W6/SD-040 – West Ord Mountain

This was my 5th summit climbed for So. Cal Winter SOTA Fest, and probably my favorite of the weekend. I started the hike at a cattle guard, which was recommended by many from Peakbagger. This spot is a good ways away from the paved road, and I made a few wrong turns along the way, which made it a bit of an adventure even getting there. From the cattle guard, I just started hiking up, there is no use trail to follow. There are a few false summits, a bit of scrambling, and beautiful views. At the top is what I believe to be an old survey tower. I didn’t didn’t find any benchmarks. Worked other SoCal SOTA activators on 2M S2S, plus 15, 17 and 20M on the KH1 whip. I didn’t get a boatload of contacts, but enough to qualify the activation. I’m excited to hike the rest of the Ord Mountains soon!

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-040

Total distance: 3.59 mi
Max elevation: 5536 ft
Min elevation: 4095 ft
Total climbing: 1769 ft
Download file: WestOrd.gpx

Date:18/01/2025 |  Summit:W6/SD-040 (West Ord Mountain)

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
20:44KN6FNY144MHzFMS2S W6/SD-018 S55 R59
20:47W6LOR144MHzFMS2S W6/SD-497S59 R59
20:47K6STR144MHzFMS2S W6/SD-497S59 R59
20:50K6TW144MHzFMS59 R59
20:50KI6SLA144MHzFMS58 R59
20:51KG6TRG144MHzFMS59 R59
21:02W5ODS21MHzCWS58N R57N
21:07WW7D21MHzCWS57N R55N
21:12W6TDX18MHzCWS53N R53N
21:20WI0S14MHzCWS55N R44N (POTA)
21:24W6DT14MHzCWS599 R55N
21:26W6LEN14MHzCWS44N R55N
21:27W7VD14MHzCWS57N R53N
21:28WG0AT14MHzCWS42N R33N
21:29W7GA14MHzCWS599 R55N
Parked here
A bit of a scramble in some areas
First view of the top!
Old survey tower?
General views