Mitchell Hill is a small peak east of the town of Madeline. From US 395, I drove up to the height of land on Clarks Valley Road. There is an open space on the north side of the road where I parked and camped for the night.
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| Formation on the other side of the road. Useful for finding my way back. |
In the morning I packed up, then headed up the hill. There is only one hill here, so just walk up it. There were a lot of areas of jumbled rocks, and after a few minutes walking across them I remembered all the skills I had gotten hiking in NH. It took me just over 20 minutes to get to the top. The highest point was covered in dense branches, so I set up an a clearer area to the west.
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| The sun was still rising as I got on the air. |
After setting up, I decided to try 15 meters first. Eventually I got a contact to Florida. Moving down to 17 meters got me three more. This was the only peak I had planned for the day, so I spent some time calling on more bands and modes. 20-ssb got three contacts, including W0MNA and W0ERI who were surprised to hear me on sideband. 30 meter CW got the bulk of the contacts. I also got two on 60 meters. Finally I called on 40-ssb and got my last contacts. After that I tried 15 and 80 meters, but didn't have any luck on either.
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| New setup with the Palm Pico Single and big LiPo. |
By this point the sun had come over the hill, and it was getting hot. I was also tired of sitting on the rocks, so I packed up and headed for the car. I managed to come out of the woods right where the car was. Sometimes I impress myself.
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| Lots of rock fields like this on the mountain. |
Trailhead: Height of land, Clarks Valley Road
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Hike up the hill. No route is obviously better than another.
Red Tape: None.
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| Smoke from a fire somewhere. Those hills are only a few miles away, as the crow flies. |
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