Deep snow made hiking up difficult. I took a different way down which was much easier. I now know what show shoes are for. Tracks below is round trip; I got a tip on what could be a better way up. Made my first SOTA contact on 6M. Met SOTA Hal in person at the end of my activation.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-014

Date:24/Jan/2020 Summit:W6/CT-014 (Kratka Ridge)

I hiked up to Strawberry Peak on a Saturday with some friends. Turns out that this is a very popular hike among Los Angeles denizens. I would do this again, on a weekday as the summit was crowded with noisy folks at one point. I made several contacts on 2M, including two summit to summit contacts. 20M seemed dead (spotted over APRS). I tried 40M, got nothing but later found out my spot didn’t make it out.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-018

Date:11/Jan/2020 Summit:W6/CT-018 (Strawberry Peak) 

I almost dismissed this summit as another SOTA activator I spoke with said this hike wasn’t worth it, but after going the trail up the trail myself, I would respectfully disagree. Most of the hike is under shady trees, making it ideal for a summer getaway from the city. The summit offers several nice sitting rocks and great views. The trail is difficult to follow at times, so downloading the tracks below for your GPS may be helpful. 73!

https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W6/CT-098

(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)

Date:09/Jan/2020 Summit:W6/CT-098 (Occidental Peak)

This is probably the easiest SOTA activation I’ve done to date. Next time I activate this peak I may bring heavier equipment! There is a road all the way to a Nike missile site (LA-94), then a short walk up to the benchmark, which reads Camp 9. Be aware that you need to drive through the fire camp, which consists of buildings on both sides of the road leading to the top. When I activated this summit, there were several fire fighters training in the road, but nobody seemed to mind that I was there. I setup my station near the benchmark and made several contacts on 2M and 20M. 40M was very quiet. Thanks to all the chasers!

https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W6/CT-158

Date:03/Jan/2020 Summit:W6/CT-158 (4020)