W2/GC-064 - Stoopel Point
Last Friday 12/5/2025 I activated Stoopel Point W2/GC-064 in the Catskills.
This was my first winter activation for SOTA and boy oh boy did I earn those 3 bonus points on this hike..
I hiked in from North South Lake campground up North Point and then over to Stoppel Point.
The weather was decent with blue bird skies and very little wind. however it was extremely cold outside. When I left the parking are, it was 15F/-9C and I knew it would only get colder as I got higer up the mountain. Thankfully I was decked out in wool from head to toe.
I find my biggest challenge when winter hiking is that I sweat like a monster, so its a constantly battle of adjusting what I’m wearing to make sure I’m not soaked with sweat and staying warm.
Overall the hike wasn’t bad, but I made one critical error and didn’t take my snow shoes and opted for micro spikes instead. This was a mistake.
The first part of the hike wasn’t bad, but the second portion would prove difficult..
The whole way up to the summit, I head lots of chatter on 146.520. I made the decision to just get my 4 contacts to make the summit activation count and then head back down.
I didn’t even set up to operate CW.
My FT-60 was the MVP of this activation. This was my first activation only using my HT to make QSO’s
As soon as I entered the activation zone, I broke in on some QSO’s on 146.520 and nabbed 5 contacts as quickly as possible. It was so cold, that my pen was freezing up making it hard to write in my log.
Once I finished I packed up and started to hoof it back down as quickly as possible. This is when things got a little scary..
About 10 mins into my return hike, I started to bonk. My legs began to cramp up something fierce. I’ve never had this happen to me before, but thankfully i was prepared. I took a break and chugged some water with a hydration packet added to it and scarfed down some beef jerky. Crimson was happy to share the jerky with me. Getting some fresh fuel in my body helped mitigate the cramps in my legs and gave me a nice little power boost to get back down to the car.
However there was a few more complications on the way back down.. I snapped my trekking pole and my micro spikes fell apart, but I made it back to my vehicle safe and sound..
4 hours and 8.5 miles later, I earned each one of those winter bonus points…
Overall, I had a great time but I definitely walked away with some lessons on how to improve my winter activations. I’m heading back down to the Catskills in a few days to take a crack at another summit. Catch you on the air.
