This was my second time up to this summit for an activation. The first time, two years ago, it was the very first SOTA activation I had ever done. I had not carefully read the map, and ended up hiking over 20 miles, having started near Aptos. This time, however, I was more prepared.
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| Up the road. |
I parked at the Highland Way - Buzzard Lagoon Road intersection, and set off up Buzzard Lagoon Road. As others have noted, it is well graded for the first mile or two, and easily drivable, but I wanted a walk. After around a mile I turned right onto the Aptos Creek Fire Road. This road is steeper and rougher than the first road.
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| Up on the summit ridge. |
The trail was nicely shaded for most of the hike, and I only saw a few bikers while on my way up. The fire road goes around the true summit, but there is a use trail that goes up the last few feet to the high point. There is no point that is definitely the highest, so I walked around a bit until I found a good area to set up in.
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| View from the operating position. |
As soon as I stopped walking and put my bag down, red ants started crawling over it and me. I looked around for a better place to set up, but I didn't see any ant-free locations. Instead I just put up my antenna and stood for the activation. I had no cell service on top, so I relied on RBN to spot me. It did after a few CQs, and I quickly got four contacts into the log. Since the ants were so bad, I didn't try other bands, I just packed up and hightailed it out of there.
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| The only view, of a fog-covered Monterey Bay. |
The hike down was quick, and I passed a lot of bikers heading up and down. Just after passing the sign marking the park boundary there was a van unloading a bunch of people and bikes. They were probably going to bike downhill back to the coast, which seems like it would be a fun ride.
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| Happy to be out on such a nice day! |
Trailhead: Highland Way-Buzzard Lagoon Road intersection.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take Buzzard Lagoon Road up, then turn right on Aptos Creek Road.
Red Tape: None.
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