so i finally did my first summit activation last weekend, took the KX2 and a 20m end fed up to a local hilltop, nothing crazy just a 2 pointer but figured id start small. took me like 45 mins to hike up and another 20 to get everything set up cause i forgot i needed to untangle the wire before trying to throw the line over a branch. anyway made 12 contacts in about an hour, mostly 20m SSB with a couple guys on CW who were way faster than me so i just sent my exchange and hoped for the best lol. the whole thing was just really satisfying in a way that sitting in the shack isnt, something about making contacts with a battery and a wire in the middle of nowhere hits different. already planning the next one, thinking about trying a 2 radio setup for vhf too

yeah that feeling doesnt go away, ive done like 40 activations now and i still get that same thing when i make that first contact from a summit. 12 contacts is solid for a first time too, some people struggle to get the 4 needed for the activation points. what were you using for the throw line, i went through like 3 different methods before i settled on a tennis ball with some paracord and that thing works every time now

I did POTA last summer at a state park near me and had a similar experience. Only had a dipole and an old FT-891 running off a big LiFePO4 battery which was kind of overkill for what I was doing but whatever it worked. The pile up I got on 40m in the afternoon was way more than I expected, people really chase these parks. Might try SOTA next, seems like more of an adventure type thing.