This summit is just outside the town of Manhattan, NV. I was last in Manhattan 8 years prior on a motorcycle trip and was surprised to find a functioning bar full of customers, including a 90 year old guy who told stories about motorcycling through Mexico in the 1950’s. I was excited to return to this fine establishment, but it was unfortunately closed.

We continued down Main Street until it turned into East Manhattan Road. From there, a right turn on an old mining trail, heading into the hills. There is no trail to the top of Salisbury, so it was a bushwhack up and across a ridge. Once there I could see rain heading my direction. I quickly setup the station and worked 20M, and 40M. It started sprinkling so I packed everything up and quickly headed down the way I came.

On the way down I noticed some old steel buildings along the road the car was parked on. The rain had stopped, so we continued down the road to find an old mining operation. This site was pretty intact, complete with ore cart rails and a large air compressor. We found some interesting quartz in the mine unlike what you would find in California.

After exploring the mine, we continued east on East Manhattan Road, locating a small trickle of a spring alongside the road, then, continuing on to the town of Belmont. This town has loads of old buildings, including an impressive courthouse. We stopped at the saloon, Dirty Dick’s for a beer. This was a awkward experience because as we walked in, everyone got quiet. There was a long moment before my wife said, “Are we allowed to be here?”.

Sorry for the upside down video!

https://sotl.as/summits/W7N/NN-149

Download file: Salisbury.gpx

Date:04/10/2024 |  Summit:W7N/NN-149 (Salisbury Peak) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
20:55	K6EL	7MHz	CW	S2S W6/NC-423 S53N R55N
20:55	K6YK	7MHz	CW	S57N R56N
20:56	WB6POT	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
20:57	KB7HH	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
20:58	AE7I	7MHz	CW	S58N R55N
20:58	WU7H	7MHz	CW	S52N R32N
20:59	K6KMS	7MHz	CW	S55N R44N
21:00	W6TDX	7MHz	CW	S44N R43N
21:02	K6CPR	7MHz	CW	S55N R33N
21:08	K6NOV	14MHz	CW	S57N R599
21:09	KT5X	14MHz	CW	S55N R57N
21:10	K6HPX	14MHz	CW	S56N R51N
21:11	W7BPM	14MHz	CW	S51N R51N
21:12	AI7FF	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
21:12	KF6HI	14MHz	CW	S55N R55N
21:13	W0MNA	14MHz	CW	S56N R55N
21:14	W0ERI	14MHz	CW	S56N R55N

Kel and I headed over to Booker Mountain after visiting nearby 7130 and discovering the activation zone of that summit is not really accessible. The top of Booker is an active RF installation and an easy drive up a dirt road from Tonopah, NV. I setup my station along a chain link fence at the high-point and noticed the hillside was littered with vacuum tubes. Worked 40, 30 and 20M CW with several S2S QSOs mixed in. On the way back down we hiked by an abandoned AT&T Long Lines Tower which was still mostly intact.

https://sotl.as/summits/W7N/NS-117

Date:05/10/2024 |  Summit:W7N/NS-117 (Booker Mountain) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
16:39	W6TDX	7MHz	CW	S56N R55N
16:41	AA7OY	7MHz	CW	S2S W7A/AP-015 S31N R31N
16:44	KN6OMN	7MHz	CW	S57N R599
16:52	WB6POT	10MHz	CW	S57N R57N
16:54	KX0R	10MHz	CW	S2S W0C/SR-052 S33N R55N
16:54	NT6E	10MHz	CW	S58N R55N
16:57	AE7I	10MHz	CW	S57N R55N
16:58	K6EL	10MHz	CW	S2S W6/NC-298 S55N R58N
16:59	KF6SWU	10MHz	CW	S55N R55N
17:08	KI7MRJ	14MHz	CW	S56N R44N
17:09	AC7P	14MHz	CW	S31N R44N
17:10	KN6CX	14MHz	CW	S57N R5NN
17:11	K6NOV	14MHz	CW	S57N R499
17:16	K9PM/P	14MHz	CW	S2S W7A/AE-023 S55N R57N
17:17	NJ7V	14MHz	CW	S2S W7A/AW-011 S57N R57N
17:18	W6JP	14MHz	CW	S57N R57N
17:20	WW7D	14MHz	CW	S2S W7W/KG-031 S57N R599
17:21	WU7H	14MHz	CW	S2S W7W/KG-031 S57N R55N
17:22	N4LAG	14MHz	CW	S2S W7A/AE-028 S57N R57N

My pal organized a camping trip at Little Harbor on Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles. To get there, we took the ferry from San Pedro to Two Harbors, then hiked the Trans Catalina Trail to our reserved campground. The hike was a little over 6 miles one way, with the summit somewhere roughly in the middle. At the top, a single pavilion with a picnic table stands. I setup my KH1 here with an EFHW and worked 15, 17, and 20M CW. Bands felt kinda dead but ended up with 11 contacts. Made an 2 FM QSOs – one back to the mainland, and another to a guy on his boat on the east side of the island. I kinda assumed 2M would work better here? Once the activation was done I continued on to Little Harbor for the weekend. I never really liked Catalina because I’ve only ever been to Avalon, but this trip changed my views. I’m now looking forward to activation more summits on the island.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-281

Download file: CT281.gpx

Date:26/07/2024 |  Summit:W6/CT-281 (1236) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
19:56	AB4PP	21MHz	CW	S51N R22N
20:05	WOMNA	18MHz	CW	S58N R57N
20:06	W0ERI	18MHz	CW	S58N R57N
20:06	KF6HI	18MHz	CW	S559 R559
20:07	K6TUY	18MHz	CW	S8N R57N
20:20	NT6E	144MHz	FM	S57 R55
20:24	KQ6NP	144MHz	FM	S59 R59
20:37	KF9FD	14MHz	CW	S57N R32N
20:39	W4VIG	14MHz	CW	S57N R22N
20:47	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW	S57N R55N
20:48	W4IFI	14MHz	CW	S42N R55N