W6/SS-388 Musick Mountain

Musick Mountain is an easily accessible peak above Shaver Lake in the central Sierra Nevada. When planning my trip I was very surprised that the peak had never been activated before. I climbed the day after competing in the Dinkey Creek NavX rogaine, so my legs were sore and tired. There is a fire road that leads to the top, which has an old fire lookout and lots of radio antennas. I parked at the first junction, about a quarter mile from Huntington Lake Road, but the road looks like it is passable in a sedan to the junction at the saddle. I parked on the side and headed up the road. This first section is a gentle grade, and well shaded.

Second junction. Road to the top on the right, around the locked gate.

At the next junction (with Fire Road 9S22), take the road to the right. It goes down a little and around a locked gate, then starts to climb steeply. Once you've climbed a bit, there are a few openings through the trees with views to the north. I could see Kaiser Peak, which I had climbed a few days prior. The road wraps around the summit. On top I climbed up the lookout tower, and got views of the region. The trapdoor to the platform was locked open, so no access problems.

Shaver Lake.

I setup my pole on the side of the road, and sat down in the shade of the tower. I had to move my operating position a few times as the shadow from the tower moved. I decided to start on 15 meters and work my way down the bands. I only made one contact one 15, and none on 17. 20 and 30 netted me the bulk of contacts. I called on 40, but didn't get any response.

Summit. Lookout tower out of the picture to the right.

 I figured that there would be good VHF/UHF from the summit since there were so many other antennas, however there was S9 noise on both the 144 and 222 MHz bands. I called for a while on 446, which was very quiet, and did get one contact eventually. As I was taking down the pole, the guy ropes slipped off the stakes that they were anchored to. I nearly lost one of my stakes, but managed to find it in the brush before I left. Hiking down was uneventful, retracing my steps. It had gotten much hotter than during my ascent. I'm glad I went up early.

I think Kaiser Peak is on the left. Sierra crest in the far background.

Trailhead: Fire Road 9S65. There was a sign on Huntington Lake Road pointing to Musick Mountain. The turnoff is about 1.5 miles north of CA168.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Road 9S65 to the top.
Red Tape: None.

I think that is a bear paw print. There were also lots of deer prints in the area.