W6/CC-022 Santa Rita Peak

Santa Rita Peak wast the second of three peaks I did with Rex, KE6MT. After fighting our way up Peak 4850, Santa Rita was a nice, easy drive-up. At the height of land on the road, there is a turn off to the summit. A sign said the road was closed to vehicles, so we parked and walked up to the summit.

Summit of Santa Rita.

The road goes around the west side of the summit to the communication towers, then south up to the summit. The high point requires a small scramble to reach. We both tagged the high point, then set up farther away from each other. Rex was worried that it would be hard to coordinate band changes, but I pointed out that we both had HTs.

Selfie at the summit.

Rex set up on the summit, and I setup at the base of the rocks. Right as we were getting on the air, a man rode up on a dirt bike. He stopped, looked at me, and took off his helmet. "What are you doing on my mountain?" he asked. I thought he was joking and laughed it off, but he seriously thought that the summit area was his private property. He told us to leave, and since we weren't 100% sure that we were still on BLM land, we packed up. We also weren't sure how crazy he was, or if he had a gun. On the walk back to the car we each managed one contact with a guy near Fresno on 70cm.

Sunset from Santa Rita.

We drove over to San Benito Mountain to activate it, and got enough cell service to download the map that the BLM people had sent when we got the gate code. It clearly showed that Santa Rita was on public land. So, after we finished on San Benito we drove back to finish our activation. In the rapidly falling light and temperature we setup my rig, and started calling CQ on 40. After 10 minutes with no reply, we started calling on VHF as well. Tuning around 40 I could hear some European stations booming in, much louder than I would have expected.

KE6MT calling CQ.

Eventually we each got three more contacts and both were able to claim points for the peak. We quickly packed up the station and walked back to the car. With the heater on, we quickly warmed up and had an adventurous drive down the dirt roads in the dark, then back to the bay area.

California has the best sunsets.

Trailhead: Jeep trail that leaves to the left, a short distance below Santa Rita Peak.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map. Overview Map.
Route: Walk up the road to the towers, then follow the trail to the base of the rocks. Scramble up to the summit. Easy class 3.
Red Tape: Inside the Serpentine ACEC of the Clear Creek Management Unit. There are old asbestos mines in the area. The permit allows you to spend one day in the ACEC. The permit is free, but there is a $10 online reservation fee. I would recommend going after a rain, so there is less asbestos dust in the air. A vehicle permit is also required, but can be purchased on the way in to avoid the $10 online fee. If you want to drive up, call the BLM office to get gate codes, etc.

San Benito Mountain to the right of center.