This my second time activating Hoyt Mountain, however this time, I hiked up for the ARRL VHF contest and primarily worked 6M and 70CM, with a few contacts on 2M, and a couple S2S contacts. This is on my top 5 list of favorite summits because it’s close to home, and it’s not a popular place for Angelenos to hike; I’d like to camp up here sometime for an overnight activation in the future. See my previous activation of this summit HERE.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-146

Date:13/06/2020 | Summit:W6/CT-146 (Hoyt Mountain)

I was saving the higher elevation hikes for the summer with the idea it would be much cooler and enjoyable when the city below is being scorched by the sun. That’s not the case. It was hot, the route up was in full sun, and I wondered what it would take to loose some pack weight to make the trip up to the summit easier. Overall, it was enjoyable. Solar conditions were not so great, but I was able to make several QSOs on 20. 40M was dead, with only one QSO up to Washington State. Made a 2M CW contact, and a few 2M FM contacts right before heading down to the car.

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

(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:27/05/2020 | Summit:W6/CT-010 (Mount Islip)

Edit December 5th, 2022 – The following description and photos were borrowed from firetower.org without permission, see link below for original source.

http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-islip-lookout-site/

Description

Mount Islip was constructed in 1927, a 22 foot X-Brace steel tower with an 8×8 observation cabin by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. A stone residence cabin was built nearby. It’s ruin still stands today.

The lookout tower was reportedly moved to South Mount Hawkins in 1938 before being replaced shortly thereafter by the structure that stood until 2002.

May 10th. This is the second time I activated this summit; read about the first one HERE. 20M was working pretty well. S2S contacts with AG7GP on W7O/CS-073 (20M), and WC6J on W7N/TR-005 (40M). Being early May, the weather was cooler and the flora was green and blooming.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-150

Date:10/05/2020 | Summit:W6/CT-150 (4202) | 

May 9th. Deep QSB on 20M, 40M was a struggle. There was a 6M sprint and a small 2M pile up. Two summit to summit contacts with K6ARK on W6/CT-050, and another with K6PVZ on W6/SC-219.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-012

Date:09/05/2020 | Summit:W6/CT-012 (Waterman Mountain)

This was a pretty easy hike, I wouldn’t do it in the middle of summer as there is little shade on the fire road going up. The top is used as a hang glider port; there is a picnic table and a bench to setup radios on which is nice. Summit to summit QSO with KR7RK in Arizona on 40M.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-170

Date:06/03/2020 | Summit:W6/CT-170 (Kagel Mountain)