Ontario Peak was my 100th activation in the logbook, but really only my 97th or 98th activation as I’ve stayed on a couple summits past 00:00z a few times and worked chasers a second time so they could get double points. All that being said, I wanted my 100th activation to be a long hike, in addition, I wanted to hike to a summit I’ve never been to. Ontario Peak fit that description, and having hiked Ice House Canyon twice before I knew what I was getting into. Originally I was only going to bring an HT for UHF/ VHF to save weight, but at the last moment the FT817 kit found it’s way into my pack, however, I omitted the antenna mast and Bioenno battery and just brought some twine to support my vertical antenna from a tree, and some AA batteries to run the rig.

The hike up is somewhat popular, and about 6 miles to the summit with a bunch of elevation gain. Once at the top I was surprised to find how small the actual summit is. I ate a burrito and relaxed a bit before calling CQ on my HT. This immediately got me 4 contacts, 1 S2S. Feeling pretty exhausted from the hike up, I wasn’t feeling motivated to set up the HF station. Good trees to support a wire are all kinda off the edge of ridge and likely outside of the activation zone. Since I hauled the equipment up there, I figured I would just lay the vertical over the chaparral and see what happened. I sent a spot on 20m CW and to my surprise, made several contacts. Moving to 30m, the AA batteries in my radio were acting up and the rig shutdown several times while calling CQ, so I gave up. While packing up the rig, I heard 3 S2S stations on 2m. Whoooohoo! After working the S2S stations, I finished packing up for the 6 mile hike back to the trailhead.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-048

Download file: Ontario.gpx

Date:05/11/2021 | Summit:W6/CT-048 (Ontario Peak)

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
20:23	KN6CQX	144MHz	FM	S55 R59 S2S W6/CT-086
20:39	K6LDQ	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
20:41	WA6WV	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
20:41	KI6SLA	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
21:05	K7EA	14MHz	CW	S599 R599
21:06	WB6POT	14MHz	CW	S599 R599
21:07	W0MNA	14MHz	CW	S559 R559
21:08	W0ERI	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
21:09	K6PB	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
21:17	K6QCB	10MHz	CW	S55N R599
21:34	K6STR	144MHz	FM	S55 R52 S2S W6/CT-240
21:35	W6LOR	144MHz	FM	S55 R52 S2S W6/CT-240
21:42	KN6CQX	144MHz	FM	S55 R57 S2S W6/CT-013

This is a rad hike in Yucca Valley. I tried to summit this one earlier in the year when summer bonus points were on the table, but I couldn’t find the trailhead. Returning a few months later after a bit more research, it turned out I was just one hill away from the trailhead the first time. With that sorted, my wife and I started to head up. The trail is pretty obvious, but it’s easy to loose track of it in some areas. Once at the top I setup my vertical and called out on 30M, then 40M, then 20M, self spotting on each band. Made on S2S to Timber Mountain, W6/CT-052, which makes that a complete for me. I look forward to hiking this one again.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-166

Download file: Bartlett.GPX

Date:22/10/2021 | Summit:W6/SD-166 (Bartlett Mountains (HP))

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
19:32	NW7E	10MHz	CW	S449 R53N
19:33	NS7P	10MHz	CW	S55N R33N
19:35	N7OOS	10MHz	CW	S559 R559
19:37	WW7D	10MHz	CW	S55N R37N
19:47	AJ6KZ	10MHz	CW	S229 R419 S2S W6/CT-052
19:57	K6EL	7MHz	CW	S549 R559
19:58	W6DE	7MHz	CW	S55N R55N
20:01	K6YK	7MHz	CW	S559 R559
20:06	F4WBN	14MHz	CW	S559 R599
20:07	W0MNA	14MHz	CW	S559 R599
20:08	K3TCU	14MHz	CW	S559 R559
20:10	WN4AT	14MHz	CW	S549 R55N
20:11	W0ERI	14MHz	CW	S549 R55N
20:12	W4KRN	14MHz	CW	S559 R33N
20:17	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW	S55N R52N