VHF Range From SOTA Summits

Posted on 15 March 2022 by Bob K0NR

When doing VHF activations for Summits On The Air (SOTA), the radio range is dependent on the height of the summit and the surrounding terrain. The Radio Mobile website from Roger/VE2DBE is a great tool that can be used to estimate the radio range from a particular site. Repeater system owners often use tools like this to predict the coverage of their repeaters. I don’t normally do this type of analysis for SOTA…I just look at a topo map and get a rough idea of how far my signal will go. Then, I decided to spend a little time analyzing a few summits in Colorado to see what I could learn.

Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004)

Pikes is a 14,115-foot summit that towers over the eastern plains of Colorado, making it an ideal radio site. The Radio Mobile plot shown below shows the solid radio coverage in blue and the fringe area in yellow. I won’t go into how to use Radio Mobile on this post. As you’d expect, you enter the location of the radio site (summit) along with various parameters such as frequency, minimum detectable signal level, transmit power, and antenna gain. I entered some nominal parameters consistent with typical SOTA stations on 146 MHz (2 meters).

Pikes covers about half of the state of Colorado, reaching out to the Kansas state line. To the west, the coverage does not go as far because the radio signals are blocked by other mountain ranges. In particular, the signal tends to drop off at the Sawatch Range, west of Buena Vista. I’ve activated Pikes many times and this plot lines up well with my general experience. The blue area can be worked quite reliably with a decent station on both ends. By “decent” I mean a 20-watt transmitter on the summit with a small Yagi antenna and a 40-watt radio with an omnidirectional antenna at the chaser station. Working stations near the Kansas state line is usually easy on 2m FM. The highest spot in Kansas (Mount Sunflower, not a SOTA summit) can usually be worked without much trouble. However, longer distance contacts are possible, especially using SSB or CW. I’ve written before about the Myth of VHF Line-Of-Sight.

When using VHF for SOTA activations, it is important to consider the potential stations that will be within range and on the air for you to work. Besides being a high summit, Pikes overlooks the major cities in Colorado, from Fort Collins to Pueblo, so finding someone to work on 146.52 MHz is usually easy. It is common to have a pile up of stations calling you.

Colorado has over fifty 14,000-foot mountains and all those are workable from Pikes Peak on 2m FM.

Mt Herman (W0C/FR-063)

Mt Herman is another popular SOTA summit, with an elevation of 9063 feet, not nearly as high as Pikes Peak. This summit also looks out over the eastern plains of Colorado, as shown in the coverage plot below. Although the range is not as good as Pikes, it still covers the major cities, so again it is easy to do a 2m FM activation from Mt Herman. It is more difficult to work stations to the west. I can usually work stations in Woodland Park and Divide from Mt Herman, but reaching Buena Vista is a challenge.

VHF coverage prediction for Mount Herman (W0C/FR-063)

Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107)

VHF activations can be much more challenging when the summit is further away from populated areas. Let’s consider Threemile Mountain, which is 10,020 feet in elevation, located about 20 miles south of Hartsel, CO. This summit tends to get blocked to the east by the Front Range and to the west by the Sawatch Range. Even though the summit is higher than Mt Herman, its radio range is not as good.

In particular, it does not cover Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo very well, so the number of available stations to work drops dramatically. There are a number of hams that monitor 146.52 MHz up in the mountains, so if you are patient you can usually make some VHF contacts. This can be a source of frustration for VHF activators, or you can take it on as a challenge.

I have activated Threemile five times and I don’t think I’ve ever worked a Denver station on 2m FM. I have worked some Denver stations from there using 2m SSB, during a VHF contest. Oh, I did manage to work Larry/N0LL in Smith Center, KS on 2m SSB for a distance of 372 miles. See Radio Fun on Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107). So you never know what you’re going to get on VHF/UHF.

Conclusions

So what conclusions can we draw from this analysis?

Radio Mobile does a good job of predicting typical 2m FM coverage. My experience on these summits aligns well with the Radio Mobile predictions.
But much longer distance contacts are still possible. VHF is not limited to line of sight. Radio Mobile is intended to predict reliable radio coverage, not the exceptional radio contact.
Be aware of the population density of the coverage area because that is a huge factor for making radio contacts. New VHF activators should start on summits that overlook the major Colorado cities.
Improve your VHF activator station. Every additional dB of signal improves your ability to make those weak-signal contacts on the edge of the coverage area.

As always, get off the couch, gather your radio gear, and head for a summit.

73 Bob K0NR

SOTA W0C 10-10-10 Challenge Report

Posted on 22 August 2021 by Bob K0NR

Joyce/K0JJW climbing London Mountain, with Mosquito Peak in the background (right).

We had a great time going after the W0C 10-10-10 SOTA Challenge. (See 2021 Colorado SOTA and 14er Event ) For activators, the objective was to activate 10 summits higher than 10k feet in 10 days. It turned out that some previous commitments would not allow us to do 10 days of activating, so we smushed 10 summits into 6 days. With careful choice of summits and doing multiple summits in a day, we put together a plan.

Saturday and Sunday started off with the Colorado 14er Event, so we opted to do Pikes Peak on Saturday and Mount Evans on Sunday. These are both drive-up summits, so not a lot of hiking. As previously reported, we had some good luck with 1.2 GHz from those summits. Then, on Monday we hiked Puma Peak and Little Puma, two 11k summits in South Park. On Tuesday, we did three summits on one day: Dicks Peak, 10090 and 10715. These three hikes were not particularly difficult but doing all three made for a full day.

Map of the ten summits that were activated.

On Wednesday, we took the Jeep up to Mosquito Pass and hiked two 13ers: Mosquito Peak and London Mountain. We had previously activated those two summits in 2018. Finally, on Thursday, we did our tenth summit with Walt/W0CP and Jerry/K0ES, one of our favorites: South Monarch Ridge. Walt and Jerry worked the HF bands while we did VHF/UHF. That was a slacker day, because we rode the tram up from Monarch Pass.

Bob/K0NR standing next to the Jeep with Mosquito Peak in the background.

The weather was consistently fantastic, with no thunderstorms in sight. The smoke from western wildfires was thick at times and can be seen in some of the photos.

The Bands

As usual, we operated above 50 MHz, focusing on 2m, 70cm and 23cm FM operation. Most of the contacts were on 2m FM but we had significant activity on the other bands. The 1.2 GHz work was really fun: Using 1.2 GHz in the Colorado 14er Event. I made 162 contacts and Joyce made 94, for a total of 256 for the week. Not bad!

Thanks to all of our chasers and fellow activators: AC0FT, AC0FY, AC0V, AD1CT, K0AVU, K0BEJ, K0EHR, K0ES, K0FYR, K0GPA, K0GPA, K0MGL, K0MOS, K0REW, K0SJP, K0TRD, K1DDN, K5RHD, K6TUY, K7ASB, KA4EPS, KB0KQI, KB6VHF, KC0PBR, KC3BHI, KC5CW, KD0MRC, KD0VHD, KD0YOB, KD8EQA, KE0BTX, KF0DGK, KF0FOG, KG5APL, KJ4DER, KL7GLK,
KL7IZW, KM4PEH, KM5TY, KN0MAP, KX0R, KX3DX, N0DET, N0EMU, N0IPA, N0IVN, N0KM, N1SMB, N1XCO, N8XBD, W0ADV,
W0BV, W0CP, W0JSL, W0OOD, W0RW, W1KGH, W3REM, W5IG, W6AUN, W7UM, WA0KXO, WB0JNS, WB0TNH, WZ0N

Challenge Results

The results for the W0C 10-10-10 Challenge have been posted, for both activators and chasers. Here are the Activator results:

Six activators met the challenge of doing at least 10 summits during the event. That was our goal…not pursuing the top of the list but we did want to get 10 summits done. I am fifth on the list and K0JJW came in at sixth. We had the same number of SOTA points because we did the same summits. I had more QSOs though.

It was a fun event and we were happy to be able to activate 10 summits. Fortunately, the weather was good, otherwise we might have gotten rained out on the longer days.

73 Bob K0NR

2021 Colorado SOTA and 14er Event

Posted on 7 July 2021 by Bob K0NR

The Summits On The Air (SOTA) program originated in the United Kingdom but has propagated to most countries around the world. The program came to Colorado on May 1st, 2010 with Steve/WGØAT sending a CQ from Mount Herman, just west of Monument. Today, the SOTA program in Colorado (called WØC-SOTA) is very active with roughly 180 activators that operate from Colorado summits.

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, WØC-SOTA is organizing a 10-10-10 Event with a challenge for Activators and Chasers alike. (Activators operate from summits, Chasers try to contact them.)

Activator challenge: Activate 10 (or more) 10K feet (or higher) summits (in Colorado/WØC) within 10 days.

Chaser challenge: Chase Activators on 10 different (or more) qualifying WØC summits (10K or higher) within the 10 days.

Event Date: We will kick-off the event in conjunction with the Colorado 14er event on August 7th, 2021 and conclude on August 16th.

Everybody is invited to participate, either as an Activator or a Chaser. Block off these days in your calendar now and start planning for how you can participate. Feel free to operate as much or as little as you would like. It is all about having fun messing around with radios. Any HF, VHF or UHF band can be used for making SOTA contacts, with the most popular ones being 40m (CW & SSB), 20m (CW & SSB) and 2m (FM).

Steve/WG0AT operating from the summit of Mount Herman (W0C/FR-063)

Note that the recommended 2m FM frequencies for the 14er event have changed to:

146.580 FM North America Adventure Frequency
146.550 FM    Simplex Alternate
146.490 FM    Simplex Alternate
146.520 FM    National 2m FM Calling Frequency
(as needed, please don’t hog the calling frequency)

There will be a leaderboard on the W0C-SOTA website showing all participants who meet one of the challenges. More details will be announced on the WØC-SOTA Website as soon as they are hashed out.

For more information on the SOTA program in general, see the worldwide SOTA website.

Full Disclosure: May 1 is actually the 11th Anniversary, but the COVID-19 Pandemic interfered in 2020, so we are catching up.

Celebrating 10 Years of Summits On The Air in Colorado

Posted on 25 April 2021 by Bob K0NR

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, WØC-SOTA is organizing a 10-10-10 Event with a challenge for Activators and Chasers alike. (Activators operate from summits, Chasers try to contact them.)

Steve/WG0AT on a SOTA activation with pack goat Rooster.

Activator challenge: Activate 10 (or more) 10K feet (or higher) summits (in Colorado/WØC) within 10 days.

Chaser challenge: Chase Activators on 10 different (or more) qualifying WØC summits (10K or higher) within the 10 days.

Event Date: We will kick-off the event in conjunction with the Colorado 14er event on August 7th, 2021 and conclude on August 16th.

There will be a leaderboard on the W0C-SOTA website showing all participants who meet one of the challenges. More details will be announced on the WØC-SOTA Website as soon as they are hashed out.

For more information on the SOTA program in general, see the worldwide SOTA website.

Full Disclosure: May 1 is actually the 11th Anniversary, but the COVID-19 Pandemic interfered in 2020, so we are catching up.

Radio Fun on Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107)

Posted on 17 January 2021 by Bob K0NR

Lately, for the ARRL January VHF contest, I try to find a SOTA summit to activate. Operating time is usually just a few hours, so it does not make for a big score. The main advantage is for VHF SOTA (Summits On The Air) because there is a lot more activity on 2m CW and SSB. This year, I wanted to go for the mountaintop trifecta of SOTA, POTA (Parks On The Air) and VHF contest in one activation.

Threemile Mountain is an easy SOTA summit: easy to access via forest service roads and an easy hike.

Joyce/K0JJW operating the portable station on 2m FM.

Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107) emerged as the activation summit because it is not too far from our cabin and accessible in the winter. (This time of year, the roads to many of our favorite summits are blocked.) For POTA, it is located in the Pike National Forest (K-4404). Because it is a short hike, I concluded that I could carry the Yaesu FT-911 and the 20 Ah Bionno battery. This would cover all the bands, give us more RF punch and still have plenty of battery capacity.

The portable station with 100 watts on HF, 50 watts on 2m/70 cm.

I carried quite a collection of antennas which gave us plenty of operating choices. We started out on 2m and 70 cm FM, working mostly local stations. This quickly got us enough contacts for SOTA and POTA points. We used a rollup J-pole for 2 meters and 70 cm, until it became intermittent and the SWR went wild. Then we switched to the Arrow 3-element Yagi for 2 meters.

Bob/K0NR operating from Threemile Mountain.

About that time, I decided to see what was happening on 2m SSB. There were a number of contest stations on the air, mostly from the front range cities (Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, …). I worked a bunch of them using 50 watts from the FT-991 to the 2m Yagi antenna (horizontally polarized).

The QSO between K0NR on Threemile Mountain (DM78) and Larry/N0LL near Smith Center, Kansas (EM09).

Suddenly, I was surprised to hear N0LL from Kansas calling me. I’ve worked Larry before from Colorado but it usually was from a really good location such as Mt Herman or Pikes Peak. Even then, we often had to switch to CW to complete the contact. Today he was louder than many of the Denver stations. We easily worked on SSB, which turned out to be a new personal best DX for me from a SOTA summit (372 miles).

We deployed both the SOTA and POTA flags today.

After things slowed down on 2m SSB, I decided to make some HF contacts. The North American QSO Party (SSB) was active, so I decided to set up for 20m and see who I could work. Running 100 watts to an endfed halfwave kept me competitive with the contest stations. Then I moved up to 17m SSB and worked non-contest POTA and SOTA chasers.

Bob/K0NR and Joyce/K0JJW hanging out on the summit of Threemile Mountain.

We both accomplished the three-in-one mountaintop activation for SOTA, POTA, and the VHF contest. I also worked the NA QSO Party, so that makes it four-in-one, but who is counting? The January weather cooperated with us with almost no wind on the summit, about 28 degrees F. We sat there in the sunshine and just enjoyed the view before hiking back down.

73 Bob K0NR

More On SOTA and POTA

Posted on 20 December 2020 by Bob K0NR

Recently, I commented on participating in the Parks On The Air (POTA) program: How About Parks On The Air? Since then Joyce/K0JJW and I have done a few POTA activations, including a few combination SOTA (Summits On The Air) + POTA activations. We are starting to sort out how SOTA and POTA work for us. I am sure this will evolve over time as there are many operating options with both programs. But here is what we’ve done so far.

Recall that we’ve been focusing on VHF/UHF operating for SOTA, although I did break down and actually made some HF contacts from a SOTA summit recently. VHF/UHF is a good match for SOTA (Height Above Average Terrain). However, for some remote summits, it can be a challenge to get enough radio contacts (4) to qualify for the SOTA points. Using HF can be a big help in generating contacts. POTA can also be done with VHF, some parks have high elevation, but many of them are not attractive VHF locations. POTA requires 10 radio contacts to qualify for points, so that raises the bar a bit, too.

Bob/K0NR on Mount Herman, displaying the SOTA and POTA flags.

Yesterday, we decided to hike up Mt Herman (W0C/FR-063) for a short afternoon VHF/UHF activation. I posted both a SOTA alert and a POTA alert. We made plenty of radio contacts (40 total) and submitted logs to both the SOTA and POTA websites. I know there were SOTA chasers out there but I’m not sure if anyone worked us specifically for POTA. As usual, a lot of hams give us a call just because it is fun to work someone on a summit (without any SOTA or POTA interest).

The majority of our SOTA activations in Colorado are in national forests, which count as “parks” for POTA. So it is easy to tack on a POTA activation when doing SOTA.

Vehicle-Based POTA

Joyce and I also did some POTA activations from a vehicle. It is pretty easy for us to get to Pike National Forest (K-4404) or San Isabel National Forest (K-4407) and set up a portable station.

We used a Yaesu FT-991 and endfed halfwave antennas for 20m and 15m, supported by a SOTAbeams pole. This is the same configuration I’ve used for portable operating from many locations, including some Caribbean islands. I recently purchased a 20 Ah LFP battery from Bioenno Power to use as a power source so that we don’t rely on the vehicle battery.

We focused on HF for these POTA activations and were pleased to have decent pileups of stations calling us on the 20m and 15m bands. Fifty watts to a halfwave antenna works just fine. We also made it a point to call on 2m FM and usually picked up a handle of contacts on that band, too.

What’s Next?

At this point, our outdoorsy portable operating is looking like this:

SOTA Summits – if the summit is in a park, we will probably go ahead and submit a POTA log along with the SOTA log. Many of the W0C SOTA summits are in national forests, national parks or state parks. VHF-only activations will probably have less impact on POTA…those chasers/hunters tend to be on HF. On HF, we will be running QRP power levels.
POTA Parks (day trip) – another option is for us to just stop by one of the national forests or a state park and get on the air. (Pike National Forest is about 2 miles from our home.) This will be focused on the HF bands but we can always make a call or two on VHF. This will be operating from or close to a vehicle, so probably running 50 watts on HF with a wire antenna.
POTA (RV camping) – we’ve been RV camping in state parks and national forests this past year. An obvious additional activity is to set up on HF for a POTA activation. We haven’t done this yet.

I’ve already done a combination VHF Contest and SOTA activation, so this could be extended to include POTA. Three Things In One. In fact, some locations qualify for more than one POTA park, so maybe it is time for a Four-In-One.

73 Bob K0NR

How About Parks On The Air?

Posted on 7 November 2020 by Bob K0NR

Recently, I gave a presentation to the ARROW radio club in Ann Arbor, MI on the topic of “Having Fun With VHF”. I’ve given this talk several times now, highlighting some of the topics in my book, VHF, Summits and More: Having Fun With Ham Radio. When I discussed my Summits On The Air (SOTA) activities, Thom/W8TAM mentioned that Parks On The Air (POTA) was probably a better fit for Michigan. (There are SOTA summits in Michigan but most of them are in the upper peninsula or the northern part of the lower peninsula.) This got me thinking about POTA and I followed up with Thom via email a few days later to get a bit more information.

Being a fan of the US National Parks, I had done a few activations during the ARRL National Parks On The Air event in 2016. (Holy decibels, was that really 4 years ago?) The POTA program is similar but is an ongoing program, kind of like SOTA.

What’s A Park?

I am not sure of the specific criteria for parks to be included in POTA, but it seems to be pretty much National Parks (including National Forests) and State Parks. The POTA website talks about these typical categories of POTA stations: backpack, picnic table, campground and Field Day. Backpack looks very much like a typical SOTA activation, a small portable station carried by humans (or maybe goats) to the activation site. Picnic Table is a little bit different, with more gear and less hiking. Campground and Field Day take advantage of operating close to or inside a vehicle.

I see quite a bit of overlap with other activities that I like: SOTA, hiking, camping, parks and travel.

Colorado

To get a handle on local opportunities, I looked at the 85 POTA parks listed for Colorado. (Compare this to over 1805 SOTA summits in the state.) These are National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, National Recreation Areas, National Grasslands, National Scenic Trails, National Historic Trails, National Forests, and Colorado State Parks. In short, POTA includes the National Park System, National Forests, and State Parks. Cool!

We see a similar picture in Kansas, which has zero SOTA summits. (Sorry, it’s just too flat.)

Kansas has its fair share of parks to activate in the POTA program.

SOTA activation opportunities are obviously skewed toward mountainous areas. Islands On The Air (IOTA) is generally near large bodies of water. However, POTA is available everywhere. Americans like parks and we have lots of them.

First impressions

I have been heavy into SOTA, so that’s the perspective I have when checking out POTA. POTA requires 10 QSOs to obtain points for an activation, while SOTA requires only four. SOTA activations must not be in, or in the close vicinity of a motor vehicle, cannot use a permanent electrical power source, nor use a fossil fuel generator. Also, no part of the station may be connected in any way with the motor vehicle. All equipment must be operated from portable power source (batteries, solar cells, etc). The POTA rules don’t have these restrictions.

The SOTA points system and logging database are pretty much on the honor system. Send in a log (Activator or Chaser) and you’ll get credit for the points you claim. POTA only collects logs from the Activators. So if you are a Chaser (Hunter, in POTA terminology), you don’t submit a log and your points are dependent on the Activator getting a log submitted. POTA log submission is via email and may take up to two weeks to get processed, while SOTA is instantaneous.

What’s Next

I have not quite figured out how I will participate in POTA. For starters, it can be a nice overlap with SOTA. Most of the SOTA summits we activate are on National Forest land, so they also count as POTA activations. Lately, Joyce/K0JJW and I have been RV camping in state parks, so that sets us up for an easy POTA activation. We are also working on visiting all of the US National Parks. POTA probably isn’t a great match for VHF operating, unless it has some Height Above Average Terrain.

I can appreciate the accessibility of the POTA program. It does not require a lot of physical ability to do an activation. If you want to hike into a remote area, that works, too. The flexible rules allow hams to set up a station in a variety of ways and it seems most hams have a park nearby they can activate.

73 Bob K0NR

New SOTA Mountain Goat: Joyce/K0JJW

Posted on 13 August 2020 by Bob K0NR

Congratulations to my wonderful spouse and favorite hiking partner, Joyce/K0JJW, for achieving Mountain Goat status for Summits On The Air (SOTA).

Joyce/K0JJW on Pikes Peak, working a pileup as she qualifies for Mountain Goat.

On August 10th, she reached 1000 activator points while activating Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004). She had quite the pileup on 146.55 MHz. Her best DX for the day was WY7ATH near Cheyenne, WY at a distance of 167 miles. Not bad!

Early on, she always hiked with me on SOTA activations but didn’t start pursuing activator points until the middle of 2017. All of her SOTA contacts have been on the VHF/UHF bands, lots of 2m FM along with 2m SSB, 70 cm and 23 cm FM.

Joyce has activated 181 summits, 112 unique in 19 associations.
She is the second female Mountain Goat in Colorado (after Lynn/KC0YQF) and is the eighth female goat in North America.

73 Bob K0NR

McQuaid Butte SOTA

Posted on 3 August 2020 by Bob K0NR

McQuaid Butte (W0C/SP-019) is a 9043-foot mountain near our cabin in Park County. Joyce/K0JJW and I activated it for Summits On The Air (SOTA) way back in 2013 but for some reason, we had not been back to it. The access road (Salt Creek Road, FS 435) is gated closed from January 1 to June 15 to protect wildlife habitat, so I suppose that is a factor.

McQuaid Butte (W0C/SP-109) as viewed from the south.

Today, we decided to make a return trip to the summit and activate it on VHF/UHF. I remembered that Salt Creek Road can turn into a muddy mess but today it was dry and easily drivable with most vehicles. Salt Creek Road is accessed from Highway 285, south of Fairplay but north of Antero Junction.

Access to McQuaid Butte is via Salt Creek Road, from Highway 285. The hiking route is shown in blue.

There is a good parking spot shown on the map above at 38.95791, -106.00790. A trail begins here, heading east. It used to be 4WD road but it is now closed to motor vehicles. This trail/road heads east and then curves to the north and eventually disappears. About that time, you’ll encounter a fence that needs to be crossed as you make your way towards the summit (approaching from the west). There are pieces of a trail here and there but its mostly bushwacking up the side of the summit. In places, there is substantial downed timber that can be stepped over and around but its mildly annoying.

Our route turned out to be 1.3 miles one way with 650 vertical feet. We both quickly made enough QSOs to qualify for activator points, working W0BV, KD0MRC, K0MGL, WZ0N on 2m FM (and some on 70 cm). The weather was excellent, resulting in a fun SOTA activation in the Pike National Forest.

We will probably return again to this summit because it’s a nice hike that is easy to get to from our cabin. It would also be a great choice for someone passing through on Highways 24 or 285.

73 Bob K0NR

Updated 06 July 2024:

We have been back to McQuaid Butte again and have refined the route a bit. As time has passed, the trail is starting to take shape, at least part of the way. The route is not that critical but these notes may make it just a little bit easier.Follow the old road, now a trail, from the parking location. It will curve around to the north and pretty much fade out. At this point, you should see the fence line that runs roughly east/west. Follow this fence line, walking on the south side. At some point, you need to jump the fence. There is a noticeable path on the other side of the fence which indicates where most people crossover. Keep walking along the fence line (on the north side), following the worn path that later turns north. The trail is very established here and easy to follow. Later it fades a bit but you should be able to follow it. Leave the trail somewhere around the marked waypoint (McQuaid – leave trail, 38.96536, -106.00255). Hike off-trail to the summit..it will get steeper and there is downed timber but not too bad.

2020 Colorado 14er Event

Posted on 17 July 2020 by Bob K0NR

August 1 & 2, 2020
Saturday and Sunday
www.ham14er.org

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains and Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the 29^th annual event and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. The covers the entire weekend but many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by noon due to lightning safety concerns.

The event includes all Summits On the Air (SOTA) summits, which adds over 1800 potential summits! If you aren’t up to climbing a 14er, there are many other summits to choose from with a wide range of difficulty. See the Colorado SOTA web page at w0c-sota.org

Radio operators who plan to activate a summit should post their intent on the ham14er group via the ham14er groups.io website. Also, be sure to check out the event information at http://www.ham14er.org

Frequencies used during the event
Activity can occur on any amateur band including HF and VHF. The 2m fm band plan uses a “primary frequency and move up” approach. The 2m fm primary frequency is 147.42 MHz. At the beginning of the event, operators should try calling on 147.42 MHz. As activity increases on that frequency, move on up the band using the 30 kHz steps. Don’t just hang out on 147.42 MHz…move up! The next standard simplex frequency up from 147.42 MHz is 147.45 MHz, followed by 147.48 and 147.51 MHz.

For a complete list of suggested HF, VHF and UHF frequencies see this web page.

Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation.

There is a lot more information available here: www.ham14er.org

Sponsored by The Colorado 14er Event Task Force

Also be aware that the SOCAL SOTAFEST is happening on the same weekend, which means there will be plenty of SOTA activity on the ham bands! See http://socalsota.com

Activating SOTA W0C/SP-099

Posted on 11 May 2020 by Bob K0NR

The view of the Collegiate Peaks from SP-099.

Way back in 2013, Joyce/K0JJW and I did the first SOTA activation of W0C/SP-099, an unnamed summit in the San Isabel National Forest. As is often the case, we just reviewed the forest service map and drove down a road that got us sort of close to the summit and headed on up. On this initial activation, we came from the south, which is a viable route, but not all that great. Later, Walt/W0CP found a much better starting point to the east of the unnamed summit, so we were interested in trying that out.

The driving directions are to take County Road 187 south to CR 185, then turn off onto 185E. Consult the San Isabel National Forest map for context. The graphic below shows the immediate area near the summit.

The blue line shows the hiking route to SP-099.

The only mildly tricky part of FS 185E is that it passes through a section of private property that is surrounded by national forest. There are a number of private drives along the road (most of them gated and labeled “No Trespassing.”) However, 185E keeps on going and pops out the other side, where a wire gate marks the reentry into the national forest. Walt indicates a good place to park is at Lat/Lon 38.78067, -105.98301. The road was in good condition and should be passable with a high-clearance 2WD vehicle.

At this point, headed west towards the summit, hiking off trail. There is very little downed timber so the walk is quite enjoyable. The specific route is not critical but stay north of the private property.

Typical terrain and vegetation heading towards the summit.

My GPS app shows the hike at 0.85 miles one way with 460 feet of elevation gain. This is easy peasy, so we have started to call this unnamed summit “EZ 99”.

We worked a number of stations on 2m FM and then headed on down. (We also activated Bald Mountain W0C/SP-115, about two miles west, on the same day.)

This summit is now on our highly recommended list, an easy-to-access, pleasant hike in a beautiful area of Colorado.

73 Bob K0NR

Technician License Class – Black Forest, CO

Posted on 9 December 2019 by Bob K0NR

Black Forest, Colorado
Sat Feb 22 and 29
8 AM to 5 PM

Black Forest Fire Station
intersection Burgess Rd. & Teachout Rd.

The Technician license is your gateway to the world-wide excitement of Amateur Radio, and the very best emergency communications capability available!

• Earn your ham radio Technician class radio privileges
• Pass your FCC amateur radio license exam right in class on the second day
• Multiple-choice exam, No Morse Code Required
• Live equipment demonstrations
• Learn to operate on the ham bands, 10 Meters and higher
• Learn to use the many VHF/UHF FM repeaters in Colorado
• Find out how to participate in emergency communications

Registration fee: $30 adults, $20 under age 18

In addition, students must have the required study guide: HamRadioSchool.com Technician License Course Third Edition, effective 2018 – 2022, $22.95 print, $19.99 Kindle

Advance registration is required (No later than one week before the first session, earlier is better, first-come sign-up basis until the class is full.)

To register for the class, contact:
Bob Witte KØNR
Email: bob@k0nr.com or Phone: 719/659-3727

Sponsored by the Tri-Lakes Monument Radio Association
For more information on amateur (ham) radio visit www.arrl.org

Download: Tech License Class Flyer – Feb 2020

First SOTA Activation of W0C/SP-020 (Talus)

Posted on 15 October 2019 by Bob K0NR

While looking for our next SOTA adventure, I noticed a never-been-activated, unnamed 13er (W0C/SP-020) to the west of Mount Princeton. I checked various maps and it looked like there was a 4WD forest service road that went up to the adjacent saddle. So Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to give it a try.

SP-020 as viewed from the saddle (and parking spot).

We took County Road 306 west out of Buena Vista, towards Cottonwood Pass. Then we turned left onto County Road 344 which goes to Cottonwood Lake. We continued past Cottonwood Lake until we found FS 348, also known as Hope Gulch Road. We followed this road for 5 miles to the saddle.

This graphic shows the 4WD road in red and the hiking route in purple.

The road was easy-peasy 4WD, no problem at all with our stock Jeep Wrangler. A Suburu-class SUV can probably make it but there are a few rocky spots on the road that will require special care. There were two water crossings, one of them with about a foot of water (across Cottonwood Creek). Now this was mid-October, so the streams are not running real strong. Earlier in the year, this could be a major hazard.

Warning: water crossing at Cottonwood Creek.

A closeup view of the hiking path (0.6 miles, 800 feet vertical)

FS 348 is single lane, with long stretches without an easy passing or turnaround spot. We were happy that we only saw two other vehicles on the road.

Talus

We drove a bit past the saddle (where there is a small hut/cabin) and parked where a closed side road heads off toward the summit. We hiked up this closed road and then vectored off towards the summit. The hike was only 0.6 miles and 800 vertical feet. However, there was quite a bit of talus (rock debris) to climb over which really slowed us down. The hiking route does not seem critical but following the top of the ridge seemed to be good.

Yeah, about the talus. It isn’t any worse than other rocky summits in Colorado but it seemed to catch our attention, usually in the form of “ok, I’ve just about had it with this talus.” A contributing factor was that both Joyce and I had foot/ankle injuries in recent years. So our unofficial name for this summit became Talus.

Joyce/K0JJW took the honors of completing the first SOTA activation of this summit by contacting Bob/W0BV on 2m FM. We also both logged these stations: KD0MRC, W0RW, W6JM, W0LSD and N0AJN.

Bob/K0NR operating 2m from the summit, wearing orange during hunting season.

We sat there quite a while just taking in the view. Mt Princeton is due east; Mt Antero and Mt White are to the south.

The view of Mt Princeton, five miles east of SP-020.

You never know what your gonna get on the first activation of a summit. On this one, it turned out to be a fantastic day. The weather was sunny, temperature about 40 degrees, a little too windy at times. Late in the season, we didn’t have to worry about thunderstorms moving in and blowing us off the mountain. I liked the combination of a good 4WD road, heart-pumping but not-too-difficult hike, a first-time SOTA activation and doing it all with my favorite hiking partner (and wife).

73 Bob K0NR

Hiking Mt Herman for SOTA (W0C/FR-063)

Posted on 16 September 2019 by Bob K0NR

Mount Herman (W0C/FR-063) is a popular Summits On The Air (SOTA) peak near Monument, CO. It is The Most Radio-Active Mountain in Colorado and recently popped onto the worldwide 50 Most Popular Summits. The summit elevation is 9063 feet (2762m) and the grid locator is DM79mb.

View from the summit of Mt Herman, looking out over the eastern plains.

Access to the summit is not difficult and most of the locals know how to find it without a problem. However, there are a few things that can trip up a first-time activator.

Most people will get to Monument via I-25, taking the main Monument exit (Exit 161). Go west on 2nd street through the old downtown area, over the railroad tracks to a stop sign at Mitchell Road. Go left (south) on Mitchell Road and then right (west) onto Mount Herman Road (FS 320). Shortly after entering the national forest, you will probably see a sign that says Mt Herman Trailhead. THIS IS NOT THE TRAILHEAD YOU WANT. Keep going on Mt Herman Road.

Mt Herman Road angles left (going south) at the intersection with Red Rocks Drive. At this point, reset or check your odometer as it will help you find the actual Mt Herman Trailhead (see map). Continue on Mt Herman Road for 2.6 miles, where the trailhead is off to the right as the road curves left.

The condition of Mt Herman Road varies considerably from year to year. Most of the time the road is OK for high-clearance 2WD vehicles. Sometimes it deteriates to easy 4WD. The road and trail are often usable in the winter months but it depends greatly on recent temperatures and snowfall. The road is not maintained in the winter so definitely 4WD required.

Trailhead

The actual trailhead is not that well marked, hence the need to watch the odometer. However, on most summer days, there will be cars parked at the trailhead. Parking is informal, just a gravel area off on the right side of the road.

The red line shows the trail to the summit.

The trail to the summit is 1.2 miles one-way and 800 feet vertical. Make sure you stay to the right about 500 feet from the trailhead, on a trail that takes you up the mountain. There is another trail that continues straight at this point, which may throw you off. You should soon encounter a steep switchback at this point as you start to work your way up the mountain (see map above).

The trail is usually in decent shape with a few steep sections where the loose granite marbles can make it slippery. Hiking boots with some tread on them are recommended and trekking poles can be helpful, too.

Typical trail section with Joyce/K0JJW hiking it.

At the summit, there is a fire ring where people sometimes camp out overnight. The hike is popular, so you’ll probably have other people stopping by. There is plenty of room in the activation area, so I set up my radio gear some distance from the actual summit.

Mt Herman is a wonderful hike with great views (even if you don’t want to do a SOTA activation). With a superb radio horizon, it is also first-rate place to make radio contacts.

73 Bob K0NR

A Better Route Up SOTA W0C/SP-089

Posted on 8 September 2019 by Bob K0NR

SP-089 has a large rock face on the south/southwest side, so it is best to approach from the other side.

Back in 2014, Joyce/K0JJW and I did the first activation of W0C/SP-089 (also known by its elevation: 10525). See the trip report here.

As noted in that trip report, we never did find much of a trail so we had to do some serious offtrail bushwacking. Being on the summit was great but bushwacking up was not. Later Walt/W0CP found a much better route using the Davis Meadow Trail. We definitely wanted to try this route and get back on top of that summit.

This overview of the area shows the route we took up SP-089 in blue and the Davis Meadow Trail as shown on the Trails Illustrated map.

We approached the Davis Meadow Trailhead from the east via Highways 285 / 24. We took FS 311 from Trout Creek Pass to FS 373, then FS 373A. FS 311 starts out in good condition, passable by high clearance 2WD vehicles. Later it turns into “easy 4WD” but it gets very steep in spots which may be a problem during wet weather. You can also approach from the west side coming up from Buena Vista. Check the San Isabel National Forest map for the complete picture.

Just to the east of the unnamed summit is a natural arch, marked on some maps as Aspen Arch. We’ve hiked up the arch on numerous occasions, often with visitors from out of state. So we’ve started referring to this unnamed SOTA as Aspen Arch, to differentiate it from the other unnamed summits in the area.

SOTA summit W0C/SP-089 is also known by its elevation (10525). A nearby landmark is Aspen Arch.

The Davis Meadow Trailhead is marked by a sign. Trail 1413 heads north and loops around the north side of SP-089. The trail is well laid out with plenty of switchbacks, much more than indicated on the Trails Illustrated map.

The blue line shows our actual hiking route as tracked by my GPS app.

We followed the trail until it looped around the north side of SP-089. Marmot Peak, another SOTA summit (W0C/SP-063), sticks out prominently to the north and is a good landmark to use for navigating. As shown on the map above, we left the trail and bushwacked south up to the summit. I don’t claim that our route was optimal. It was classic offtrail hiking with some areas quite open and others clogged with plenty of downed trees and rocks. (Next time, I think we’ll try to stay a little further east of our recorded track. It looked a little better over there.) Expect to be slowed down during this stretch.

Joyce/K0JJW on the well-established Davis Meadow Trail.

The GPS app on my phone recorded the one-way hike as 2.7 miles and 1100 vertical feet.

This was typical of the downed timber on the bushwack portion of the hike.

We arrrived at the summit around noon and thunderstorms were moving into the area. We both made four quick radio contacts on 2m FM to get the activation points, then headed back down the trail. The summit is exposed and very rocky but once we got off the top, we were hiking in trees with limited lightning danger. Thanks to Bob/W0BV, Jim/KD0MRC, Larry/KL7GLK and Kevin/KD0VHD for working us.

After our first bushwack adventure on this summit, we were not motived to activate this one again. However, using the Davis Meadow Trail has changed our opinion. (Thanks Walt/W0CP!) This route still has some offtrail bushwacking but it is not bad. We will be back!

2019 Colorado 14er Event

Posted on 11 July 2019 by Bob K0NR

August 3 & 4, 2019
Saturday and Sunday
www.ham14er.org

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains and Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the 28^th annual event and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. The covers the entire weekend but many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by noon due to lightning safety concerns.

The event includes all Summits On the Air (SOTA) summits, which adds over 1700 potential summits! If you aren’t up to climbing a 14er, there are many other summits to choose from with a wide range of difficulty. See the Colorado SOTA web page at w0c-sota.org

For a complete list of suggested HF, VHF and UHF frequencies see this web page.

Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation.

There is a lot more information available here: www.ham14er.org

Sponsored by The Colorado 14er Event Task Force

Summits On The Air VHF Mountain Goat

Posted on 29 June 2019 by Bob K0NR

My Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation of Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004) on June 20th qualified me for Mountain Goat, using only the VHF/UHF bands. Mountain Goat requires 1000 activation points using the SOTA activation point system.

Bob/K0NR operating from Pikes Peak on 20 June 2019 to complete Mountain Goat.

I’ve been working toward this goal for quite a while. I was doing mountaintop VHF activations before SOTA was even a thing. The first contact in my SOTA log is from Mount Antero in August 2011 but I started cranking up the SOTA activations in 2013 and later. I chose Pikes Peak for my qualifying Mountain Goat activation because its always been a special summit for me: I see it almost every morning (weather permitting) from my house in Monument. It is America’s Mountain, reaching to over 14k feet in elevation, standing tall west of Colorado Springs.

My custom Mountain Goat Award certificate made by Steve/WG0AT.

Most people have to wait for the mail to receive their SOTA Mountain Goat certificate. However, Steve/WG0AT created a custom award certificate that Joyce presented to me on the summit of Pikes Peak.

Paul/W0RW captured this webcam photo of Joyce/K0JJW and me standing near the summit house on Pikes Peak.

Some statistics from my SOTA log: I made 1557 radio contacts during 164 activations. Some of these activations were repeats of the same summit and I activated 96 unique summits. On 9 of those activations, I failed to complete the minimum of 4 radio contacts required to receive points; so I “got skunked” on those summits (zero points).

The majority of these summits were in Colorado, but I also did some operating from California, South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas and (last but not least) Switzerland. Almost all of them with my awesome wife and hiking partner, Joyce/K0JJW. Take a look at the various SOTA postings on my blog for trip reports and operating tips.

Chasers

Any SOTA activator will tell you that nothing happens without chasers being there to make radio contacts. Chasers are always important but even more important for VHF due to the limited range. The list below shows my top chasers. Some of these folks are active SOTA enthusiasts but many of them are just friendly folks on the radio helping me achieve this goal. You’ll see that my #1 chaser is Joyce/K0JJW, who usually worked me on multiple bands after leaving the summit.

Thank you, Chasers, for your support!

Many people underestimate what is possible on the VHF/UHF bands, even under normal conditions. I’ve been trying to educate folks on what is possible with VHF from high locations. See The Myth of VHF Line of Sight. Beefing up your station with a directional antenna and a little bit of power can make a big difference, even when just using FM. My best DX using VHF on a SOTA activation is a 2m CW contact from Capulin Mountain with W9RM near Olathe, CO for a distance of 257 miles.

The Summits On The Air program is a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors while having fun with ham radio. Thanks to everyone that helped me reach my goal of VHF Mountain Goat.

73 Bob K0NR

Genesee Mountain: SOTA and VHF Contest

Posted on 21 January 2019 by Bob K0NR

Bob/K0NR operating from the summit of Genesee Mountain (W0C/FR-194)

For the ARRL January VHF contest, I did a combination Summits On The Air (SOTA) and contest entry. I am recovering from a knee injury so Genesee Mountain (W0C/FR-194) turned out to be a nice easy hike for me. Of course, Joyce/K0JJW joined me and also did a SOTA activation. Caleb/W4XEN came along with us and activated the summit for SOTA using the HF bands. Finally, Brad/WA6MM showed up on the summit for a social visit.

Hiking route to Genesee Mountain from lower parking area.

To get to the Genesee Mountain, go west on I-70 from Denver, take Exit 254 to the south. Turn right onto Genesee Mountain Road and head into Genesee Mountain Park. There is an extensive trail system in the park and several different ways to reach the summit of Genesee Mountain. In fact, if the gate is open, you can drive right to the summit. The route we took starts at a parking area that is always open. With only a 0.7 mile hike (300 feet vertical), this is an easy and highly-recommended trail.

Leaving the parking area going uphill, we soon encountered the Genesee Mountain Trail which we followed to the left. Later we transitioned to the Genesee Summit Trail, which goes to the summit. Both of these are well marked but you need to make sure you catch the “summit” trail.

This sign clearly marks the route to the summit trail

We took more than the usual set of equipment for this activation so that we could cover the 6m, 2m, 1.25m and 70cm bands. For FM, we set up a Yaesu FT-90 2m/70cm transceiver with a ladder-line J-pole hanging from a rope in a tree. This omnidirectional antenna does not have any gain but I figured that for FM it would be most efficient to not mess with having to point a yagi antenna. For 2m and 70cm ssb/cw, I used a Yaesu FT-817 driving an Arrow II dualband antenna. The FT-817 also handled the 6m band, driving an end-fed half-wave wire antenna supported by a fishing pole (HF SOTA style). For the 1.25m band, I just used an Alinco handheld radio.

Caleb/W4XEN operating the HF bands for SOTA. Note the use of the SOTA flag to obtain an extra 2 dB of signal.

Genesee Mountain is a popular SOTA summit because it is so easy to access but still provides a good outdoor experience. We encountered a dozen of so hikers and mountainbikers on the summit and it can be very busy during a summer weekend. The summit is wide and flat with plenty of room to set up a portable station. For VHF, it has an excellent radio horizon to the front range cities.

Brad/WA6MM and Joyce/K0JJW on the summit.

Joyce made 14 contacts on 2m and 70cm FM. I made 52 QSOs, as shown in the table below. SSB activity was relatively light considering it was a VHF contest weekend. I was pleased to work Jay/W9RM in DM58 on 2m SSB at a distance of 167 miles. W9RM is on the other end of the state with many mountains blocking the path. I also worked Jim/WD0BQM in Mitchell, NE (DN81) on 2m CW, at a distance of 175 miles. VHF is not limited to line of sight!

    Band   Mode  QSOs     Pts  Grd  
      50  USB      5       5    2   
     144  CW       1       1    1   
     144  FM      19      19    2   
     144  USB      7       7    2   
     222  FM       3       3    1   
     432  FM      15      30    2   
     432  USB      2       4    1   
   Total          52      69   11   
        Score : 759

We had a great day on the summit, operating for just under 4 hours (with lots of breaks along the way). Thanks to Caleb/W4XEN and Brad/WA6MM for joining the fun. If you are looking for your first or an easy SOTA activation, give Genesee a try.

73 Bob K0NR

RMHam University – Test and Measurement

Posted on 10 December 2018 by Bob K0NR

The Rocky Mountain Ham Radio group offers an educational series they call RMHAM University. I am honored to be able to present on the topic of Practical Ham Radio Measurements on Saturday morning Dec 15th.

As many of you know, this topic is an intersection of my hobby of amateur radio and 40 years working in the electronic test and measurement industry. I’ve written two books on the electronic measurement and enjoy talking about it.

Here’s the agenda for the class.

Topic	Comments	Time
1. Introduction	Measurement Concepts, trends in test and measurement	8:00 to 8:30
2. Digital Multimeters	Voltage, current and resistance measurements	8:30 to 9:20
Break
3. SWR Measurement	SWR, reflection coefficient, SWR measurements, antenna analyzers, vector network analyzers	9:30 to 10:20
Break
4. Oscilloscope measurements	Time domain, bandwidth, scope probes	10:30 to 11:00
5. RF Measurements	Frequency domain, spectrum analyzers, SDR receiver, transceiver tests, power measurement	11:00 to 11:30
Discussion and wrap up		11:30 to noon

Location and Registration

Cherry Creek School District Educational Services Center
4700 S. Yosemite St.
Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Please register with the RMHAM web site so we know how many to plan for. There is no charge for the class.
https://www.rmham.org/wordpress/rmham-university-2018/

Here are my slides in pdf format:
Practical Amateur Radio Measurements

If you need the original powerpoint slides, send me an email.

73 Bob K0NR

SOTA Activation: Mount Emma or Emma Burr Mountain (W0C/SP-127)

Posted on 29 September 2018 by Bob K0NR

There is a SOTA (Summits On The Air) summit just north of Tincup Pass with an elevation of 13,538 feet. The SOTA database (W0C/SP-127) says the name is Mount Emma but all of my maps indicate that it is Emma Burr Mountain. (I contacted the W0C Association Manager and we’re working it out.)

Joyce/K0JJW and I did the first activation of this summit in late September. The weather was wonderful except for the wind that pounded us anytime we were exposed on a ridgeline, which is to say it happened a lot. We started our ascent from Tincup Pass, which is at 12,154 feet on the Continental Divide (see photo). I’ve seen trip reports of people hiking this summit from the northeast (Mineral Creek area) accessible by South Cottonwood Road (FS 344), so that may be another option.

We started our ascent at Tincup Pass, which is accessible via a moderate 4WD road.

At Tincup Pass, there is an obvious trail leading off the the east. We followed this trail uphill for a while and then diverted off to the north towards the north/south ridgeline and Tincup Peak. Tincup Peak is not a SOTA summit and is not shown on all maps. It is a13,345 foot bump on the ridge heading north. Our entire hike followed the Continental Divide, always a real treat.

The blue line is our climbing route, up over Tincup Peak to Emma Burr Mountain.

We followed the top of the ridge for the most part, occasionally dropping down a bit on the west side to avoid obstacles. Occasionally we followed a faint trail but for the most part this was off-trail hiking, often with significant rocks to climb over.

This is the view of the ridgeline and Tincup Peak looking from Tincup Pass. The bad news is that Emma Burr Mountain is not visible from this location.

Once we got on top of the ridgeline, we could see our actual objective of Emma Burr (see photo below). The saddle between Tincup Peak and Emma Burr dropped down more than I expected from viewing the topo map, so we soon realized that we’d have to lose substantial elevation and then climb to get it back. Oh, well.

View of Emma Burr Mountain from the Tincup Peak ridgeline.

Once on the summit of Emma Burr, I pulled out the 2m FM station and started calling CQ on 146.52 MHz. We had no mobile phone coverage at Tincup Pass but once we got on the ridge, Verizon was working pretty well so I spotted us on Sotawatch. Our best DX was Dave/N0KM near Center, CO for a distance of 70 miles. Other stations worked: W0BV, W0RW, N1TEW, K0MGL, K0TG, KB0QEP, KL7GLK, N0EVH, KD0VHD and W0DLE. Lots of stations on 2m FM that day. I tried working W0RW on 1.2 GHz FM but we could not quite make it. I definitely heard him right at the noise floor but my 1 watt signal was not readable on his end.

Bob/K0NR working 2m FM with a 3-element yagi on Emma Burr Mountain.

My GPS app on the smartphone says that the one-way climb is 2.4 miles with 1600 vertical feet. The elevation difference between Tincup Pass (12,154) and Emma Burr (13,538) is 1384 feet, but the saddle costs you another 300 vertical feet of climbing.

Overall, it was a great day in the mountains. We knocked out two 13ers in one day and did a first SOTA activation. However, the wind pounded us quite well so we were plenty tired when we got back to our vehicle.

73 Bob K0NR