I was a SOTA neophyte when I discovered this summit not far from home. It took a fair bit of head scratching to work out what HP meant: High Point. At 340 m (1115 ft), it's not all that high a point, but a summit is a summit and this one has become a favorite. The Town of Shapleigh has managed 300 acres here as the "Williams Property" ( brochure PDF ) since it was donated to the townspeople in November 2011. There's a nice description of "Williams Town Park" on Maine By Foot . Despite its ease of access and proximity to population centers, the summit has only been activated 10 times through 2021 . It was the first summit I activated specifically for SOTA, when I took a long lunch for a warmish January trudge over snow to the quiet peak. That inaugural activation began with a summit-to-summit contact via satellite with KE9AJ, an auspicious start. I managed 4 more satellite QSOs that day, plus I made eight contacts on 30 meters for an acceptable first effort
My first Trans-Atlantic S2S QSO Party, in November 2020, was so much fun I was sure to try again. When the first Saturday of November was announced for the 2021 event, I quickly put it on my calendar and hoped for decent weather. I got my wish. The forecast called for clear and comfortable. A couple of days ahead, I posted an alert for W1/NL-010 (Parker Mountain) at 1330 UTC. At 1,410 feet, this peak doesn't offer much elevation advantage, but it's only a half-hour drive from home and I had not yet activated it this year . I hadn't even reached the trailhead by 1300 (9 a.m local), but I was close enough by then to stop at a roadside high point for a quick photo of my destination. I pulled into a parking lot, popped out of the car, greeted the camo-uniformed soldier who was happening by, and got my landscape shot. I was just about to pull away when a steady stream of yellow-ribboned cadets poured out of the white-trimmed brick building that serves as a National Guard Train