W6/NC-065 Cedar Mountain

While I was perusing SOTAMaps one day I noticed there was a peak deep in the Diablo Range that had been activated. I had looked at the peak previously, and thought that it would never be done, since it was deep into some private ranch land.

This is as far as the truck would go.

Paul, K6FRC had activated it twice, which made me think that he either had legal access to the summit, or really liked trespassing. I decided the former was more likely, and decided to get in touch. As luck would have it, I worked him a few weeks later while I was on a different summit, and was able to get his contact info. Paul offered to let me come along next time he went up.

Tower with FM broadcast antenna. He said it was for K-Love Radio.

Paul emailed me saying he was going up. I was free that afternoon, so I drove over to Livermore where we met up. In his truck we drove down Mines Road to the turn-off for the tower. It turns out the access road is someone's driveway for a good portion. We went through the first gate, past a house, then crossed the creek at the bottom. This is where the pavement ended.

Mt Hamilton.

The road was muddy, but the truck didn't seem to have any trouble getting up. At the second house we had to honk twice so the rancher wouldn't come chasing after us with all his guns. There were a few more gates, and since I was the passenger, I got to jump out and open and shut them all. After the last gate the road got very narrow, and snowy. We made it about halfway up this section before it got too slippery. Paul parked, and we walked the last quarter mile up to the summit.

On the air.

While got busy fixing the transmitter, I set up and started operating. I got a good pileup on 30 meters. Forty seemed dead, but I got the locals on 60. I tried sideband on 40 and 20, but only got one contact. Twenty CW got some more of the usual chasers. With a broadcast tower on top, you know its a good spot for VHF, and I got a bunch on 2m.

More of the Diablo Range.

Everything was fixed, so I packed up and we walked back to the truck. There was no place to turn around, so Paul drove about a mile down the hill in reverse before finding somewhere safe to turn. While in reverse he told me about all the times he's gotten stuck on roads like this, and the crazy things he had to do to get unstuck. Thankfully we made it back to Mines Road without any trouble.

Lots of snow on the top. Some high voltage lines too.

Trailhead: Somewhere along Mines Road :)
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Ranch Roads.
Red Tape: Completely on private land. Don't attempt without getting permission.