This was the third and last SOTA activation over a weekend trip to Anza-Borrego. It was later in the day and I needed to pick up my bike-packing pals in a few hours not too far from this summit so I had to make it a quick one. I parked the Jeep off the main road to the mine ruins, just before an area where the road was washed out, then hiked. I followed an old service road that went to the top of the mine ruins, then a sketchy scramble up a steep embankment to continue on. I’m glad I had some tracks to follow, as there are several ridges one could follow that dead-end; one could get somewhat lost up there. After a spirited walk to the top, I signed the register and waited for 00:00 UTC to start my activation. I stretched out my EFHW antenna and connected it to an MTR4B, first working 40M, then 20M. I got a text from the bike packing group with an ETA for their pickup so I packed up and headed down the hill the same way I came. The sketchy part was worse coming down, but overall it was a pretty easy hike, and perhaps my favorite of the weekend. After picking up the bike packing group, we went to Agua Caliente County Park for a dip in their excellent hot spring pool.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-396

Download file: W6_SD_396_Mine_Benchmark.gpx

Date:10/03/2024 |  Summit:W6/SD-396 (Mine Benchmark) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
00:05	K6CPR	7MHz	CW	S55N R52N
00:11	N9OSW	14MHz	CW	S33N R55N
00:15	N6MTB	14MHz	CW	S21N R33N S2S W6/SC-454
00:17	KJ7DT	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
00:18	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW	S57N R57N
00:19	WW7D	14MHz	CW	S57N R54N
00:22	WB7HMA	14MHz	CW	S55N R44N
00:23	AK4JA	14MHz	CW	S54N R55N

Chariot Mountain was the second of two summits I completed while camping at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park with the So. Cal SOTA group. Before the event N6MTB published a route from camp to the summit of Chariot. At that point my mind was made up, this is what I was going to do. After a quick breakfast, I jumped on the bike and headed up the mountain.

The ride was awesome, starting with some single track right at the camp, then into more single track through a meadow, to a fire road, to more single track through another meadow. Oh, weather was perfect too! Near the end of the fun stuff there is a big downhill over a fire road which leads to the bottom of Chariot. This wasn’t going to be fun climbing up! Once at the bottom, I realized there isn’t a trail up to the top! The summit is also guarded by thick pokey bushes. I stashed my bike, gathered my stuff and started the painful bushwhack to the top.

Since I didn’t have a backpack, I was hand carrying everything I couldn’t fit onto my pockets. Unfortunately, my Yaesu HT was clipped to my pocket and disappeared somewhere in the brush. I was never going to find it. After attempting to backtrack my exact route for 15 minutes or so, I heard a radios squelch crack open – Ara was on a summit, and I was able to locate my radio about 30 feet away from where I was standing. I would have never found it otherwise!

I now had to backtrack through the brush again. My skin was starting to feel ‘raw’ from all the scratches. I wasn’t having a good time. Fortunately, the higher you go, the thinner the brush, and near the top, there isn’t any brush! Once on the actual summit, I signed the register and pulled out my KH1 with the whip. Worked 15, 17, and 20M, then 2M FM. After exhausting all the chasers I started my decent through the brush once again.

Back at the road it took me a minute to find my bike and pack all my stuff up for the ride back to camp. That big uphill wasn’t so bad and before I knew it I was back riding through the various meadows on single track. I chose not to take the exact route back, which was rad because I ran into Bill and Drew on the main road and rode with them back to camp on a different trail. What a rad day!

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-074

Download file: W6_SD_074.gpx

Date:27/04/2024 |  Summit:W6/SD-074 (Chariot Mountain) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
19:15	K6ARK	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
19:16	KD7DTS	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
19:17	WO6JO	144MHz	FM	S59 R59 S2S W6/CC-014
19:18	N6AN	144MHz	FM	S59 R59 S2S W6/CC-014
19:18	KX6I	144MHz	FM	S59 R59 S2S W6/CC-014
19:19	KI6SLA	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
19:20	N6XZN	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
19:35	W9SSN	21MHz	CW	S57N R599 S2S W6/CC-014
19:37	WD4CFN	21MHz	CW	S51N R44N
19:38	W7TMD	21MHz	CW	S57N R599
19:42	N7KRN	21MHz	CW	S52N R53N
19:44	KC1NDQ	21MHz	CW	S52N R33N
19:48	KI5JG	18MHz	CW	S52N R55N
19:50	WU7H	18MHz	CW	S52N R53N S2S W7W/CH-241
19:52	WW7D	18MHz	CW	S52N R51N S2S W7W/CH-241
19:53	NU7A	18MHz	CW	S57N R33N
20:00	N1SMB	14MHz	CW	S42N R55N S2S W6/SC-335
20:03	W6LOR	14MHz	CW	S53N R52N S2S W6/CT-268

Cuyamaca Peak is one of two summits I completed while camping at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park with the So. Cal SOTA group. I rode my mountain bike up the steep paved road from the campground and ended up operating in a gravel parking area near the tower facility. There was thick fog, with water accumulating on the infrastructure above. Whenever the wind blew, it would feel like it was raining, and perhaps it was a bit. It was starting to get late by the time I got up there, so I worked 20M CW, then 2M FM which got me most of the camping group in 3 minutes. I took a different way down to make a loop out of the ride, but I think I would go up this way next time as it was a nicer experience.

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

Download file: W6_CC_014.gpx

Date:27/04/2024 |  Summit:W6/CC-014 (Cuyamaca Peak) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
01:00	WW7D	14MHz	CW	S58N R51N
01:01	N7KRN	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
01:03	W2MHS	14MHz	CW	S51N R22N
01:09	N4DH	14MHz	CW	S51N R44N
01:13	N6XZN	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:13	K6ARK	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:13	W9SSN	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:14	N6MTB	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:14	KB9ENS	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:14	KD7DTS	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:14	K6RWZ	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:15	KI6SLA	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:15	WB6EDK	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:15	K6CWC	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:15	WO6JO	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
01:18	KK6WLD	144MHz	FM	S55 R31