I decided to add a couple quick SOTA activations at the end of my fall break trip to State College, and Jumbo Benchmark was first on the docket. I headed east on I-80 before dawn towards Tiadaghton State Forest. The morning autumn light started to break as I turned onto Sand Spring Road, a gravel forest road. There is a junction about a half mile in, where I turned south onto Krape Road (following N3TWM’s trip report), which climbs up into the AZ.
I found a shoulder to pull over onto; there are several parking spots like this along Krape Road. I walked a bit into the woods and got set up. I got some nice DX on 10m, including two S2S: MW0IDX, EA1AER, MW0LEP/P S2S on GW/SW-025, HB0EVF/P S2S on HB/VS-239. Wrapped up on 20m and 40m for a total of 13 QSOs in 20 min. Kept this one quick and short since I had a lot of driving ahead that day!
The Mid State Trail passes through nearby, so this summit could be a short detour on a longer backpacking trip.
- Trailhead: 41.08302, -77.21094 : Side of Krape Road
- Maps: [AA3TZ SOTA]
- Route: 1.6 mile drive on forest roads (Sand Spring Road to Krape Road), then a hundred foot walk into woods.
- POTA: Tiadaghton State Forest (US-5477)
Tom Zajdel 