W6/CC-052 Mt Umunhum

After many years of being closed to the public, Mt Umunhum finally open to the public this fall. Throughout the Cold War the big cube on top housed radars to watch for missiles. After the Air Force base was closed and decommissioned, the county purchased the land and fixed the summit to make it safe for people. They also improved the road to the top, and the facilities and trails up there. I came up after activating Peak 1509 in the morning.

Summit and cube in the rain.

As I was driving towards the mountain, it started to rain. The rain continued as I drove up the road. Instead of parking part way up and hiking about three miles to the summit in the rain,  I decided to drive up and walk the 159 stairs to the top. I counted them on my way down, and the number on the sign is correct. Since it was so miserable on the summit I had the place to myself, so I set up in the shelter by the cube. The metal walls and metal roof probably didn't help my signal get out, but I did make a bunch of contacts on 30 meters.

View of the valley as the clouds lifted.

 By this point the rain had passed and more people were coming up, so I packed up my HF gear and got on my HT. I started calling on 70cm, and got a bunch of contacts there. I went down to 2 meters as well, and got a few contacts. I would have tried 220 MHz, but my radio has issues on the band. This is a good summit for VHF. I stayed up at the top until the wind got too cold.

Trying to stay warm in the wind, with damp clothes on.

On my drive back down the mountain I saw a bunch of deer, including some with sizable antlers. If it had been safe to stop, I would have tried to get a picture.

Trailhead: Parking lot near the summit.
Website: SOTA Site. Open Space Website (incl. map)
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Walk up the stairs to the summit. Could also start at the Bald Mountain Parking Area and hike the Mt Umunhum Trail to the summit.
Red Tape: Park closes at night.

Summit area, taken from the summit.