W2/WE-017 - East Hill / US-8626 - Rattlesnake Hill WMA
With the warm weather on its way here in western, NY. I scratched my radio itch with a combo SOTA / POTA activation,
East hill sits within the Rattlesnake hill WMA. There are two ways to access the activation zone for this SOTA summit. A longer hike up from rt 70 via the finger lakes trail or a drive up with a short hike from England Hill rd. I wanted to bring both my pups out with me for this activation, since it was a lovely spring day. However my old man can't hike as far these days, so I opted for the drive up approach to make this walk a easier for him.
The DEC carved out a small parking area next to the barrier where a very wide trail starts. I hiked in with the dogs till we found a nice dry spot in the sun to set up.
I put up my end fed random wire and got to work.
This activation was a bit of a challenge and feel like I earned every QSO, the bands were in rough shape, but with some determination I managed to pull out 16 QSO’s on 20m and 40m. However I received a lot of 339 and 559 signal reports and a few friends that tired to work me struggled to hear my at all..
Not ideal conditions, but I was able to get my contacts to pick up a new summit and park.
The old boy took a nice nap in the sun.
After wrapping up we hiked back to the car and had a quick tailgate lunch before heading home.
