The Craggy Gardens section of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville had been closed all winter. The easy access to Mount Mitchell is through this section of the Parkway near Asheville. I would have to enter the Parkway from Marion NC through the torturous and slow NC80. Weather conditions somewhat dictate the order I do the activations. I would have to save Mt. Mitchell for the warmest temperature during the day, knowing it would be coldest at that very high elevation close to 2000 meters.
The plan played out perfectly as planned. Dave KE4EA and I headed out just after breakfast from the restaurant we meet at for an early morning bible study with a group of men from our church. With Dave “riding shotgun” in the truck the two hour plus trip up windy NC80 did not feel so long with the conversation and banter on the way up. The weather turned out better than expected with really calm winds, sunny and temperatures in the low thirties on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We did not have any trouble finding the Green Knob trailhead on the Mountains to Sea Trail using the instructions from KI4SVM. We were up on the summit after 39 minutes. Dave set up his station near the fire tower and I set up about 50m away on the trail. It was kind of tight, but the 40 foot end feds we used were just perfect for such conditions. Dave and I swept the bands from 60m to 20m and made contacts with our chasers. First contact was with another activator on a summit, NM5S, who was on summit W5N/PW-027 in New Mexico. I even got a call from chaser Jorge EA2LU, from Spain. We were under very pleasant weather conditions on the summit on Green Knob and we savored the moments there. Soon it was time to pack up and head to Mt. Mitchell. We made it down in about 25 minutes and after the 9 mile drive – we were up on the summit of Mt. Mitchell.
We were not alone on the summit and there were a few intrepid visitors. A group of four college age visitors from New Hampshire were fascinated with what we were about to do. I told them that I had a bunch of chasers anticipating our activation and that in 5 minutes – a small pileup will ensue. They waited patiently as I sent out my spot. I started calling CQ, and after the first CQ call, mayhem ensued on the 40m band as eager chasers wanted to make contact. I translated to the visitors the call signs and where they were from as I dispatched each contact one by one. They said – “Wow, this is s-o-o cool!” I gave them the web address of the SOTA website and my blog since they were interested about knowing more about SOTA. The balmy, windless weather changed all of a sudden and turned sharply colder with intermittent gusts of wind. Dave and I decided to pack up as our hands started to feel really cold. I missed the text from John Paul AB4PP wanting to have a contact on 60m as Dave and I proceeded to travel back home to Travelers Rest SC. Dave and I remarked that it had been a good day to be out on the mountains today.
QSOs from Green Knob CM-020
Mt. Mitchell QSOs
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