Mt Hotham SOTA Weekend Feb 2-3 2019
A brief post to share a short video from last week’s Mt Hotham SOTA weekend. Once again, Brian VK3BCM hosted several dozen SOTA and mountaineering enthusiasts at Anton Huette Lodge, Mt Hotham, for two days of summit bagging and SOTA talk. On the way up I activated the two ‘easy’ summits on the Mt Buffalo plateau, The Hump and The Horn.
This year we met Andrew VK1DA, Gerard VK2IO, Wade VK1MIC, Adele and Sid ( ZS5AYC, ZS5APT), as well as many regulars and family, friends and partners. A few shots and captions follow. Thanks to Brian VK3BCM for hosting, Peter VK3PF for driving me north-east around some of the Dartmouth summits on Saturday, and everyone else for the fine company and many calls.
VK3HN 
I’d suggest a Highlands Copperhead (sometimes called an Alpine Copperhead) – Australeps ramsayi
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Good pick, it checks out with the description and habitat of that species. He was medium sized, and fine, not a big snake. I would not have thought a Copperhead, as he was jet black all over, sans a white belly.
“their venom is, by Australian standards, only moderately toxic (equal on a per-mg basis to that of the Indian cobra). Nevertheless, they deliver a substantial quantity of venom, and a copperhead bite left untreated can easily kill a healthy adult human. ”
A beautiful creature, to be admired at a safe distance. In case anyone is wondering, I got the close up with camera zoom at a distance of more than 2 meters. He was moving slowly, not agitated at all, just moving, possibly hunting.
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[…] of the others who attended have published accounts on their own blogs. Paul VK3HN has prepared an interesting video, so check it […]
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Very nice blog – love all of the projects, and the geography of your SOTA ops in some places looks very much like parts of California. Guess we are “Pacific Cousins” – hi hi. 73- Rich
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That’s true, I’ve spent time in CA, the mountains do have some similarities. And there are eucalyptus trees all over California. 73 Paul VK3HN
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