoon.  My YouKits HB-1B CW transceiver was super easy to operate and really gets through. Made Q's all over the country. The noise level was way down compared to the home QTH, whether that's due to being away from neighborhood powerlines or if its that the linked EFHW horizontal antenna works that much better for US stations than my Butternut vertical at home. I was hearing S2 and S3 level stations on the QRP station that I never can hear on home QTH. Used a QRPguys mini Hi-Z tuner with no coax and a 10m support pole. I have to admit I'm hooked on Sota. It was an amazing experience overall. Only 994 points to go for Mtn Goat! Thank you chasers! Woody Brown, K1LBReno, NV