Springtime dandy in Central Washington Cascade Mountains! A weekday (Friday) activation of Granite Mountain, together with Tim Nair, KG7EJT. Granite Mountain, 5,629 feet elevation, with 3,800 feet elevation gain and 8.6 miles RT, is located near the Denny Creek area, off exit 74, I-90, near Snoqualmie Pass. Tim and I had previously Activated Granite Mountain during the winter of 2015. This time we also had great weather, some mushy snow slogging, stupendous views and inquisitive hikers at the summit, which all combined for another fine Activation!
Information on Granite Mountain at: http://www.summitpost.org/granite-mountain-snoqualmie/150562 and at: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/granite-mountain-1
Leaving the TH at 9:05 AM, with the temperature already at 57 degrees, we reached the summit at 11:50 AM, about 15 minutes longer than our previous winter ascent. This was due to the mushy springtime snow conditions on the last 1/4 of the route, as well as having aged a year...? The weather was beautiful, with cloudless blue skies. The upper portion of the summer route being buried in snow, allowed us to vary the summer route by alternating between scrambling up clean & dry, granite boulders, and steepish snow slopes leading to the summit formation of Granite Mountain.
We had posted an activation start time of 12:00 Noon, 19:00 UTC, so we launched into 2M FM activity immediately. After making a number of contacts each, we took time to rest, eat a well-deserved lunch, enjoy the views and set up for HF operations. Tim and I took turns operating on 20M and 40M so as not to overload our radios by operating on the same band, as we were only about 30 feet apart in Operating Positions. We must have made an impressive spectacle, with two 25 + foot carbon fiber fishing poles, shining in the strong sun, and strung with 20M / 40M Inverted V dipoles, supported by iridescent yellow para-chord. Soon the SOTA flags were hoisted onto the antenna supports, and added to the colorful scene.
I had a total of 13 contacts, 5 on 2M FM, 4 on 40M SSB and 4 on 20M SSB – in about 1¾ hours of operating. At the same time, Tim had a total of 14 contacts, in about 1½ hours of operating. The highlight for me was a contact with KH6LH in Hawaii.
I worked: KG7AUL; KE7CFM; K7LWA; KF7VWA; AE7VG; W6FHZ; W6IO; KV7L; W7ZRC; W7QDM; K7DU; KH6LH and K2HZO. Thank you agin to all my contacts and faithful Chasers.
