This was a re-activation for me. If you are looking for all the details on how to get there and other useful info, you can find the original trip-report with the necessary details right here. This post has only a few specifics from today’s activation.

Signal Mtn. – View from the summit

From my prior activation in September 2011, I knew that it was going to be a long hike (11.7 mi/18.8 km – 4064 ft / 1239 m) mostly within the tree-zone. The two summits (Signal Mtn and South Signal) are just pushing their ‘heads’ above the treeline providing some amazing views.

My backpack with Yagi

Besides my normal gear, I also carried a ‘tape-measure’ Yagi antenna I wanted to test on the summit. The first two miles of my hike went as expected but the following 2-3 miles through the forest were extremely difficult. A winter-storm must have destroyed large parts of the Bulwark Ridge. Trees were lying around everywhere. And I am not just talking about dead-trees… large and healthy trees were broken apart like tooth-picks, blocking the way to the summit. It was a very time-consuming and exhausting hike, climbing over trees or trying to find a way around it. Often I

Devastated Forest

had a difficult time finding the trail again. Finally, the last 1-2 miles above the tree-line provided more challenges in form of big, soft, and deep snow-fields. Without having any ‘floatation-devices’, I was post-holing through approx. 3-4 ft of snow. Luckily I brought my gators – keeping at least my feet dry. It took me almost 4 hours to reach the summit (compared to 3’10” in September). The view from the summit was worth it though. After setting up my antenna, I  was hiding from the wind behind the small stone-shelter on the top. The wind behaved kind of strangely… completely calm for several minutes, followed by very strong gusts for a couple of minutes and back to complete calmness again. One of the stronger gusts took my antenna down (again), just after switching from 20m to 17m. Unfortunately the stinger of my shock-corded whip got bent during the process . I guess its time to use some of those spare parts. I took it as a sign to leave and packed-up my gear, knowing that it would take me quite a while for the ~6 miles climbing over all the trees again. At least it was downhill this time. I have to admit that I was pretty tired by the time I reached my car.

Thanks for all the contacts and spots.

Some video impressions:

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!

Written by: k0mos on May 5, 2012.on December 3, 2020.