W6/CC-055 Fremont Peak

Fremont Peak is a historic peak located in a very small state park. This peak is where John Fremont first raised the American Flag in California. The park seems like a good place for car camping with radio, or doing a VHF contest.
From the parking lot it is about a half mile walk to the summit. It took me about 20 minutes to get to the top from the car. As others have noted, the final section is exposed rock, but it is not as steep as they make it sound. There are plenty of steeper and rockier trails in the mountains of Maine and New Hampshire.

The peak, behind the trees.

There is a flagpole at the top, but the rope is secured so it can't be used to hoist an antenna. It was windy and in and out of the clouds when I was there, so I set up on the lee side. I didn't see anyone else while I was on the summit. The views were nice, when I could catch them through breaks in the clouds.

One side of my doublet.

 I had OK cell service, enough to send spots. This netted me three contacts on 30 and 20 each. I called on 40, but some interference started and raised the noise floor a lot, so I didn't spend much time on the band. There are communication towers on top, so it is a good spot for VHF, but I only got one contact on 2 meters. I thought I might get more since it was rush hour and hams would be driving home.

The parking lot, from the summit.

It was getting late and I was getting hungry, so I packed up and headed down for the long drive back to the Bay Area. Luckily the Friday afternoon traffic jams were all on the other side of the freeway or it would have been a miserable drive.

Trailhead: Highest parking lot in the park. Just keep driving uphill until you get to the end of the road.
Website: SOTA Site. Fremont Peak SP
Maps: KB1KXL SOTA Hikes map.
Route: From the gated tower access road, follow the trail that leaves on the right. It goes around to the other side of the peak, then switchbacks up to the summit.
Red Tape: None. Stay on the trails to protect the area.