KX6A Radio Goal Results for 2017

Once again I am posting my results for the previous year’s goals. I’m pretty satisfied with my results, but my “we’ll see, might as well add it” goal from last year – Goal #5 – became my obsession in the latter part of the year.

1. 500 SOTA Activator Points – Half Way to Mountain Goat – ACHIEVED!

As of the close of 2017, I have 608 activator points. This took some work, but I more than exceeded my goal by accumulating 396 activator points over the year. This was a lot of fun, and resulted in some interesting days, including the Big Bear 6 Pack of SOTA Peaks in one day: W6/CT-051 Arctic Point, W6/CT-060 Pk. 7940, W6/CT-054 Bertha Peak, W6/CT-009 Butler Peak, W6/CT-050 Delamar Mountain and W6/CT-013 Keller Peak. That was a long day and made for a memorable adventure.

2. Copy and Send CW Comfortably at 25 WPM – Missed

I definitely made progress and activated almost exclusively using CW when HF was called for, but I have more work to do. I’ll be carrying this over to 2018. CW did make it possible to achieve goals #3 and #4 below.

3. Sub 1kg Activation Kit – ACHIEVED!

This one comes from the SOTA reflector – 1 Kilo HF challenge. I was able to get my CW HF activation kit well below the 1 Kilo mark. I’ve got this on my list to write up as a post on the blog this year.

4. Activate at Least One Stretch Peak – ACHIEVED!

I was able to hit a few stretch peaks this year. The big one was Mt. Kaweah W6/SS-011, difficult not only because of a long off-trail hike to the summit at 13,802′, but because you have to hike for two days into the center of the Sierras just to get to the base of the peak. This turned out to be a great backpacking adventure with a buddy where we also summited/activated Sawtooth Peak W6/SS-142. I also bagged the first activation for a number a fun peaks: W6/SS-340 Peak 8060, W6/SS-623 Kennedy Peak, W6/ND-378 Sheep Mountain and W6/SS-224 Peak 11,100.

5. Start Trail Running – ACHIEVED!

The idea was to start trail running as a way to train for my hiking, backpacking, and SOTA activating. As Ron Burgundy so aptly observed, “Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast.”

What started as my “throw-away – let’s see” goal of last year quickly became an obsession. Since I started trail running in late Summer, I closed in on almost 500 trail running miles for 2017. I also set a goal to complete a trail race. I trained for and completed the 25K (15.5 miles) Whoos in El Moo trail race here in Newport Beach in November. Best of all, the trail running resulted in my newfound ability to fly up mountains keeping pace with my teenage sons.

Truth be told, my trail running certainly caused my activating pace for SOTA to slow a bit this Fall. Often it is a choice between a 10-mile training trail run or a day of hiking. I’m looking to integrate the two a bit better this coming year. That said, I’ve really enjoyed trail running and look forward to continuing.

All in all, I’m pleased with my 2017 results and looking forward to working on my 2018 goals.