W6/CC-005 – Reyes Peak

Reyes Peak is one I’ve wanted to activate since starting SOTA in 2019, but hadn’t because it’s a pretty far drive from the our home. On a hot July day my wife and I wanted to get out of the house, so we decided to jump in the car and go for a long drive out to the summit trailhead. Getting there took longer than expected due to slow winding roads. Shortly after starting off on the trailhead, the path splits. Go straight there, up a steep embankment. If you make a left turn to will end up at Haddock Mountain. At the summit is a rock formation you can scramble up. You can find evidence of an old fire lookout tower here. I signed the register and setup my HF antenna; worked 40M, 30M, and 20M. No contacts on 30. After getting back to the car we headed over to Rainbow Falls, then eventually over to Ojai for dinner and a beer.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CC-005

Normally I would put a .gpx map in this space, but I don’t believe I recorded one!

Date:01/07/2022 | Summit:W6/CC-005 (Reyes Peak)

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
21:55NT6E7MHzCWS52N R52N
21:56K7EA7MHzCWS55N R33N
21:57K6EL7MHzCWS45N R55N S2S W6/CC-072
22:00KN6EZE7MHzCWS53N R55N
22:06W6LZY7MHzCWS57N R53N
22:07K6YK7MHzCWS57N R55N
22:11N6TE7MHzCWS58N R57N
22:12KE6MT7MHzCWS57N R55N
22:13W7SKH7MHzCWS58N R599
22:13W7CBR7MHzCWS55N R599
22:15K3GX7MHzCWS51N R44N
22:27AC1GE14MHzCWS42N R33N
22:28NS7P14MHzCWS58N R57N
22:28W6TDX14MHzCWS52N R52N
22:34KD7LX14MHzCWS52N R33N

W6/CC-056 – Sandstone Peak

This trip was my first time up Sandstone, but my second attempt. My previous trip to the trail head was met with treacherous winds which kept me from putting efforts into reaching the summit. The hike is typical of those in the Santa Monica Mountains; hot, dry and no shade whatsoever. I brought my hiking umbrella which made things much easier. After about 1.5 miles you will reach the summit and find a plaque honoring Herbert Allen. There I took quite a bit of time to cool down, listening on 2M for any activity. Made a few S2S QSOs. This summit doesn’t have much room to stretch out a long HF antenna, but I made it work by hiking out to a sketchy outcropping. I then realized I forgot the power cable to my HF radio! Doh! I packed up the antenna I just setup and hiked down the trail back to my car.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CC-056

Total distance: 3.12 mi
Max elevation: 2995 ft
Total climbing: 1703 ft
Total time: 02:23:09
Download file: Sandstone.gpx

Date:22/07/2022 | Summit:W6/CC-056 (Sandstone Peak)

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
18:56KD7DTS144MHzFMS59 R59 S2S W6/CT-269
18:57KN6PHZ144MHzFMS59 R59 S2S W6/CT-269
19:02NT6E144MHzFMS59 R59
19:04WA6WV144MHzFMS55 R52
19:07KF7NP144MHzFMS22 R44 S2S W6/SC-203
19:37KI6SLA144MHzFMS55 R57