W3/PH-003 Topton Mountain North

Topton Mountain is an easy hike. The parking area is a small pullout along Woodside Ave, south of Topton. From here there is only one trail that leads into the woods. Take it. After about a quarter mile it turns and starts to head uphill.

On the way up.

Since this is watershed land, there are some small structures that cover wells and other infrastructure. The wide road will end, but there is a faint trail that climbs up the hill to the horse pasture. I had no trouble following it, but I am used to following very faint trails. At the fence on top, turn left and walk around the pasture. On the top side there is a foot trail that follows the power lines up the hill some more.

Power lines. Horse pasture behind me, summit to the right.

Since all the leaves were off the trees, it looked like it would be easy to bushwhack up to the summit. So, at the first pylon I turned and entered the woods. The forest was open, and it was easy to walk up towards the summit. I did find a road running through the woods along the crest of the ridge, which I followed for a short distance. Glenn, AB3TQ had said in his report that there were signs saying not to get close to the towers, so I stopped a short distance away. I turned around, and found some rocks to set up on.

Me, with my operating rock after packing up.

Compared to the summits I had done earlier, Broad Mountain and Smiths Gap Mountain, it felt warm. I started calling CQ on 17 meters, and got four contacts. A few minutes of calling on 30 got four more. Finally I got a summit-to-summit with another W3 station on 60 meters. It seemed like the sun was setting, and it was getting colder, so I packed up and retraced my steps to the car, and drove down to my family's house near Philadelphia.

Well cover.

Trailhead: Woodside Road, south of Topton. See AB3TQ's trip report for coordinates.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the roads and trails up to the power line clearing and horse pasture. Turn left, and go up the hill. Find a good place, and bushwhack the rest of the way to the summit.

Red Tape: None. The top might be private property, but I didn't see any signs on the route I took.