2019 august 16 and 17
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TK/TK-040 Capu à Rughia 1750 m JN42kg55 TK/TK-009 Punta Artica 2327 m JN42lg63 23km + 1520m A 2 days hike for 2 or 3 summits. But being overloaded with 18kg, i managed to activate only 2. Overnight under a tent at 2050 m asl. |
I started from the ski resort close to the "col de Verghio" and followed the GR20 until i reached the col St Pierre. From there i was happy to find an unexpected nice track that led me to the summit of "Capu à Rughia" TK/TK-040 1725m.
The summit is rather flat and i could erect the antenna without any troubles and be QRV after a small "lunch". The 20m CW was again the best band and i made 20 QSO with some S2S.
I hiked down back on my steps and again followed he GR20 track until i reached the pass "Bocca à Reta" from where i wanted to reach the summit TK/TK-023 "a Cimatella", but the pass was already in the clouds and there is no track up to the summit. So i decided to visit the lac de Nino and get closer to the next planned summit TK/TK-009 "Punta Artica" 2327m.
The climbing was very painful and each step was difficult... My backpack was really to heavy with all the stuff, 18kg (about 40 pounds) is more than i can carry now ! :-(
I chosed to stop at the first "flat" place i could find to set up my tent and rest for the night.
After a looong night, i started to finish the climbing to the summit of Punta Artica TK/TK-009. I immediately knew that i wouldn't be able to activate the last planned summit, my feeet were sooo heavy ! I was really overloaded !
From top, the view is fantastic and the sky was still clear, i didn't wait and installed the antenna attaching it to a large rock + 3 small guys.
The 20m CW band was very clear and a single CQ was answered by EA2DT who also spotted me. 26 QSOs in a row later without changing frequency, i stopped and decided to pack everything and walk down. 3 hikers reaching the summit were quite impressed by all the gear and asked a few questions.
Being tired, i chosed the shortest hike back and decided to hitchhike back to my car. I found a small hidden source at "the bergeries de Colga" that one of the hikers mentionend to me and i enjoyed the fresh water a lot !!
Arriving at the parking, i asked a couple of italian tourists that were starting their car, and they were kind enough to bring me back to my car... That was the fastest hitchhiking i ever made !!
All in all, a nice hike but the lesson is that 18 kg backpack is too much for me now...
