W6/SD-181 – 3690 (Little Bell Mountain)

I started hiking up to 3690 just before sunset. The area where I was parked is used for target practice, as evident by discarded household items riddled with bullet holes and spent shells littering the ground. Hopefully, nobody would show up and start shooting at the hillside I was climbing up. or coming down. At the top, I was greeted with a beautiful sunset and warm desert winds. I setup my antenna mast in a pile of rocks and spotted myself on 40m SSB. No takers at all. Spotted myself on 40m CW, no luck there either. As it got dark, my mast fell over in the wind. Digging through my pack, it seems I forgot my headlight! Unable to fix the antenna system in the dark, I turned to the HT. Made two QSOs on 70cm simplex, C4FM digital. Moved to 2M FM and was greeted by KN6EZE, who called out on a local repeater asking people to chase me on simplex. Made enough contacts to qualify this summit. Thanks Mike! I packed up the radios and hiked down with a small light. I think it would be rad to camp up here on a warm summer night, maybe next year!

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-181

Total distance: 0.77 mi
Max elevation: 3680 ft
Total climbing: 658 ft
Total time: 01:37:18
Download file: LittleBell.GPX

Date:04/09/2021 | Summit:W6/SD-181 (3690)

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
02:57KK6FR433MHzDVC4FM
02:58KE6U433MHzDVC4FM
03:02KN6EZE144MHzFM
03:04KO4PXK144MHzFM
03:05KB6LTY144MHzFM
03:06K6DY144MHzFM
03:07W2QLH144MHzFM
03:08KJ6QYP144MHzFM
03:13KN6GOG144MHzFM
I parked around here, this looks to be an impromptu shooting range by the looks of spent cartridges and various things riddled with bullet holes. Luckily, nobody came to shoot while I was on the summit!
Rocks on the way up.
Bell Mountain, W6/SD-152 in the background.
At the top, sun going down.
Quite nice up here!