W6/SC-338 Black Mountain

I was down in the San Diego area for work, and decided to take advantage of a day off to get some summits. First up was Black Mountain, near Poway. I parked at the gliderport trailhead on Carmel Valley Road.

At the start of the trail.

I took the most direct route to the summit. After a short flat section, the trail starts climbing up through the scrub. There are a lot of small switchbacks in this section, and it never gets too steep. 

The summit from the false peak on the way.

About half way up you get to a peak called "Secondary Summit" on some maps. There is a fence partially blocking the road. I assume this is to keep bikes out. After dropping a short distance to the col, the final climb to the summit starts. It was close to noon at this point and getting warm, but the climb was short enough not to be too hard.

Just in case you have any doubt you've reached the summit, there is a big sign.

There are a lot of towers on the summit, and there were a fair number of people up there too. I found an out of the way place to set up on the east side. In retrospect, it wasn't the best. On the air there was interference on the HF bands I tried with my MTR. Probably not the best radio for this summit. I had my 2m BPF with me, so I was able to make some VHF contacts with nearby people. 

Trying to stay cool in the sun.

If I go again, I'd set up on the west side, down a little ways from the towers. That, or I'd bring a rig with better filtering. And if you're going to try VHF, make sure your radio can handle a high-RF environment or you'll be disappointed.

Trailhead: Gliderport Trailhead, Carmel Valley Road. There appear to be a few other trailheads too.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the trail up the hill, over the false summit then up to the high point.
Red Tape: None.

W6/SC-365

 After hiking and activating Black Mountain I drove a few minutes down the road to activate this unnamed peak. From my searching, it appeared the best trailhead was at the end of Four Gee Road. I turned around in the wide area at the end, then parked under a tree in the shade.

Trailhead is the dirt road heading to the right.

The trail seems to be a fire access road. It parallels the fence at the end of a subdivision for a few hundred yards before turning left and heading up the hill. At the first junction up the hill, I turned left again and headed towards the water tank.

Black Mountain in the background.

Just past the water tank the dirt road ends and becomes a paved driveway. I didn't realize where it led, so I turned and took it up the hill. Near the top are a few houses. Fancy houses. There was no negative signage, so I went all the way to the top. Past the last house the road turns to dirt again and goes to a small cell tower. I went to the far side of the enclosure to set up.

Nice views to the north.

Despite the tower there was no interference on HF. I made plenty of contacts, then decided to try VHF again. Didn't get as many contacts, but it was still fun. 

Cell tower at the summit.

I went down the same way I came up. I was going to do another summit, but my rental car started having problems, so I had to take it back to the airport to get a new one. Next time....

Trailhead: End of Four Gee Road.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the trail along the fence, then turn left up the hill. Turn left at the intersection towards the water tank, then right up the paved driveway.
Red Tape: None, but it is unclear to me if the area is private property.