Mt Evans ZL3/CB-770 is a summit I have wanted to do for a while. When I first tried a couple of years ago, M. Bovis was in the area so it was off-limits. It's best accessed from the Purau Port Levy Road saddle but you need to cross three different farms so three phone calls are required. Dave ZL3DRN pioneered this one last year so had the contacts and set it up for us. A fine and frosty Canterbury morning dawned and we were off! We set off from The Monument Carpark at the Purau Saddle at 9am and were on summit early (as is our habit!) at 10:20am.
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The trig has had a tough time - pretty exposed up here...
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It's not a terribly long or steep climb however there is no track so route-finding skills are needed. There are a few fences to cross too and the terrain means that this is trickier than normal - there's no flat land on the other side! A reasonably steep shale slide needs to be navigated close to the summit. it would be very tricky in wet/icy conditions and isn't readily skirted.
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| Dave ZL3DRN picking his way down the shale |
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| The shale generator at the top - impressive! |
We set up the 66' doublet and KX2 and soon had it activated with local contacts on 2m including S2S with Mark ZL3AB on Flag Peak ZL3/CB-737 and on HF, Matt ZL4NVG on Sugar Loaf ZL3/CB-394. Best DX was YC1ME on 20m.
Conditions weren't all that pleasant with a cold easterly breeze and low cloud so we made the call to pack up and activate Mt Herbert as well. We hustled back to car (just on an hour) and headed for the Western Valley Road saddle (via Port Levy) to test the alternate route up (and down) Mt Herbert ZL3/CB-678. Western Valley Road is a steep, single lane road but good fun in the new SOTAwagon :-) The DOC signs at the carpark say 2 1/2 hours to the summit but we were up there in an hour and 30 mins. It's a nice walk and well marked.
It was absolutely calm on the summit - amazing for a mid-winter day. 2m was productive with Mark ZL3AB on his second summit, Lavericks ZL3/CB-757 and the other loyal locals. Again we set up the 66' (broadside) doublet oriented North-South so the main 20m lobes were aimed at VK and the USA. 60m produced Chris ZL4RA (who now has a permanent antenna set up at home) and, as I found out a bit later, his mum ZL4WJ with her first CW contact for years! Awesome! YC1ME called again on 20m (he is becoming a regular Chaser) and then I had a wee pile-up of ZLs and VKs. I knew there was a weak station under there so cleared the pile, called QRZ? and up popped Jean VE2JCW! My first Canadian from a summit, happy dance ensued!
Dave took over the radio and was promptly called by an N2 station but severe QSB meant they were unable to complete. The higher bands are waking up folks!
The views sure are great from here, it's the highest summit on Banks Peninsula
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| Looking down on the Sugarloaf TV/FM tower, Christchurch city and across to the Southern Alps |
Happy with our haul, we packed up and headed down to the car, arriving about 5:10pm. Didn't need the headlamp but it was a close run thing! The late afternoon light on the regenerating Totara was spectacular:
What a great day - good company, two nice summits, lots of calories burned and some really pleasing contacts. I really like the doublet, it's a very effective antenna if you have the space.
For Mt Evans farmer contact details - email Dave ZL3DRN
