Mountain Goat Peak!

After my long weekend in the Sierra, I was at 999 points, one away from Mountain Goat. I had talked with Rex, KE6MT, and he said he'd let me use his high power setup for my MG summit. He had some family events that weekend, but I was able to go over to borrow the gear. From his backyard we were able to work a little DX before packing it up.

A fair bit of color still.

I chose Maguire Peaks for my summit. This is one of my favorites, in the Sunol Regional Wilderness. I got there a few minutes after the gate opened, and got my pass for Welch Creek Road. There was no one at the trailhead yet. It was overcast, which was sad, but at the same time meant the temperature would be a lot more pleasant.

Peak on the left.

I took the same route I did every other time I visited, slowed by the enormous amount of radio stuff I was carrying. On the summit I set up the full sized 20-40 linked dipole and Rex's 891 and got on the air. I soon had a decent pileup, and worked everyone. Having power was fun. I did high power CW and SSB on 20 and 40. Next I put up my end fed and 2m EDZ, and worked the VHF and other HF bands.

So much stuff on the summit.

The sun never came out, so I never got too hot. It was perfect for sitting and operating. The solar panel was dead weight though. After I had worked everyone I packed up and headed back. The backpack was still heavy but I was in a good mood so I didn't mind. Back at the car I headed home, happy to finally be a mountain goat.