Another day off work means another SOTA activation. I had Josephine Peak on my radar because there is a fire road all the way to the top, which means I could ride a bike up to the summit. I made it a bit over a mile up the road before I needed to stop and walk. After that it was intermittent riding/ pushing. There are several switchbacks which make the grade a bit easier, but these obviously add quite a bit of distance to the route – something I didn’t think about when starting this activation. At the top of the summit there is evidence of a fire lookout tower, and a small shelter for radio equipment. I made a surprising amount of contacts on 2M given it was a Tuesday; 20M and 40M felt quiet but I still managed a few contacts on each. It got cold and dark quickly, so I tore the station down and headed to my car which was parked on highway 2. The downhill ride was fast; I was on both brakes hard the entire way to maintain a reasonable speed. Overall, this was a fun activation.

2020 activation report here.

https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W6/CT-025

(Update 05-09-2022 – a server migration, plugin and php update revealed the timestamps on this .gpx file are broken. I’ve added fake times so this page renders correctly)

Download file: Josephine.gpx

Date:10/Dec/2019 Summit:W6/CT-025 (Josephine Peak) 

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
22:40z	KM6CJK	433MHz	FM
22:53z	KJ6MCO	144MHz	FM
22:55z	AD6JK	144MHz	FM
22:56z	KD6UTC	144MHz	FM
22:57z	AI6ZV	144MHz	FM
22:58z	KM6RKK	144MHz	FM
22:59z	K6LDQ	144MHz	FM
23:02z	KG6MDH	144MHz	FM
23:05z	KN6EIE	144MHz	FM
23:07z	KI6NAZ	144MHz	FM
23:11z	KM6TNT	144MHz	FM
23:19z	ZL2IFB	14MHz	SSB
23:20z	W0MA	14MHz	SSB
23:21z	W0ERI	14MHz	SSB
23:35z	WU7H	7MHz	SSB
23:39z	NW7E	7MHz	SSB

Edit – December 5th, 2022. Description and photos of the lookout tower from firetower.org, used without permission.

http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/josephine-peak-lookout-site/

Description

Josephine Peak Lookout was constructed in 1935, a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 on a short, open timber tower.

Some stories suggest the structure was moved from Mount Lukens but the photos of that lookout suggest an earlier design, Plan 4AR.

The lookout was burned in the 1975 Big Tujunga Fire and not replaced.

https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W6/CT-019

Date:10/Dec/2019 Summit:W6/CT-019 (San Gabriel Peak) 

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
00:06z	WD6FOE	144MHz	FM
00:08z	KI6NAZ	144MHz	FM
00:10z	KR6RG	144MHz	FM	San Diego/ TJ border
00:12z	KM6AVH	144MHz	FM
00:13z	WC6Q	144MHz	FM
00:16z	K6BNN	144MHz	FM
00:17z	KB0J	144MHz	FM
00:18z	WB2WIK	144MHz	FM
00:26z	KI6NAZ	7MHz	SSB
00:27z	NG6R	7MHz	SSB
00:28z	N7MQ	7MHz	SSB
00:29z	K8TE	7MHz	SSB

Download file: San Gabriel Peak - W6:CT-019.GPX

Edit – December 5th, 2022. A few photos and some info from firetower.org below, used without permission. When up on the summit, you can easily find metal beams used in the X-brace tower.

http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/san-gabriel-peak-lookout-site/

Description

San Gabriel Peak Lookout was a California Region 5 Plan 4A cabin on a 10 foot X-Brace open steel tower constructed as early as 1922 and may have later been replaced by a BC-301 design.