After activating Clarks Knob, I moved on to W3/PD-004, one of several SOTA peaks on Blue Mountain, which is one of the major mountains the PA turnpike tunnels through. Jill N3ICE and Jim AC3B, two legendary W3 activators who have been on a quasi-hiatus from SOTA during recent years, had activated this summit in January to break their radio silence. I managed to chase N3ICE during their activation, which put this peak on my to-do list. Today was the day to check it off!
I drove into Tuscarora State Forest along Three Square Hollow Road and parked at the gate on Blue Mountain Road (which was closed), then continued from there on foot. Many other activators report poor/icy conditions in the winter, no doubt attracted to the potential winter bonus. These forest roads are all gravel/unpaved and not maintained in the winter so I feel it would be tough going in the winter, but this was perfectly fine in the spring.
After just over a half mile of a relatively flat hike along the road, I was in a large clearing in the activation zone and set up there, near a primitive campsite with a fire ring in front of a second gate.
I worked 6 QSOs on 40m, and 5 QSOs on 20m, including two S2S: KG5AUU on W5O/OU-002 (a SOTA activation in Oklahoma, rare for me to see!) and K7GT on W7O/SC-044. Since I had one more hike to go before setting up my campsite, I packed up quickly and got on to the next one.
- Trailhead: 40.20506, -77.57793 : Parking area by gate on Blue Mountain Road
- Maps: [AA3TZ SOTA] [Tuscarora State Forest Map]
- Route: 1.2 mi RT hike on Blue Mountain Road, <100 feet gain to get into AZ.
- POTA: US-5479 Tuscarora State Forest
Tom Zajdel 