2026 SoCal Winter SOTA Fest schedule –
1st –> (This one) https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-080-4633/
2nd –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-013-east-ord-mountain/
3rd –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-010-ord-mountain/

This was my first activation for SoCal Winter Field Day. I woke up early and wasted no time leaving Los Angeles to get to this first summit, but I did stop somewhere off Bear Valley Road for fuel and a breakfast burrito. Getting to the starting point was pretty easy. From Barstow Rd, turn east on Haynes Rd, then make a left on Huff Rd. That will run straight into Power Line Rd. Turn right and take it as close to the summit as you can. It gets kinda rocky the further you go. 4633 is in an area where people 4×4, so the earth is pretty torn up. Park where you can. There is also a popular rock climbing area known as “Hercules Finger”.

I followed a moto trail into the rocks for a bit before turning west up to the summit. This was a scramble, hopping over boulders and navigating around large rock formations. Once at the top, I setup 2M CW and heard Mark calling CQ from a summit; 599 both ways. I worked HF high bands and tore down after exhausting chasers. From the top, I could see East Ord. It was the closest summit to me, so I figured I would hike it next. Hiking down, I met two folks climbing Hercules Finger. They asked me if they could borrow a lighter to smoke a doobie. haha. I had a lighter in my truck I gave them to keep so they could continue to enjoy their day.

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, you probably know I take a ~45 second video of summits and post them here. I forgot to take one, so I’m writing this instead.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-080

Download file: SD080.gpx

Date:16/01/2026 |  Summit:W6/SD-080 (4633) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Distance (km)	Notes
19:23	KD7DTS	144MHz	CW	187	S599 R599
19:38	NT6E	144MHz	CW	169	%QRA%DM03TU%
19:47	W0MNA	28MHz	CW		S599 R599
19:47	KF6HI	28MHz	CW		S66N R43N
19:48	W0ERI	28MHz	CW		S599 R599
19:49	NB0C	28MHz	CW		S55N R54N
19:53	N4TU	28MHz	CW		S44N R43N
20:01	KE7F	18MHz	CW		S55N R55N
20:04	NU7A	18MHz	CW		S57N R53N
20:05	WU7H	18MHz	CW		S57N R53N
20:05	W5ODS	18MHz	CW		S57N R55N
20:08	KD8BEU	18MHz	CW		S55N R51N

2026 SoCal Winter SOTA Fest schedule –
1st –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-080-4633/
2nd –> (This one) https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-013-east-ord-mountain/
3rd –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-010-ord-mountain/

This was my second hike of the day, and second hike for the SoCal Winter SOTA fest. On the drive out to East Ord, I wasn’t paying attention to my map so I ended up in the wrong place, which is listed on a map as Grand View Mine. This would be a nice place to camp, as KB9ENS mentioned in his trip report. I wanted to start my hike from the north so I back tracked and found my way to Guzzler, as it’s listed on the map. There is no trail, and the hike starts off pretty steep. There are rock formations which make route finding tricky; I needed to backtrack several times to find a safer route. Did I mention it is steep? My definition of steep is 1000 feet of gain in 1 mile. This was something like 1800 feet of gain in a bit over a mile. It took much longer than I thought to reach the summit. At the top there was a register going back to 1988. I signed it and setup the Yaesu 817 for 2M. Made some local S2S over CW, and a few more on FM. There was a bit more time before 00:00 zulu, so I quickly setup HF, 20M and worked that as fast I could.

Since I started later than I liked, and it took me longer to reach the summit than anticipated, I was worried about losing daylight. I packed up everything and started heading down. The steep terrain and impact was hurting my knees, but I needed to beat the sun so I pushed through. About half way down, my knees really started hurting; stabbing knife pain. My stride shortened and I took breaks. The sun disappeared behind the mountains as the temperature dropped quickly. Soon, it was pitch black and the flashlight was in the truck. I still needed to navigate a dry waterfall and a wash, which was done by phone light. Luckily I was only in the dark for about 20 minutes. Had I not accidentally gone to Grand View, my timing would have been perfect.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-013

Download file: eastord.gpx

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Distance (km)	Notes
23:30	K6STR	144MHz	CW	115	S2S W6/ND-224 S599 R599
23:32	W6LOR	144MHz	CW	115	S2S W6/ND-224 S55N R599
23:36	KT5X	14MHz	CW		S55N R57N
23:38	K6MII	144MHz	FM	15	S2S W6/SD-443 S59 R59
23:45	N6JNY	144MHz	FM		S55 R55
23:47	K6HUB	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
23:52	KF7WI	14MHz	CW		S57N R55N
23:53	AC7P	14MHz	CW		S55N R55N
23:54	WW7D	14MHz	CW		S57N R55N
23:55	JG0AWE	14MHz	CW		S33N R33N
23:57	K9WO	14MHz	CW		S55N R44N
23:58	W0MNA	14MHz	CW		S55N R55N
23:59	K7SO	14MHz	CW		S55N R55N
23:59	W0ERI	14MHz	CW		S599 R599

Date:17/01/2026 |  Summit:W6/SD-013 (East Ord Mountain) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Distance (km)	Notes
00:00	N4TU	14MHz	CW		S55N R42N
00:01	WU7H	14MHz	CW		S55N R54N

2026 SoCal Winter SOTA Fest schedule –
1st –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-080-4633/
2nd –> https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-013-east-ord-mountain/
3rd –> (This one) https://blog.benmook.com/w6-sd-010-ord-mountain/

This was my third summit for SoCal Winter SOTA Fest 2026. I woke up in the morning, headed down to the hotel restaurant, and ordered breakfast with coffee. My knees were feeling “okay” but I was worried about doing more summits after East Ord destroyed them. I figured I could try an “easy” summit today so I headed out to Stoddard Mountain, W6/SD-060. Once I got close to the bottom of Stoddard, I parked the truck, slathered on some sunscreen and started a slow ascent. My knees were hurting. About 1/4 mile up, I wanted to make sure I could actually get down without stabbing knife pains, so I walked back a bit, and my knees were screaming. There was no way I could get up and down any summit today, so I continued back to the truck with the plan of heading home to Los Angeles early.

Over 2M, I heard two local hams at the Slash X Cafe talking about how they were heading up to Ord Mountain. I interjected, introduced myself, and asked if I could joint them, and they agreed! I headed over to the Slash X to meet up with them, and after a quick chat we were on our way. (I’m leaving out all of details on who/ how we got up there) Once at the top I used a 2M HT and called CQ, which was quickly answered by others activating in the area. Two S2S. From there, I went on 2M CW with a yaesu 817 and got two more QSOs. I didn’t want my hosts to stand around waiting for me to work HF bands, so I signed QRT and packed up.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-010

Date:17/01/2026 |  Summit:W6/SD-010 (Ord Mountain) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Distance (km)	Notes
21:51	W6LOR	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
21:52	K6STR	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
21:52	KE6SRN	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
21:53	KE6SRO	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
21:53	K6TW	144MHz	FM		S59 R59
21:55	K6CPR	144MHz	FM	13	S2S W6/SD-116 S59 R59
21:57	AK6IY	144MHz	FM	127	S2S W6/CT-019 S45 R57
22:03	K6STR	144MHz	CW	107	%QRA%DM15MP%
22:04	NT6E	144MHz	CW	174	%QRA%DM03TU%