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.