SOTA: Mount Gillamatong - with a nice fat black snake

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I had itchy feet again and wanted to get out to activate a summit a tiny bit further afield than VK1 easy walk ups, Mt Gillamatong near Braidwood in regional NSW seemed to fit the bill nicely. 

 

A warm easy 1 hour drive east of Canberra and 10m from down town Braidwood - Gillamatong as looks rather imposing from the base.  We approached from the west near the local water treatment facility. This apparently is not the way others have in the past, however is the easier of the East / West approach options.  

Progress on the dirt track was momentarily halted by the appearance of a rather slippery character  - a rather well fed Red Belly Black Snake quickly moved off in search of a less disturbed hideout and we passed on. 

This is one of the few times my partner Frankie has joined me on SOTA activations. He is keen on the walking side but the sitting around while the radio bits are down 

This is one of the few times my partner Frankie has joined me on SOTA activations. He is keen on the walking side but the sitting around while the radio bits are down 

  Activation side of things were only undertaken for an hour or so with no nibbles on 2m or 70cm sadly.  HF seemed to be ok with my regular bands of 40 and 15m yielding results.   Below is a video of the activation.  

  Activation side of things were only undertaken for an hour or so with no nibbles on 2m or 70cm sadly. 

 

HF seemed to be ok with my regular bands of 40 and 15m yielding results.  

 

Below is a video of the activation.