Activated 24 August 2013

I managed to bag myself a summit never previously activated this weekend. I arrived in Mt Beauty on Thursday and had to work most of the weekend at The Kangaroo Hoppet, an international event on the XC ski calendar. As a sponsor of the event, I was manning a stand at the event registration office but not being an entrant of the race itself I had an ulterior motive for being there and that was to activate at least one SOTA summit whilst in the area.

My chance was on Saturday during the event at Falls Creek. The rushed plan depended on weather conditions and access. For convenience to Mt Beauty, my first choice was Mt Emu VK3/VE-061 and I looked for open access routes from the west without success. Getting access to Eskdale Spur Track is the key to access for several summits. I decided to drive north along Redbank-Mongans Road with the Kiewa River to my left. This becomes Mullagong Road and I continued until I came to Dederang Track. A sign informs you that this is a private road and the owners permission is required. I sat there for a while in the car studying maps and considering possible options when I was approached by an oncoming ute. The driver happened to be the owner of the land and he readily allowed me to access the track, pointing out a few likely encounters along the way.

The route up was muddy and more slippery than expected. Definite 4WD required after the rain that had been non-stop since my arrival in Mt Beauty on Thursday afternoon cleared on Saturday morning. A chainsaw would have also been handy. I was lucky that I could move or drive over fallen timber on the way up without one. Eventually I reached Eskdale Spur Track and turned right. I continued easily for another 1.5 kms until coming to the intersection that leads to Fluertys Creek and down the ridge to the east. This is a good place to park and continue by foot as Eskdale Track narrows in parts and grippier off road tyres would have been needed with low-range 4WD in parts with the recent rainfall. With few places to turn a vehicle around if things get interesting, this is not the place to go for a winter solo 4WD activation alone. The 3.9 km walk from the parking spot to the Mt Towonga summit is best on foot with some up and down along the way. No fear of getting lost by keeping to the track despite being fogged in by heavy cloud along the way in parts. If I'd been here earlier in the week I would have been walking in light snow which had been down to 1100 metres.  Any snow had melted in the rain of the past couple of days and it was not as cold as I might have anticipated.

Shortly before reaching the summit, a cluster of large granite boulders greet you to the right. A short distance further on is a trig point pock-marked with shotgun blast. Plenty of level ground surrounds with mature trees ideally spaced to string an antenna from. With time restraints and having further official business to attend in the afternoon, I quickly deployed the multi-band vertical and fired up on 40 metres.

I tuned up at 0155z and heard Peter VK3PF and Scott VK7NWT in conversation saying how quiet the SOTA activity was compared to other recent Saturdays. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I broke in and said hello, getting two contacts on the same hook. With Peter spotting me, I was up and running. In the next half hour I casually logged 19 contacts. The chasers didn't seem to be around as much as I was expecting. After Peter and Scott I worked Trevor VK3ATX/p from by the tower in Bundoora Park and a cluster of SOTA usuals as well as some new SOTA chasers for me – VK3ARR Andrew, Jeff VK2FJEF and Ron VK2TRL whom I'd also been chatting with via the 2m VK3RNE repeater on the way up. At 0252z after packing up and starting the trek back, I put out a call on the repeater again informing any listeners that I was monitoring 146.500 and immediately made a contact with Peter VK2CIM whilst still within the activation zone.

So another new summit with 20 contacts in the log and a chat with a few of the locals on the way up and back on the repeater making this a rushed but enjoyable activation. Apologies to chasers for not posting intentions my earlier but work commitments, questionable 3G data capability and activating this summit within the few hours available made things tight.

Activated 11 August 2013

The weather was ideal for SOTA activities on Saturday and Sunday this weekend and there was plenty of on-air action for activators and chasers alike. With the VK1 crew out in big numbers, it was an opportunity to really get the S2S tally up so I canned my original plan to go portable locally at Warrandyte State Park on Sunday morning and activate Mt Disappointment instead.

I left home early enough to get to the summit and on air before the UTC roll-over but events on the way slowed me down. Driving through Whittlesea I saw an oncoming cyclist lose control of his bike on the edge of the bitumen, somersaulting over the handlebars and landing heavily on his hip. I stopped and rendered assistance. Other cyclists arrived on the scene a moment later and took care of the situation. I moved on and it wasn't long before I was compelled to stop again, not far off the Wallan-Whittlesea Road. I approached a dead kangaroo by the side of the road and all of a sudden a little head popped up as I drove past. Once again I stopped and found  a joey struggling next to it's mother. It seemed to have no broken bones and was quite alert with only a small wound on it's rump. I suspect it had been hit by another vehicle only moments earlier as the body of the adult roo was still warm. I wrapped the joey in a sheet and decided to take it back to Whittlesea. Not finding a convenient vet, I went to the police station where they were able to ring a local wildlife carer and take care of the joey in the interim.

Setting off again, I headed back and parked the car at the Blair's Hut Picnic Area on Mt Disappointment Road. From here, there is a walking track to the summit is relatively easy going. There are a few fallen trees to hop across and one to crawl under with a few slippery granite rocks here and there. Walking this track brings you to the summit, a small clearing with a conveniently located picnic table. This clearing allows a direct view to the Melbourne CBD and is the perfect place to operate from. I set up the HF vertical antenna and operated with the sun on my back and the distant city view.

My first contact was an S2S with Al VK1RX/p logged at 0025 GMT. I worked a solid pileup that lasted quite a while. I wasn't going to activate any other summits today and was happy to sit and listen when things slowed down a little – a departure from some of the 2 or 3 summit activations I have done lately. I was rewarded with a few more S2S contacts that would otherwise have been missed such as Peter VK3PF/p on Toorongo Range, Tom VK5EE/p on VK5/SE-019, Allen VK3HRA/p on VK3/VS-005. I also had contacts with Terry VK3UP and Michelle VK3FEAT both on VK3/VC-023 MT Buninyong after an earlier 40m contact whilst they were in transit to their summit.

After packing up I strolled a little further from my operating position to the south. This brings you to a much larger clearing and wider views towards Melbourne. Worth a few extra minutes stroll with the binoculars if you are not in a rush.

So that was it. A leisurely activation worth only 4 activator points for me but still within relatively easy reach of home with 45 contacts logged in around 2.5 hours. It was worth hanging around to catch the S2S contacts that I would have otherwise missed – 14 of them in all, making today a very worthwhile effort for chasing.

Thanks to all the stations I worked and hope to catch you on another summit soon.