W6/CT-010 Mt Islip

 It was forecast to be a beautiful day, so I headed up to the Angeles Crest Highway to do some hiking. On the schedule were Mt Islip and Mt Williamson. The highway was close at Islip saddle, so that was the trailhead I used. The lot was nearly full when I got there, from backpackers as I soon found out.

The route up follows the PCT to the campground.

Once I found the trailhead across the street, I started up. There are a few switchbacks to get up the steep embankment, then a pleasant walk through the forest. There were a lot of people coming the other way. About half of them were thru hikers, and the other half looked like they had just spent the night at the Little Jimmy campground.

Burn zone.

The trail crosses through some burn zones from the Bobcat fire. It was interesting to see where it had burned, then seemingly stopped randomly. I did have to appreciate all the work done to reopen the trail. Passing through the campground, I was amused at the antics of all the scout troops. Reminded me of backpacking trips with my troop. After the campground, the real climb starts. It was well graded, but definitely going up.

Overcast in LA.

As I climbed up to the ridge, the views got much better. I also stopped passing people, and it felt like the mountain was mine. Just below the summit is the remnants of a small building. The roof is long gone, as well as the doors and windows, but it would have been a neat little cabin. 

I set up on the LA side of the summit, so I could enjoy the view while operating. There was enough brush to easily put up the antenna. I didn't have cell service, so I decided to only do 20m/30m/40m, since 17m hadn't seemed that great the previous week. This worked out well, and I got lots of contacts.

Former summit hut.

Since I had a good view of the LA area, I decided to try some VHF. I soon had a small pileup on two meters. Southern California seems to be a great place for VHF. As I was packing up other hikers started arriving at the summit. I guess the hike is more popular than I first thought. On the way down I passed a bunch of people taking pictures along the ridge. The campground was empty when I passed through again. Back at the parking lot there was some trail magic for the thru hikers. I simply crossed the lot and headed north on the PCT towards Williamson.

Trailhead: Islip Saddle, Angeles Crest Highway.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the PCT south to the Little Jimmy Campground, then turn right and take the trail to the summit.
Red Tape: None. 
Video: ham_bitious YouTube