SOTA Summit: W6/CT-150, Pt. 4202
Trail: Yes – a bit steep and slippery in spots
Hike: Short 0.5 miles to summit
Elevation gain:Â 500Â feet
Self Spot: Yes via AT&T, SOTA Goat
Files: GPX & KML
With the kids off for ski week we decided to put together a father and sons SOTA adventure. We scoped out a busy day with the goal of 3 summits: W6/CT-019 San Gabriel Peak, W6/CT-089 Occidental Peak and W6/CT-150 Pt. 4202. This is a report for W6/CT-150.
Pt. 4202 is a good summit to add on your way into or out of the the San Gabriels via the Angeles Crest Highway. It is a short one half mile hike with roughly 500 feet of elevation gain.Â
Park to the side of the highway at the Clear Creek Ranger Station. The trail starts inauspiciously right behind the restrooms. From there it is a quick scramble up a steep section which then turns to trail along the ridge line. There are great views of the surrounding area with views of the Los Angeles basin as you approach the summit.
Due to elevation you do not have the panoramic views of the nearby higher summits but you do get a clear shot of the downtown area out to Rancho Palos Verdes.
We went about setting up our 4 element Arrow Yagi for 2 meter operation. Nick N6NGG is a Technician Class licensee so we focused mainly on 2 meters for the day so the boys could use the hand held radios. We had heard that 2 meters was somewhat spotty but we had no trouble using the Yagi. We were even able to get a clear copy through to Newport Beach though it is obscured by another ridge.
The bonus of the day was scoring our very first Summit to Summit contact with Oleh KD7WPJ who was over on W6/CT-019 San Gabriel peak. We had activated that summit earlier in the day but had no idea a fellow SOTA activator was in the area. We heard Oleh calling CQ SOTA as we were driving to the trailhead for Pt. 4202 and were able to make the contact both while mobile and again as a Summit to Summit after the UTC date change.
While we focused on 2 meters for the day to get the boys through the requisite SOTA contacts I had hiked my KX3 and antenna up each of our three summits. Since I had yet to break it out of the pack for the day I figured on this last summit I’d fire it up.
I set up my LNR Precision Trail Friendly antenna to a 20 foot sectional pole. Fortunately I had also brought along my “special†antenna guy line holder pictured below. In short order I was able to net three contact each on 40 and 20 meters.
Finally it was time to pack up and head down and home after 3 successful summits.
Thank you to our chasers on W6/CT-150 you helped to make the day a success.
Files:
