{"id":6036,"date":"2016-07-09T08:10:56","date_gmt":"2016-07-09T14:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=6036"},"modified":"2020-09-23T11:33:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T17:33:03","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-174a-summits-on-the-air-custer-peak-7-2-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=6036","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 174(a) – Summits on the Air! (Custer Peak, 7-2-16)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupe returned from her grand\u00a0adventures in the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming on June 1, 2016.\u00a0 Naturally, she expected to resume her explorations of the Black Hills in short order, but it didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

May and June are normally the wettest months of the year in the Black Hills, but May had been very dry with temperatures running much above normal.\u00a0 By early June, the sun was blazing\u00a0day after day in\u00a0cloudless skies.\u00a0 Temperatures frequently\u00a0soared to near record-breaking levels.\u00a0 Almost no rain fell.\u00a0 SPHP may as well have planted saguaros in the garden.\u00a0 For Lupe, climbing mountains in a fur coat would have been miserable.\u00a0 The Black Hills just aren’t high enough.<\/p>\n

So Lupe’s adventures in June were mostly along the line of adventures\u00a0in watering the lawn.\u00a0 She fought with the old garden hose, converting it into a sprinkler hose in the process.\u00a0 She chewed foot-long pieces off the end.\u00a0 She played tug-of-war with SPHP, won most of the time, and became a very soggy (and cool!) doggie in the process, as the leaky hose sprayed water in every direction.<\/p>\n

When she wasn’t a soggy doggie, Lupe\u00a0licked ice cream from the freezer and consumed cold Alpo from the refrigerator.\u00a0\u00a0A whole lot of panting and dozing\u00a0went on the rest of the time.\u00a0 Whenever the temperature got close to 100\u00b0F, SPHP would finally break down and turn on the AC in the bedroom, so Lupe could hide from the heat.<\/p>\n

Nothing really changed until July 1st.\u00a0 That morning, Lupe and SPHP woke up to rain!\u00a0 It\u00a0wasn’t raining hard, but at least\u00a0the air\u00a0was much cooler and clouds covered the sky.\u00a0\u00a0Within a couple of hours,\u00a0Lupe had another surprise.\u00a0 Andrea called!\u00a0 She was in town with Joe and Dusty!\u00a0 Did Lupe want to come over to grandma’s house and play?<\/p>\n

When she heard the news, Lupe was ecstatic!\u00a0 She barked and leaped to hurry SPHP along.\u00a0 Soon she was racing up the steps into grandma’s house to welcome everyone to South Dakota in her most enthusiastic Carolina Dog style.\u00a0 Grandma had Beggin’ Strips for Lupe and Dusty.\u00a0\u00a0The two dogs\u00a0got to\u00a0play ball and Frisbee with Joe and SPHP in the yard, go for walks, and lay on the deck with a view of the canyon.\u00a0 There was ice cream, too.\u00a0 July was off to a good start!<\/p>\n

Joe is a ham radio operator.\u00a0 He started telling SPHP about Summits on the Air<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, “an awards scheme for radio amateurs that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas”.\u00a0 Peaks are assigned a point value.\u00a0 Ham radio operators can earn points toward the SOTA “Mountain Goat” award by meeting certain criteria while operating from a peak, or points toward the “Shack Sloth” award for contacting those operating on a peak from home.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The home page for Summits on the Air (SOTA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joe had never tried the SOTA system before, but wondered if Lupe and SPHP would like to serve as guides to a suitable peak in the Black Hills?\u00a0 Since Summits\u00a0on the Air\u00a0combines Lupe’s peakbagging interests with Joe’s amateur radio hobby, it sounded like fun!\u00a0 Following the rain, the next day’s weather was supposed to be good, too, with highs only in the 70’s.\u00a0 The question was, where to go?<\/p>\n

Joe and SPHP looked over the SOTA website.\u00a0 All of the Black Hills in South Dakota is included in two SOTA regions with a total of 181 listed peaks.\u00a0 Most of these peaks have never been officially\u00a0“activated”\u00a0in the Summits on the Air system by anyone operating a portable radio from the peak.\u00a0 After considerable discussion, Joe and SPHP selected Custer Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0for Joe’s first SOTA attempt.\u00a0 Joe created a free Summits on the Air account for himself.<\/p>\n

The next morning,\u00a0Joe\u00a0posted a notification (called an “alert”)\u00a0on the SOTA website\u00a0that Joe (call sign AA0Q) would be operating his portable radio from Custer Peak.\u00a0 The alert included the frequencies he would be using, and an estimated start time.\u00a0 Once the alert was posted, Lupe, Dusty, Joe and SPHP dashed off to Custer Peak!<\/p>\n

At 10:58 AM (72\u00b0F), Joe parked the G6\u00a0at Lupe’s usual starting\u00a0point at the junction of USFS Road No. 216 (Custer Peak Road) and USFS Road No. 216.2A.\u00a0 Although Lupe was only a little over 0.5 mile\u00a0SE of the summit, the road\u00a0to Custer Peak was\u00a0nearly 2 miles long.\u00a0 Lupe, Dusty, Joe and SPHP started the trek to the top\u00a0along No. 216.2A.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S from No. 216.2A near the start of the trek up Custer Peak (not shown).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Joe and Dusty had never been to Custer Peak before, this was Lupe’s 6th ascent.\u00a0 Based on prior experience, SPHP had been telling Joe not to expect to see anyone at all on Custer Peak.\u00a0 SPHP couldn’t have been more wrong!\u00a0\u00a0SPHP’s pronouncement\u00a0quickly became a joke.\u00a0 First, Lupe and Dusty started coming to vehicles parked along the road.\u00a0 Then dozens of people began to appear, most of them arriving in caravans of 4 or 5 ATV’s.<\/p>\n

ATV’s roared up and down the dusty road.\u00a0 As Lupe, Dusty, Joe and SPHP\u00a0got higher on\u00a0the mountain, Lupe also encountered groups of people coming down on foot.\u00a0 SPHP was totally amazed!\u00a0 What SPHP had failed to consider was that Lupe normally\u00a0goes on\u00a0very few expeditions in the Black Hills during the hot summer months, when everyone else is out and about.\u00a0 Apparently, Custer Peak is a far more popular summer destination than SPHP ever realized.<\/p>\n

Another surprise was in store at the top of the mountain.\u00a0 The ranger station was manned!\u00a0 The hatch door to the balcony around the station was unlocked and open.\u00a0 Lupe, Dusty, Joe and SPHP went up on the balcony for a look around.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe and Dusty on the ranger station’s balcony. Although this was Lupe’s 6th ascent of Custer Peak, she’d never been up on the balcony before.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joe found the ranger on duty\u00a0to tell him that he would be operating a portable ham radio using 4 watts\u00a0from the summit for an hour or so.\u00a0 He\u00a0just wanted\u00a0to make certain it wouldn’t interfere with the ranger’s equipment.<\/p>\n

The ranger didn’t think there was any equipment\u00a0the radio\u00a0would interfere with.\u00a0 However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem.\u00a0 The American people declared independence and proclaimed freedom nearly 240 years ago,\u00a0but times have changed.\u00a0 The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave is now the Land of the Over-Regulated and Home of the Bureaucracy.\u00a0 The ranger was cordial, but insisted that Joe contact the headquarters of the Spearfish district of the Black Hills National Forest to get\u00a0official permission to operate the ham radio.<\/p>\n

Neither Joe nor SPHP had a phone along, but the ranger allowed Joe to use his phone.\u00a0 Naturally, since it was Saturday on\u00a0the 4th of July holiday weekend, all Joe got was a recording.\u00a0 The headquarters of the Spearfish district of the Black Hills National Forest wouldn’t be open until Tuesday.\u00a0 Joe reasoned with the ranger inside the station.\u00a0 Meanwhile, SPHP stayed out of it with Lupe and Dusty on the balcony.<\/p>\n

It turned out the ranger’s concerns had to do with the ranger station being part of a designated historical site of some sort.\u00a0 The ranger thought operating a ham radio might somehow break the historical site regulations.\u00a0 Fortunately, the ranger had a map of the historical site area.\u00a0 It covered only a relatively small part of the summit area\u00a0surrounding the ranger station.<\/p>\n

Joe\u00a0and the ranger finally agreed that the NE side of a jagged rock outcropping\u00a0a little way NW of the ranger station was\u00a0outside the boundary of the historical site\u00a0delineated on the map.\u00a0 The ranger was OK with Joe setting up the ham radio operation\u00a0over there.\u00a0 That\u00a0was a relief!\u00a0 Lupe, Dusty, Joe and SPHP left the ranger station to go\u00a0set up\u00a0the antenna\u00a0and other equipment.<\/p>\n

Joe made a perfect toss of a large metal nut tied to fishing line up over the very top of a tall tree situated\u00a0near the spine of the jagged rock outcropping.\u00a0 The fishing line was then used to pull up a thin antenna wire.\u00a0 Joe instructed SPHP on how to help deploy\u00a04 lateral wires at the base of the antenna.<\/p>\n

The ground on the NE side of the ridge was quite steep and rocky, so it took a little time to maneuver around and get set up.\u00a0 Lupe and Dusty supervised operations from the most comfortable vantage points they could find.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>
Joe makes a perfect toss of a metal nut tied to fishing line over the top of the tall thin tree near the ridgeline. The fishing line was then tied to a very thin antenna wire, and pulled up to the top of the tree. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Lupe supervises from the shade while Joe sets up his portable ham radio NE of a jagged rock outcropping NW of the ranger station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joe<\/a>
Joe and Lupe continue working on the portable ham radio setup. Dusty sneaks off to check out SPHP’s backpack on the chance there might be something good in it. One of the lateral wires can be seen in front of Dusty. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joe<\/a>
Joe nearing completion of the portable ham radio setup. Joe’s call sign is AA0Q.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dusty<\/a>
Dusty finds a shady spot to rest near some of the lateral wires. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ranger’s concerns, and the rough ground where Joe\u00a0was forced\u00a0to set up the radio, slowed things down.\u00a0 By the time Joe was ready to try his very first Summits on the Air peak activation, it was more than half an hour\u00a0after the time Joe had posted on the SOTA website.\u00a0 Would any other ham radio operators\u00a0still be listening for AA0Q on Custer Peak?\u00a0 Joe had no idea what to expect.<\/p>\n

Joe turned on his radio.\u00a0 AA0Q was on the air on Custer Peak!\u00a0 Almost immediately, another ham radio operator made contact with Joe.\u00a0 (A contact is apparently referred to as a QSO.)\u00a0 The contact told Joe that he would “Spot” him on the SOTA website.\u00a0 Although Joe has many years of experience with ham radio, he wasn’t prepared for what happened next.<\/p>\n

Almost instantly, there was a “pileup”.\u00a0 Joe shouted out to SPHP that it sounded like 20 people were trying to contact him all at once!<\/p>\n

\"While<\/a>
While Lupe looks on, Joe is instantly swamped by the response to his Summits on the Air activation of Custer Peak! Terry Peak<\/a><\/span> (7,064 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> (R of Center) is the highest mountain in the distance. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dusty,<\/a>
Dusty, surrounded by wires, looks happy with all the success Joe is having with his very first ever activation of a peak using Summits on the Air.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"AA0Q's<\/a>
AA0Q’s portable ham radio during use on Custer Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joe had a frantic time trying to respond to the enormous demand.\u00a0 Mostly he was quiet, busy listening intently\u00a0through the headphones\u00a0while using Morse Code to reply to as many of the radio operators seeking him as possible.\u00a0 At the same time, he was trying to log the\u00a0call\u00a0signs, time of contact, location and a few other details of each successful contact.\u00a0 Just to keep Lupe, Dusty and SPHP informed, now and then he called out where the operators he was “working” were from.<\/p>\n

The pileup eventually ended as those trying to contact Joe either got through, or gave up on reaching him.\u00a0 After half an hour, new contacts were sporadic.\u00a0 Joe\u00a0kept his radio active\u00a0another 15 minutes, switching to a voice frequency toward the end.\u00a0 After one or two voice contacts, Joe was satisfied.\u00a0 He’d managed to make and log 15 different QSO’s (contacts) from ham radio operators\u00a0scattered all over the USA.<\/p>\n

Joe was pretty happy with his first SOTA experience.\u00a0 AA0Q had never been so popular and in demand before!\u00a0\u00a0He’d made mistakes that kept him from “working” many of those who had tried to contact him, but Joe had learned a lot.\u00a0 In the future, it\u00a0would be easy to correct the worst errors.\u00a0 Keeping the contacts short was vitally important.\u00a0 People wanted their “Shack Sloth” points awarded for a successful QSO\u00a0fast!\u00a0 No dilly-dallying around allowed in this business.\u00a0 Next time, Joe would have SPHP do the logging.<\/p>\n

After taking down the antenna and putting the radio equipment away, it was time to return to the summit for a few pictures.\u00a0 Joe also wanted to chat with the ranger to let him know\u00a0his SOTA radio operation was over.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Up on the jagged ridge before returning to the summit. Photo looks SE from a point not too far from Joe’s SOTA activation of Custer Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Joe, Dusty & Lupe below the ranger station. Photo looks SE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
At the summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"AA0Q<\/a>
AA0Q was the first to ever use Lupe’s “Radio-Active” American Dingo guide services\u00a0in the\u00a0Black Hills for a Summits on the Air peak activation.\u00a0AA0Q earned 8 points toward SOTA’s Mountain Goat designation for “activating” Custer Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>! Photo looks NW toward Terry Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Looking NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Looking SSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joe’s operating point on the NE side of the jagged NW ridge hadn’t been the easiest place to work from (or the most comfortable), but it did have a couple things going for it.\u00a0 The NE side of the ridge was\u00a0hidden from the trail to the ranger station, so Joe hadn’t been bothered by all the people coming and going.\u00a0\u00a0The site\u00a0had\u00a0also been close enough to the top of the mountain to\u00a0meet SOTA’s standards for a “peak activation”.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>
Joe and Dusty start down the trail. Joe had conducted his SOTA activation of Custer Peak from the opposite side of the jagged NW ridge seen here. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the jagged NW ridge. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Joe, Dusty, Lupe and SPHP got back to grandma’s house, Joe logged all 15 contacts (QSO’s) he’d made into the Summits on the Air website.\u00a0 Joe was awarded his first 8 of 1,000 points required to earn\u00a0the “Mountain Goat” designation.\u00a0 The 15\u00a0QSO’s each earned points toward the 1,000 points required for\u00a0the “Shack Sloth” designation.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The SOTA map showing the activation of Custer Peak by AA0Q earlier in the day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joe was happy.\u00a0 Lupe and Dusty were happy, too.\u00a0 They had earned extra ice cream and Beggin’ Strips for becoming “Radio-Active”!<\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lupe returned from her grand\u00a0adventures in the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming on June 1, 2016.\u00a0 Naturally, she expected to resume her explorations of the Black Hills in short order, but it didn’t happen. May and June are normally the wettest months of the year in the Black Hills, but May had been very dry with … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 174(a) – Summits on the Air! (Custer Peak, 7-2-16)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[667,105,9,106,119,146,666,451,104,665,304,664],"class_list":["post-6036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-aa0q","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-custer-peak","tag-dusty","tag-ham-radio","tag-joe","tag-lupe","tag-sota","tag-south-dakota","tag-summits-on-the-air"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_1252.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6036"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28363,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036\/revisions\/28363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}