W6/NC-489 Gibson Hill

After activating Bally Peak I headed back up rout 20 to get Gibson Hill. I parked at the pullout before Walker Ridge Road, where there is a big sign alerting you that it is the next intersection. There is a deep gully here that I followed up a short distance before climbing out of it.

Open forest on the side of Gibson Hill.

I then followed the spur on the right up to the top of the hill. There were some dense areas, but nothing difficult. The top of the hill is flat and open. The bigger flat part is below the activation zone, so I walked over to the peak.

On the plateau below the summit.

There seemed to be some old tracks in this area, and what appeared to be an earth dam. If it was, there was no water behind it. There were a fair number of trees on top, but they were sparse enough to offer views in a few directions. I setup where there was a north facing view. Again, I had service on top. I tried working K6ARK for a summit-to-summit, but he was doing sideband and had to QRT before he could try CW again.

Mt Konocti in all its glory.

I didn't get as many contacts here, but I did have a nice chat on 2m with a guy up near Chico. The sun seemed to be permanently out, and it was nice to have it on my back to take the edge off the wind. After taking a bunch more photos on the summit. I retraced my steps to get back down.

The view to the South.

I stayed closer to the gully, and the brush seemed thicker here, but still not impassible. Back at the car I drove home, stopping at the casino to fill up with cheap reservation gas

This is where it looked like there was a dam.

Trailhead: CA 20 eastbound, just before Walker Ridge Road.
Website: SOTA Site. BLM Site
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the gully or ridge up to the summit.
Red Tape: None.

Enjoying the beautiful day.

W6/NC-232 Bally Peak

I had been up in the Cache Creek area earlier this month, and it was quite nice, so I decided to come back to get some SOTA in. For today I had picked out two peak, Bally Peak and Gibson Hill. First up was Bally Peak.

Looking down at the parking area and main road.

I started at the Redbud Trailhead. It was easy to find along CA 20, though the road had some big potholes. There are some pit toilets, but they were pretty disgusting. The ones at Cowboy Camp were in better shape a few weeks before, if you need them. I parked, then started down the road a hundred feet or so.

Open oak forest at the lower elevations. 

There was a trail leaving to the left where I turned right and headed up the hill. There were a lot of animal paths, so I just followed them if they were heading in the right direction. After a short climb it leveled out as I walked below the ridge. It looked like there was some dense brush on the top, so I decided to stay below it as long as I could.

First view of the peak, behind the tree and still in the clouds.

Near the end of the ridge I found an animal trail through the brush to the top of the ridge where I discovered more animal tracks. It was easy going, though steep in places. The recent rain had really softened the soil, so footing was very good on this part. At around the 1600 foot contour I came across a fire break that I hadn't seen in the satellite view.

Final climb up to the summit. It is a lot steeper than it looks.

This was a mixed blessing. It was super easy to follow and took me right to the top, but I was walking in the stickiest mud you've ever seen. My boots quickly picked up a few extra pounds of mud each, so they could give me a better workout. This area had all burned in 2015, and it showed. The views were excellent from the firebreak on the ridge all the way to the summit.

Mt Konocti is in the center, still totally socked in.

On top I took in the views, including my first of Clear Lake. I then walked back to the north-east edge of the summit to set up. I had good cell service on the summit, and had no problem getting contacts on all the HF bands I tried. I called on VHF for a few minutes, but didn't get anyone.

I believe the highest one is Brushy Sky High.

Getting down was much more of an adventure. The climb down the summit cone was very steep, and made more difficult by the bowls of mud that stuck to the bottom of my shoes. Every time I put my foot down I didn't know if or which way my ankle would roll. I was quite glad to get off the fire break and back into the woods with both my ankles in good shape.

Beautiful day, once the sun came out for good.

 I more or less retraced my path back to the parking area. There is enough relief and open forest to make off trail hiking pleasant and easy in this area. Back at the lot I watched some other people jump start a car, then headed over to the bottom of Gibson Hill.

Trailhead: Redbud Trailhead, BLM Cache Creek Natural Area
Website: SOTA Site. BLM Site
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the ridge up to the summit.
Red Tape: None.

Looking North from just below the summit.

K-2746 Morrow Mountain SP

I had the morning off from work, and I wanted to get out. There were no SOTA peaks close enough to do, so I decided to settle for a POTA activation. Morrow Mountain seemed like a nice place. I could get some hiking in and still operate from a summit.

The equestrian lot was super busy.

I parked in the equestrian lot, which is the first lot after entering the park. There were two other cars when I arrived, and by the time I got back both of them were gone. I headed off down the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail, taking the right fork. This was a pleasant walk through the forest, with a few muddy spots from all the recent rain.

One of the small streams to step over.

After about half a mile it crosses the paved summit road, then a quarter mile later meets the Morrow Mountain Trail. I turned right onto this trail and took it up to the summit. The trail initially drops down and crosses some reentrants before starting the climb up to the summit.

The trail doesn't see much use, but was very well blazed.

After some ups and downs, the climb started for real. I made good time up. Near the top it turns and contours around below the road for a short distance before crossing it and heading up to the summit.

Almost at the top!

I walked around the top a bit, taking in the views and using the facilities. They were much nicer than some of the privies I've found on summits. I then found a picnic table on the North side of the summit clearing with a view and got set up. I had brought my new MFJ 1820t whip and wanted to give it a try.

Setup with a bit of a view.

It was quick to setup, and the clamp helped keep the antenna vertical despite some wind. I posted a spot on the POTA page and got busy calling CQ. After one QSO, a friend recommend posting a spot on the WWFF spotting page. After being spotted there I started getting some great DX QSOs.

The trees on top still had some color.

First it was ON, then F and I in quick succession. I must have been very very weak over there, but they were able to pull me out and get me in the log. Living in California I don't hear EU stations very often, so it was exciting. I then got a bunch of W/VE stations. I tried calling on 17 and 30 meters, but didn't get any contacts. I think the whip might be a dummy load on those bands.

Last view before heading down.

By this time the wind had blown all the clouds away, and it was pleasantly sunny. I got one more ON station in the log for contact number 10, then had to pack up so I could get back in time. I took the same trails back to the car, making very good time down the hill.

So much more color with the sun out!

Overall, a great morning with some great DX.

Smokey SOTA Day

All my plans for great weekend hikes were thrown out once the smoke from the Camp Fire in Butte County started blowing in Thursday night. By Saturday the air was very unhealthy. So instead of being cooped up all day, I picked some near drive-up summits to activate.

San Bruno Mountain was just visible.

The first I did was Mt Davidson, the San Francisco high point. Its about a quarter mile walk up to the bench from the entrance. Extremely smokey.

Looking over towards Mt Diablo and the East Bay.

Despite the smoke there were a fair number of people out. Most just ignored me, but one or two asked what I was up to. Once I had worked all the bands I headed across the Bay Bridge to the Ham Radio Outlet in Oakland. I picked up a MFJ 1820t antenna to try out. With my new antenna I drove up to the redwood railroad in Tilden Park to get Vollmer Peak.

The views were no better here.

This hike is about half a mile to the top. I sat on the north-east facing slope. I tossed my counterpoise wire down the slope, and attached the whip. I started calling on 20, and got many more responses than I was expecting with such a small antenna. Even better, the internal KX3 tuner was able to match it on 30 and 17

The cp wire reached to the post past my feet.

After working everyone, I set up the 2m extended double zepp. I had brought the amplifier, but one of the cables on the dc-dc converter had fallen out, so I only ran barefoot with the HT. I got quite a few contacts, up to Grass Valley, out to Valley Springs, and down to south San Jose. Not bad for 5W.

So much smoke.

Once I starting getting cold, I packed up and headed back to the car.