so i finally did my first summit activation last weekend, W4T/SU-017 if anyone knows it, and wow i was not prepared for how long the hike actually was. i had looked at the map and thought yeah thats not so bad but the elevation gain just absolutely wrecked me. took forever to get up there and by the time i set up my KX2 and the 20m EFHW i was already tired and a little frazzled.

made 5 contacts which i guess counts but i was hoping for more. the wire kept wanting to fall down because i stupidly didnt bring enough cordage to get it really up in a tree and the branches were not cooperating. also forgot sunscreen which, yeah.

but honestly when i finally got the first contact and the guy on the other end knew exactly what i was doing and said congrats on the activation i kind of got it, like why people do this. already planning the next one

5 contacts is a valid activation, dont sweat it. ive had summits where i barely scraped 4 and was just happy to get off the mountain before dark. the EFHW thing is real though, i switched to a linked dipole setup and it made a huge difference for getting the wire up and staying up. also a small slingshot and some fishing line is a game changer for trees that dont want to cooperate

haha the sunscreen thing got me the first time too. i keep a little checklist now in my pack just for radio stuff separate from the hiking gear checklist because i kept forgetting one or the other. congrats on the first one though, the feeling you described is exactly it