The temps have officially dipped and we’re in the shoulder season of unpredictable and generally unfavorable weather. Saturday looked to offer a bit of a window, so I dug out a rough plan to work two more unactivated W7I summits: NI-268 and NI-269.
This pair was super close to one another and road access seemed open, and it was indeed. The drive in via Winfall Pass Road was downright pleasant with some of the widest, smoothest dirt I’ve been on all year. I parked in a saddle right between the two summits which I internally referred to as the ‘ham cleve’ and flipped a coin on which to tackle first.
The southern summit, 268, was a nice roadwalk up to the very top. There had been some active logging recently as I passed multiple smoldering burn piles. The AZ was wide open with a few standing trees and plenty of downed branches to which I could attach the ends of my antenna wire.
After 5 QSOs I packed up and started booking it to 269. The initial approach was much the same but this summit was still heavily treed and the roads suggested by the historical maps were no longer there. Things got thick quick, and once I found myself within the AZ I began looking for somewhat of a clearing in order to get a wire up.
Due to limited space, I opted to just run my EFHW as a 20/10 sloper (rather than the usual 40/20/10 inverted-v). It got the job done with 5 QSOs on 20m (including 2 summit-to-summits) and 2 more QSOs on 10m. Clouds rolled in and the temps really dipped during this one, so after exhausting the quiet 10 meter band I tore down and got back down the hill to the car.
Next time, I would follow the two-track as far as I could towards 268 before bushwhacking a little as possible straight up the hill. Not sure it’s really worth it for 1 point, but everything else about this activation was pleasant so I’m sure I’ll do it again next year.
