Sierra Solitude - Part 3: One More Summit, and the Return to (un)Civilization

[@thekhakihat3233]

Choosing to stop and help others is a great example for all of us. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! 72 - AA4K

[@gregh3248]

OMG, you are amazing. Congratulations!!! Quite the trip. Absolutely beautiful

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Adam, This was a very enjoyable video series. The last few seconds of this video was the icing on the cake. 🙂 Stay safe. 73 WJ3U

[@randalltom9750]

You da man Adam! Great video and a rescue! That scree looked ‘dicey’. And it doesn’t take much to break something critical… but back in the day, well I’ll save the bragadocitia. Chinese food, yumm!

[@PatFortino]

Hi Adam. All of the Sierra Solitude videos are excellent: interesting, high-quality camera work, and very nice production. Your last activation looked very lively. Some of that scree and talus looked brutal. Also, I'm impressed with your small pack for a 3 day trip. Thanks for all the hard work.

[@K6ARK]

Thank you, Pat! I don't have as much time to produce the volume of videos I made in the past, but I try to keep the quality up and make them worth watching. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@theradiorover]

Thanks for taking us along on your journey. 😊

[@davidsradioroom9678]

This was a really great video series. I really enjoyed it. You can hike and climb mountains. At my age, I can hardly climb stairs, so I enjoyed the journey with you. 73

[@TheHamNinja]

What an epic journey dude! You worked a lot of solid B roll, not easy to do solo. Now I'm going to have to get one of those 9v batteries. :)

[@nvrumi]

Thanks for taking me along. My days of hiking and climbing like that are past. So it’s fun to live vicariously through your adventures. It was also good to work you POTA this weekend. I was startled to hear your call. 73 de AG7TX

[@AA0Z]

Awesome series! Glad you got that hiker some help. Chinese food after some backpacking is always a bonus.

[@cwguy8960]

Loved the series! Great video, great scenery - if I had known you were out there I would have worked you! Need to add you to my HamAlert. Glad you had a safe outing 👍👍Looked like a blast!! / N0DET

[@KM4ACK]

Fun watching your adventures 👊

[@gaptastic]

Totally dig these videos! Thanks for sharing! And good for you for helping other travelers. Peace and Love!

[@va2eo127]

My present reality is that I am back from a 4 days backpacking/sota trip in W2 and right now I am folding the laundry but because of you, I am not very efficient because I can’t leave my eyes of the screen hi! Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip. 73, Éric VA2EO

[@agplay2290]

That's superb that you stopped to help them. I broke down a few days ago on a mountain and was lucky that a driver stopped to check on me, and had a spare hose I needed that fit. Between draining system, putting fluid back in and changing hose it took 10 hours. Partially because I was sick a few days before and barely had the energy to do more than 10 minutes at a time at that altitude.

[@chrisobrien9969]

Hi Adam, Wow! This is a great series especially for folks like me who cannot get out to the Sierras as much as we would like too. I'm dragging my brother (a working field geologist) into amateur radio so we can activate peaks together and he can provide geology lessons as we hike along the trails. I used your SOTA videos as a lure. I actually read Clearance King's book about six months ago. So I was pleased to see you read it too, highly recommended for those who love the Sierra Nevada (the mountain range I cut my backpacking teeth on). Kim Stanley Robinson just published his love letter to the Sierra Nevada range, The High Sierra: A Love Story, a book I also enjoyed. Thanks for putting out such great content. Best regards and 73, Chris (KI6RK) PS I purchased one of your endfed kits and am looking forward to putting it together.

[@staticinteger]

Wow I’ve really enjoyed this series! Amazing adventure. Very inspiring :)

[@ak5sd]

It was great to get you in the log on this summit... and weird to hear my fist. 😃 Scott, AK5SD

[@JosephVE3GKT]

That was an AMAZING series of videos, Adam! Absolutely excellent the whole way through. Awesome job, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. 73 de VE3GKT

[@W7LDT]

I used to be able to do those hikes. A lot of years ago. It was fun to see you work my friend Bud, N7CW, from Potter.

[@kao354]

Thank you, Adam, for a beautiful scenery and good story! Hope to watch some videos from you soon! 73!

[@K6ARK]

Preparing antenna kits has really cut into my video production time, but I have definitely not abandoned that part of the hobby. There will be more!

[@kao354]

@@K6ARK Yep, tried to buy your EFHW kit with male BNC without success. Already bought all the parts, but will buy the official kit anyway just to say "thank you" and show support. By the way, have you had any problems with your favourite "5 minutes" epoxy recently? Ordered it, but a little hesitant to use for unun (not really that necessary) and traps (here it is crucial).

[@K6ARK]

@@kao354 I now prefer silicone over epoxy if I'm going to be potting anything. It seems to have less impact on the tuning. Hot glue is another good option.

[@Siskiyous6]

Great trip, I liked how you made it into a series.

[@K6ARK]

Thanks! The full edit was about 42 minutes which would have been quite a marathon to watch. I think I will upload the full version anyway For anyone that might want a feature length film.

[@RLSHINK]

The whole series was awesome thank you for the great content!

[@W7AWE]

Love the series!! Thank you so much

[@ke6mt]

Awesome vids! Thanks for sharing all of this, Adam!

[@DaveW6OOD]

That was a great trip. That’s a lot of solo travel. I think I was using your tiny palm style paddle in that contact we made, but can’t remember which radio. It was the TX-500 or the X6100. It is sure beautiful out there.

[@tonyhickson2500]

Really enjoyed the series, thank you! 73 M5OTA

[@phildurall7466]

The most impressive part .... you stopped to help others! 73 - KF6IF

[@gliderrider]

So exciting to watch!

[@ChrisN8PEM]

Nice!

[@timg5tm941]

Super video! 73 and subscribed!

[@N0SSC]

Beautiful!

[@placeholder-065]

You're so lucky, all that beautiful nature out there. Mountains, lakes, woods and above all solitude if you want it. Here everything is flat, no woods, no mountains, no lakes of any significance and most certainly no solitude. There are always people everywhere, never ever are you on your own, unless you go to the Ardennes which is at least 150 miles away. And still then there will be people crossing your path. It is what it is.. You're so lucky.. Nice video series, loved it. Running into a bobcat, hello! Gust ON6KE

[@K6ARK]

Yes, I feel very fortunate to have these mountains so close. It is a magical place.

[@MK-wt8sx]

Yeah... Some day... When stats align... I'll do that... 73' very nice. (jealous)

[@dougdaniels]

Great, inspiring series. I could never do one to this extent, but hoping this pushes me to do a couple combo SOTA/POTA that I've been planning.

[@K6ARK]

Don't let the scope of this adventure discourage you from doing something that's within your experience and abilities. There's a wide range of summits and backpacking adventures put there that are just as fun.

[@87balexander]

Awesome trip! Inspires me to learn CW! Saw the Mojave Red the end. Have family in Indian Wells and we bring some back to Missouri when we visit. Good stuff! Haha.

[@K6ARK]

Yes! Indian Wells makes some good beers. 😁

[@K6ARK]

CW is 1000% worth it. Such a fun way to operate, and so incredibly capable with very simple equipment.

[@shanebaker9975]

Great series, Adam! I never thought of California as having mountains like that until I started watching your videos. Very cool! I would be interested to know what else was in your pack. Was that a small solar panel?

[@K6ARK]

Yes, I brought a small solar panel but didn't end up really needing it. It's a 20w panel that weighs about 1.3 lbs. A small battery pack is usually a better option unless it's a long trip with lots of power requirements.

[@akennyd]

Miss your videos but glad you’re doing OK!! Was worried you might have fell off some mountain or something… 😅 73

[@K6ARK]

Thanks! All good, just working a lot and been more busy with SAR (on the board of directors again) and trying to keep up with antenna kits. 🤘😁👍

[@akennyd]

@@K6ARK 👍👍

[@photoguy73]

What fantastic scenery. What did you use for a rig and antenna on this one?

[@K6ARK]

The rig is a Mountain Topper MTR-2B with a custom 3d-printed case to shave weight and a capacitive touch paddle built in. The antenna is one of my end fed half wave antennas built on an RCA connector.

[@mewrongwayKOCXF]

Hi Adam Miss your videos! How did you come out on your 10/15/20m Spiderbeam?

[@K6ARK]

Never had time to finish it, but I have been tinkering with the design again when I have time. Antenna kits keep me too busy to produce many videos, but I still try to get some out here and there.

[@mewrongwayKOCXF]

@@K6ARK Thats awesome Adam! I have wanted to scratch build a Spider myself. Thanks

[@qrplife]

A long shot question one year after the video - when you helped the injured hiker, did you press SOS on your InReach on their behalf or were they carrying their own device?

[@K6ARK]

We used the inReach that the hiker was carrying. I had one as well, but using their unit was preferable for obvious reasons.

[@K6ARK]

I did coach them through providing what information responders would want or need.

[@agplay2290]

Six hours!

[@K6ARK]

That's the beauty of a light pack. 🤘😁

[@agplay2290]

@@K6ARK nice. Oh was on you Amazon. Your not doing premade at the moment? Was going to get one, but only kits.

[@K6ARK]

@@agplay2290 I don't sell built antennas. I simply don't have enough free time - I'm still a working stiff.

[@agplay2290]

@@K6ARK hahahah same. In fact I left Texas yesterday evening, and will be in Georgia this evening.

[@agplay2290]

@@K6ARK I'll have to get the tools and give it a shot.

[@retekessradio1714]

I sincerely want to give you a retekess V115, a palm-sized portable shortwave radio, it can insert a Micro SD to play music and record, can you try the V115?

[@simonoliver5784]

Thank you Adam. Your videos are great. 2e0hxe.

[@W7LDT]

I used to be able to do those hikes. A lot of years ago. It was fun to see you work my friend Bud, N7CW, from Potter.