Smith Mountain has been on my list of summits to activate since I started with sota. I made an attempt to hike it the the previous year, but restrictions from the Bobcat fire were in place and the area was closed. The trailhead is easy to find; next to a pit toilet just off Hwy 39 above Azusa. From there the trail winds for three miles through beautiful canyons, gaining about 1,000 feet in elevation along the way. Once you hit the saddle, take a break because things are going to get steep. It took me some time to navigate the thick vegetation, rocks, and steep grade on this one, often finding a use trail but almost immediately loosing it. At the top, there was a benchmark and enough room to stretch out an EFHW antenna. Worked 20, 30, 40M CW and 2M FM with the HT. Coming down the mountain was a bit easier as I could locate the faint use trails a bit easier. Overall, this is a fun hike that’s accessible and close to the city. I’ll be visiting again in the future.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-120

Date:16/09/2022 | Summit:W6/CT-120 (Smith Mountain

This was my second activation of the day, having just left Lovejoy Butte earlier. I parked my small car as far up 136th Street East as I could and walked the short distance to the base of the butte. From here it’s just a short scramble to the top. Once at the summit, I found thousands of red flying ants, the same I’ve seen at other desert summits. I wonder why they like peaks so much? Not wanting to get friendly with them I setup my endfed half wave just off to the side. I had just over an hour before UTC time changed so I worked quickly while I noticed a monsoon coming my way. The the middle of a QSO on 20M, I felt a big fat raindrop, then a few more. I quickly tore my station down, scrambled down the butte and over to the car. By the time I got to the intersection of 136th street and Ave O, the rain was absolutely pouring to the point my wipers couldn’t keep up. Driving around a bit I noted the washes, dry most of the time, were starting to turn into rivers. I stopped at a high point and walked around in the desert to enjoy the rain before heading back to Los Angeles, where it didn’t rain at all.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-334

Date:11/09/2022 | Summit:W6/ND-334 (Alpine Butte)

I set out from my home in Los Angeles to activate three buttes in the Antelope Valley area. Lovejoy was the first of the day. Of course, I can never get out of the house at a reasonable time so I arrived around noon to my starting point on 145th Street East. It was hotter than I expected but I have a large golf umbrella for days like this, and it proved absolutely critical for both the hike and activation. You can make out a faint use trail up to the summit from the road, and accessing that trail requires navigating various moto trails, deep soft sand, and piles of dumped construction materials. Closer to the top is a faint use trail which goes to the summit. Worked 2M, 40M, 30M CW with a S2S on each band. Worked 20M CW with zero contacts which surprised me. The hike was under two miles but I drank two liters of water. Back at the car I had a snack and more water before heading over to the next butte.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-323

Date:11/09/2022 | Summit:W6/ND-323 (Lovejoy Buttes)

The road up to Butler Peak was closed for several years due to a washout, however, repairs were made and the road opened July 4th. I drove my low clearance commuter car from Rim Of The World to Forest Road 2N13, and parked near the gate up to Butler. Hiking up to the summit was enjoyable and offered views not normally seen in the San Gabriel mountain range. Once at the top, the fire lookout volunteer invited me up to the tower for a tour and mentioned I was the only hiker of the day and that everyone else arrived via off-road vehicle. After the tour I climbed around on the rocks just below the tower in search for a place to setup the radio. There isn’t much usable room but I found a place I could put my endfed wire between two rocks. Since I brought my Yaesu 817 I decided to start on 70cm CW, which got me one contact. Moving to 2M FM only got me an additional contact. Moving to HF afforded me the contacts needed to get points. I made it down the mountain and back to the paved road right when it was starting to get dark. Perfect timing!

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-009

Date:20/08/2022 | Summit:W6/CT-009 (Butler Peak)

Reyes Peak is one I’ve wanted to activate since starting SOTA in 2019, but hadn’t because it’s a pretty far drive from the our home. On a hot July day my wife and I wanted to get out of the house, so we decided to jump in the car and go for a long drive out to the summit trailhead. Getting there took longer than expected due to slow winding roads. Shortly after starting off on the trailhead, the path splits. Go straight there, up a steep embankment. If you make a left turn to will end up at Haddock Mountain. At the summit is a rock formation you can scramble up. You can find evidence of an old fire lookout tower here. I signed the register and setup my HF antenna; worked 40M, 30M, and 20M. No contacts on 30. After getting back to the car we headed over to Rainbow Falls, then eventually over to Ojai for dinner and a beer.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CC-005

Normally I would put a .gpx map in this space, but I don’t believe I recorded one!

Date:01/07/2022 | Summit:W6/CC-005 (Reyes Peak)

This trip was my first time up Sandstone, but my second attempt. My previous trip to the trail head was met with treacherous winds which kept me from putting efforts into reaching the summit. The hike is typical of those in the Santa Monica Mountains; hot, dry and no shade whatsoever. I brought my hiking umbrella which made things much easier. After about 1.5 miles you will reach the summit and find a plaque honoring Herbert Allen. There I took quite a bit of time to cool down, listening on 2M for any activity. Made a few S2S QSOs. This summit doesn’t have much room to stretch out a long HF antenna, but I made it work by hiking out to a sketchy outcropping. I then realized I forgot the power cable to my HF radio! Doh! I packed up the antenna I just setup and hiked down the trail back to my car.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CC-056

Date:22/07/2022 | Summit:W6/CC-056 (Sandstone Peak)

I left work a bit earlier than usual one day to for a night activation, my first since starting with SOTA.  Temescal Peak is kinda close to my office so I wouldn’t need to suffer through SoCal traffic so much. I pulled up to an area which looked okay to leave the car, collected my equipment and started to hike up a paved drainage system, at which point I was welcomed by a sign to the Topanga State Park. A cool coastal breeze was welcome as I hiked along. I kept thinking how it would have been a nice on a mountain bike. At the top, I wasted no time to get the antenna setup. The summit is kinda small, so not much room for an EFHW, but that’s what I had so I made it work. Worked 40m, 30m and 20m CW in addition to 2m FM. Made 4 DX contacts on 20M in a row. Maybe I should do night activations more often? Hiking down, by flashlight started to die and I forgot spare cells. Luckily, the moon was bright which was enough to see where I was going. Next time I’m doing this one on a mountain bike.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-218

I seem to have lost the .gpx track, which would normally go here.

Date:11/05/2022 | Summit:W6/CT-218 (Temescal Peak)

I wanted to hike some new terrain, so I mapped out a route through the Cow horns, east of Big Pine. Leaving Los Angeles around 6am got me to Big Pine before noon, where I bought some drinks and ice for the cooler before heading over to Death Valley Road. There is no actual trail that I could find. I started hiking up a wash, which had various levels and looked as if it would be a waterfall in times of rain. This was too sketchy for me, so I tried to get as much elevation as possible instead by climbing out of the steep wash through loose soil. It was starting to get hot, but I brought a giant golf umbrella to provide shade and offer relief. After hiking for about 45 minutes I found the ridge line and headed straight to the summit. Once there I looked for a register, or a geo marker, but didn’t find anything. Worked 20,30, 40M CW. Wanting to activate the neighboring summit, I packed the station up and headed over……

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/IN-017

Date:02/06/2022 | Summit:W6/IN-017 (7900)

The route I took over to W6/IN-036 was steep, and at one point I was questioning myself why I do things like this. It was hot, the ground under me was loose and I was consistently slipping. There are several nice shady trees on the ridge which offered additional shade. These trees felt a bit out of place as the whole journey thus far had seemed to be a bit treeless. Once at the summit, I looked around for any markers, or even a register but found nothing. Feeling fatigued, I setup my station and spotted myself on APRS. At 00:00 I shut the station down and headed back to the car. Going down was also steep and I only slipped once. I’d like to come back to these summits on a cooler day, and maybe place a register, and hopefully find a less steep route.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/IN-036

Date:02/06/2022 | Summit:W6/IN-036 (7900)



After waking up at camp in Big Pine, having a small breakfast and packing up all the camping gear, I headed back out to Death Valley Road to hike the summit of 8500, or Papoose Point, as I’ve seen it named elsewhere. It was quiet except for a few singing birds, and the air was mostly still, only disrupted by low flying F35 jets ripping through the canyons. I started hiking up the two track road, then eventually making a 90-ish degree turn straight up the mountain, over a ridge, down into a valley, then back up another ridge. This was unexpected and perhaps I could have found a different route. Once at the top, I found the summit register and signed it. There is enough room to stretch out a antenna. Not much natural shade at the actual summit, but there are trees just below to take refuge from the sun if needed. Worked 40m, 30m, and 20m CW. Two jets flying below the summit were so close I could almost see inside the cockpit, and so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. I’d love to take a ride in one! I took a different route hiking down which was steeper with more rocks, but more direct. Back at the car the temperature had really risen, so I was happy to turn on the A/C and cool down.

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

Date:03/06/2022 | Summit:W6/IN-014 (8500)

This was my third time attempting to activate Frazier Mountain, but this time I found success. The first time I wanted to drive to the top, but my small commuter car with low profile tires was not the correct vehicle for the task. I returned 6 months later with a mountain bike, but deep snow stopped me a few miles up the road. This time, I drove the commuter car a mile or so up Frazier Mountain Road until it got too rocky, parked on the edge of the road and hiked the rest of the way, which was a bit further than I thought! At the top, I pulled out my HT and immediately heard N6JZT for a quick S2S. After, I used 23cm for one microwave QSO, which I believe was just over 100km, my furthest. I then worked 40m, 30m, and 20m CW for additional contacts. I wanted to activate a few other summits in the area, so I packed everything down and headed down to the car.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CC-003

Date:07/07/2022 | Summit:W6/CC-003 (Frazier Mountain