To round off my foggy day of winter activations, I drove to Buchanan State Forest. This peak had only been activated by Jody K3JZD, so it was time to give it love from another activator. This is an easy drive-on with two options for parking points off the side of the road. There is rocky soil that was easy to get a ground stake into to hold up my mast. There are also many trees.
At this point in the afternoon, the fog had let up a bit. Nobody drove by the entire time I was on the summit. I stuck around for a while, walking along the bands: 40m, 60m, 30m, 17m, 15m, and 12m for just over an hour.
This time, 17m was the S2S band, to catch a few west coast activator duos: W6TED and N1CLC on W6/SC-460 WU7H and WW7DF on W7W/SK-163
On 12m, I got N6AN on his home peak of W6/CT-225, as well.
Trailhead: Two parking areas within the activation zone: 39.79122, -78.43923 and 39.79464, -78.43801 . I parked at the former.
I wanted to add a second peak to my trip after bagging Snowy Mountain, but I was concerned about the building winter storm. AC3B’s trip report noted that the forest road leading to Big Mountain (the high point of the Tuscarora Mountain ridge) was wide and unexposed to steep cliffs, with plenty of opportunities to bail if needed. It also is within Buchanan State Forest, so this works as another SOTA/POTA special.
To get there, I drove west on US-30, then turned onto Augwick Rd. I followed this for a mile, then turned onto Tower Road, which is not maintained during winter and was covered in snow. I just had to take things slow and in low gear for the 2-mile drive to the summit, letting my Subaru’s AWD rise to the occasion. The road was double-track width, which was comforting (even though I didn’t pass anybody on the way up or down).
Tower Road looks like this the entire 2-mile drive up. Dear reader, the sign that says “No Winter Maintenance” was not lying! Still my low-clearance sedan with AWD made it with minimal slipping (going slow and low gear).
I parked along the small loop by the overlook and saw where the Tuscarora Trail continues north through the woods. The vista point must be great in clear weather, but all I could see today was a gray haze. I took in the view, setting up on the stone bench while opting to operate while standing. There was a security camera making sure that nobody would spray graffiti onto the rocks. By now, the flakes were coming down thick and making everything wet. I was thankful for the AX1’s rapid and painless set up.
I picked up 11 contacts in just about 15 minutes, including a S2S with WW4D on Cedar Creek Mountain (W4C/US-029). My notepad was starting to soak with the heavy precipitation and I decided to pack it in.
Trailhead: 39.92892, -77.95549 : The intersection of Augwick Road and Tower Road, just north of US-30
Map: [AA3TZ SOTA] – For the driving track along Tower Road
Route: Drive-on along 2-mile forest road (no winter maintenance, but relatively easy drive as forest roads go)
POTA: Buchanan State Forest (US-5463)
As I was leaving, this sign for Cowans Gap State Park beckoned me to continue north on Augwick Road for a POTA chaser, just 4 miles away. I set up in a picnic shelter near Parking Lot #2, not far from the park office. I could relax a bit and enjoy drier conditions for a bit.
Now that I’m accumulating PA state parks and forests, I feel like I should try to visit/activate them all: 124 parks and 20 forests!
Tom Zajdel 