Activating the Stawamus Chief

It had been 14 years since I last hiked the Chief, so I felt it was time to try for the third summit and activate it in the SOTA program. The ascent was steep like I remembered it, a bit more groomed at the start but still very grueling. The third summit is a broad granite expanse with pockets of short pines. The trees provide a bit of shade and good support for a wire antenna. I found a cosy little nook to settle into that had a view of the city of Squamish below and ate some lunch. Done with eating I set up the 2m yagi and put out a call, nothing after 45 minutes of silence I was beginning to feel that I wasn't going to get a contact. So I set up the KX2 and tried HF. All I could hear on 20m was a single station who was putting out 1300 watts. He never heard me.

Well back to 2m and finally I had a contact. Shortly after John (VE7CUU), a local ham I have met ,responded and I had contact two. He said he would call his brother on Saltspring Island to try me. I wondered how that signal would get past the mountains but John said he worked him regularly and his path was even more shaded than mine. Meanwhile another local ham responded and then John's brother. I had to reverse the yagi and try a few angles to clear up the signal but in the end we had a pleasant chat. That made 4 and I had succeeded activating the summit. Now for the descent, I really wasn't looking forward to the numerous boulder fields to traverse.

see https://www.scenicart.ca/content/stawamus-chief-3 for more photos