Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 201 – Summits on the Air! (Silver Mountain, 4-22-17)

Start 9:16 AM, 48°F, Boulder Hill Road (USFS Road No. 358) 0.5 mile N of Hwy 16.

Note: Summits on the Air is an awards scheme for radio amateurs that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. A point system awards points for both transmitting (“activating”) from a mountain or picking up the signal (“chasing”).

Joe & cousin Dusty were in town! That meant one thing – time for some Summits on the Air action! Lupe was all for it. She and Dusty arrived at the top of Silver Mountain around 10 AM. It was a beautiful day to be on the mountain.

Lupe hadn’t been on Silver Mountain in more than 2 years. Although the views are excellent, Silver Mountain is not one of Lupe’s favorites. Target practice gunfire can usually be heard off to the W, which makes her nervous. To Lupe’s dismay, the guns were blazing away again today. **Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.)** is in view on the L. Photo looks NE.

Cousin Dusty just below the summit. The distant gunfire didn’t bother Dusty at all. She paid not the slightest attention to it.

Dusty lives in Arvada, Colorado, but was up in South Dakota for a weekend visit. Dusty really likes exploring the Black Hills with Lupe.

Joe had posted notification on the Summits on the Air website that AA0Q (his call letters) would “activate” (start transmitting from) Silver Mountain at 11:00 AM. With an hour to go, he had plenty of time to set up his antenna and portable Ham radio.

Preparations to start transmitting from Silver Mountain included setting up this 16 or 17′ long antenna with four lateral wires at the very summit. Photo looks NE.

Joe said he liked the layout on Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.). The forest had burned years ago, so there were no big trees around to obstruct the views in any direction. The mountain sloped away fairly steeply on most sides with nothing any higher for at least a couple of miles in any direction.

Although Silver Mountain was a good physical setup for Ham radio transmissions, Joe wasn’t at all certain how well things were going to work out. The 11 year sunspot cycle hits its low in just a couple more years, and atmospheric conditions are usually best for amateur radio band transmissions when sunspot activity is high, not low.

As it got close to 11 AM, everything was ready to go. The antenna and portable radio were all set up. SPHP was trained to keep a simple log of Joe’s contacts. Lupe and Dusty were prepared to ward off any intruders.

At 10:55 AM, Joe started transmitting in Morse code, receiving a first response almost instantly. That contact “spotted” AA0Q on SOTA’s website confirming contact with Joe. Silver Mountain was on the air!

An immediate explosion of activity came from dozens of “chasers” all trying to make contact at the same time. AA0Q was overwhelmed by the response, as usual. Joe did his best to make rapid contact with as many of the chasers as possible, but it was impossible to respond to more than a fraction.

AA0Q hard at it shortly after “activating” Silver Mountain. Photo looks SE.

Dusty relaxes nearby while Joe works the Ham radio. Response from the chasers, as usual, was initially overwhelming.

Atmospheric conditions were changing rapidly. Joe and the chasers often exchanged signal strength information, which varied wildly over the span of only a few minutes. Of course, part of the variation was due to the different locations of the chasers. Successful contacts were made with operators in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and several other states.

With chasers lined up in droves trying to get through, each contact had to be brief.

This photo shows the overall setup. The rocky summit ridge wasn’t the best for comfort, but AA0Q managed pretty well. Photo looks NNE.

AA0Q’s portable radio in use on Silver Mountain.

For the first 10 or 15 minutes, conditions gradually improved. Signals were getting a little stronger on average, despite bouncing around. Later on, conditions deteriorated. At times the “bands” were down for a minute or two. AA0Q got a chance to shift to a more comfortable position.

As time went by, the bands went down intermittently, giving Joe a chance to shift to a more comfortable position. Photo looks SSW.

By 11:30 AM, 35 minutes after Joe started transmitting, it was over. The bands were consistently weak. The chasers had either made contact with AA0Q, or given up by now. Even when conditions improved momentarily, no one was left still trying to make contact. Evidently it was time to take down the antenna and put the radio away.

Joe at the top of Silver Mountain shortly before taking the antenna down. Photo looks NNE.

Silver Mountain was the 3rd Black Hills peak AA0Q has activated. In July, 2016, Lupe and SPHP had accompanied Joe & Dusty to Custer Peak and Boulder Hill.

AA0Q had made 27 contacts in 35 minutes, so Joe was pleased with the overall results. Despite spotty atmospheric conditions, Silver Mountain had been a successful Summits on the Air outing. There always seem to be way more chasers than it’s possible to make contact with right after activating a peak, but Joe had done all he could.

Lupe got a pat from AA0Q for her guide services.

Lupe earns a pat from AA0Q for her Black Hills peak guide services. Photo looks NE.

Once the radio equipment was put away, it was time for a final look around at the views, followed by a short exploration of Silver Mountain’s summit area. Of course, the most impressive view was toward Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.), the highest mountain in South Dakota.

**Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.)** (R of Center) from Silver Mountain. Hwy 16 is seen below. Photo looks SW.

Silver Mountain’s summit area features two ridges running roughly N/S. The E ridge where Joe had set up the radio equipment is the highest. However, only a short distance to the W is an even rockier and more interesting ridge. The W ridge is only slightly lower than the E one.

The slightly lower, but more dramatic W ridge. Photo looks NW.

Between the two ridges, at the base of the E one, is one of many Dingo outposts Lupe has discovered scattered throughout the Black Hills.

Joe inspects Lupe’s Silver Mountain Dingo outpost. Joe was pretty certain it didn’t meet current building codes, but adventurous American Dingoes don’t give two hoots about that. Boulder Hill is in view beyond it. Photo looks NNE.

Joe was intrigued by the W ridge. He got up on top for a few minutes for a look around. Lupe and Dusty stayed below.

Joe got up on the W ridge for a look around. Slightly lower, Lupe is partially hidden among the small trees on the L, while Dusty sniffs around in the foreground. Photo looks W.

With Silver Mountain’s summit area explored, everyone headed back to the G6. There was still tons of time left in the day. Joe wanted to go climb Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) again. Everyone piled into the G6. Joe drove 0.5 mile N to the start of the access road only 0.25 mile SW of the summit.

An easy trek along the access road led to a scenic path that winds up the large rock formation at the top of the mountain. Soon Lupe was at the summit with a great view looking back at Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.).

Silver Mountain (Center) from Boulder Hill. Photo looks SSW.

Joe has liked Boulder Hill ever since first climbing it with Lupe, Dusty and SPHP exactly one year ago on 4-22-16. In fact, he liked it so much that first time, everyone had come back to make a second ascent the very next day! On the 4th of July, Joe had even done a Summits on the Air activation of Boulder Hill.

Today’s Expedition No. 201 was Joe and Dusty’s 4th time up on Boulder Hill with Lupe and SPHP. Good times!

Joe on Boulder Hill near the area where he’d done a Summits on the Air activation of the peak on 7-4-16. Back then his antenna had been propped up in the big pine tree seen directly beyond him. Photo looks NW.

Joe & Dusty together with Lupe on top of Boulder Hill for the 4th time. The first time up for Joe and Dusty had been exactly one year ago! Photo looks SE.

No Summits on the Air activation of Boulder Hill was planned for today. This was a pleasure excursion, just to see the views.

Silver Mountain with a little help from the telephoto lens. The more dramatic, rocky W ridge is seen to the R of the true summit. Photo looks SSW.

After lingering at the top of the mountain for 15 minutes, everyone started back down. Time to head back to Lupe’s grandma’s house for food, fun and games. Lupe and Dusty looked forward to an afternoon of squeaker ball, tennis ball and flying disc action in grandma’s front yard. (End 2:00 PM, 62°F)