Summit Information:
Summit Name: Cadillac Mountain, W1/DI-0001
Location: Acadia National Park
Latitude/Longitude: 44° 21′ 5.004”N/68° 13′ 35.04” W
Date: May 14th, 2020
Summit Information:
Points: 1
County: Hancock County
Grid: FN54VI
Wx: 50 degrees, E 10 kts
Difficulty
Views
Solitude
On a Scale of 1 to 5
Radio Gear:
Radio
Antenna
Arrow Antena
Power
HT
Watts
On The Air:
Number of QSO's
Spotting
Bands
20m, 40m
DX Worked
Logs Uploaded
Mode
CW
Acadia National Park was officialy closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the trails were still accessbile. Usually during the winter they close off the auto road that goes to the summit of Cadillac. The week prior to this activation I scoped out the trailhead and parking situation. The park had left a section open making for a good place to park.
My luck did not hold though as they must have heard I was in town. When I arrived they had blocked the whole thing off. Luckily there was a pull off directly across and right next to the North Ridge Trail which I was taking to the summit. I had hiked this trail before and really like it as the trail opens up halfway up giving you some excellent views of downtown Bar Harbor and the Atlantic ocean.
Once I got to the summit I was amazed at how empty it was. Cadillac is one of the most popular summits in the park and is always crowded. It was nice to have the place to myself. The original location I had chosen was directly in the howiling wind so I went to a location I have used before. This location has huge rock that one can jam a fishing pole into as a pole holder.
After spotting myself I got on the air and made several QSO’s including DX (Danny, ON4VT) and an old friend, Rick (W0ZAP) from the NPOTA days.
I tried 30 meters and 2 meter simplex with no takers. Maine is usually a really good place to make 2m simplex contacts.
I packed up and headed back down. Overall a good activation and some nice views.
