Mt Washington, New Hampshire

Mt Washington, NH (W1/HA-001) is one of my favorite summits on the east coast. Washington is known for having terrible weather including the highest wind speed ever recorded (231 MPH in 1934). The summit is always busy with hikers and tourists however there is plenty of space to set up an antenna and get on the air.

Summit Information:

Summit Name: Mt Washington (W1/HA-001)

Location: NH State Park

Lat/Long: 44.27028, -71.3033

Date: June 18th, 2021

Parking: Park Pass Required

Points: 10

County: Coos County

Grid: FN44ig

Weather: Sunny, 62 degrees

Permit: Park pass required

Full Trip Planning Guide

Difficulty

Views

Solitude

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Heading back to the DC metro area from Maine, I decided to stop for a quick SOTA activation from the summit. In the past I have hiked to the summit, but considering I only had a few hours available, I elected to drive up the auto road instead. The cost with two adults came out to $53, a price increase from last year. Who knew SOTA activating could get so expensive?

After a long eight miles, several thousand feet of elevation gain and my wife almost having a panic attack due to the sheer drop offs, we made it to the summit. My wife walked the new-in-training SOTA puppy around and I found a spot off the AT to set up. I made several contacts on 2m VHF including KC1DCF who was a student of a Ham Radio Tech class that I put on many years ago. Apparently he is really into HF and I am glad to hear that he has continued on with the hobby.

After exhausting the local 2m contacts, I made several QSO’s on 20 and 40 meters including Spain which is always fun to work DX.

Setting up my Packtenna End Fed I managed to break my antenna mast again. Nothing a 3D printed splint can’t fix! Perhaps it is time to get a new antenna mast.
During the activation I spoke to some AT thru-hikers and told them about SOTA. Apparently they had ran into a guy doing SOTA down in Virginia earlier in their trip.

Like every activation, the weather plays a key role in how comfortable you will be at the top. Washington is notorious for having extremely nasty weather, however today I got lucky. No wind, clear skies and in the 60’s. Visibility was excellent and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.