A short Hike and Activation in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. 2+/- Miles round trip with 750 feet elevation Gain. Summit Elevation is 7,515, and the views are nice. This Activation is often done together with Waterman Mountain, W6/CT-012, which was the case for us.
Wonderful hike for a sunny, breezy day! Quite chilly on the summit with the gusty winds. No trees or rock formations to take shelter under. I spent 2.5 hours on the summit and had constant radio traffic! I had planned on working 2M and 70cm, but had so much traffic on 2M, I couldn't find time to check out 70cm - so my appologies to those who listened for me on 70cm.
From the summit, there are incredible views of Puget Sound, including the entire Seattle area, and up into Vancouver Island and Canada.
I made an attempt at this summit on 13 December 2014. I was hoping to get a few bonus points along with an activation of an unactivated summit. Steep Climb and a short day prevented me from making it all the way to the summit.
See my blog here for the whole writeup:
http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2014/12/copper-mountain-w7wso-009-attempted.html
Blue Mounds State Park is an easy drive up summit about 30 miles east of Madison, Wisconsin. It's a state park that has camping, picnicing and two observation towers (one at each end of the summit) that would be great for VHF contacts.
Take County Road F north from US-151. You can easily follow the signs less than two miles to the park. At the summit there is a large loop with picnic areas - the summit proper is at the center of the loop so anywhere would be in the activation zone. There is also a wooden observation tower on the east side of the summit.
Pearls On A Necklace – SOTA Adventures in W6/CT. Strung along the Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2, Los Angeles County, California), which runs through the San Gabriel Mountains, on the stretch between the Pasadena / Glendale area the south, and the Apple Valley / Victorville area to the north, lie more than 20 SOTA listed summits. Most are 6 to 8 point summits. Proximity to Los Angeles, relatively easy access and beautiful terrain, similar to east slope Washington and Oregon Cascades, make this a “tourist delight” area. On 3 separate days, between October 31, 2014 and November 4, 2014, I activated five (5) of these SOTA summits. This report is #4 of 5.
Pearls On A Necklace – SOTA Adventures in W6/CT. Strung along the Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2, Los Angeles County, California), which runs through the San Gabriel Mountains, on the stretch between the Pasadena / Glendale area the south, and the Apple Valley / Victorville area to the north, lie more than 20 SOTA listed summits. Most are 6 to 8 point summits. Proximity to Los Angeles, relatively easy access and beautiful terrain, similar to east slope Washington and Oregon Cascades, make this a “tourist delight” area. On 3 separate days, between October 31, 2014 and November 4, 2014, I activated five (5) of these SOTA summits. This report is #3 of 5.
This is an easy drive-up summit about sixty miles north of the center of Atlanta. There's even a deck and a folding chair for enjoying the views from this summit.
About 3.6 miles south of the 282 and 515 intersection in East Ellijay, Georgia, turn east from 515 onto Talona Mountain Road.
The high point of Alabama is an easy drive-up summit - Cheaha Mountain is located in an Alabama State Park about 16 miles south of I-20.
Pearls On A Necklace – SOTA Adventures in W6/CT. Strung along the Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2, Los Angeles County, California), which runs through the San Gabriel Mountains, on the stretch between the Pasadena / Glendale area to the south, and the Apple Valley / Victorville area to the north, lie more than 20 SOTA listed summits. Most of these SOTA list mountains are 6 to 8 point summits. Proximity to Los Angeles, relatively easy access and beautiful terrain, similar to east slope Washington and Oregon Cascades, make this a “SOTA tourist delight” area. On 3 separate days, between October 31, 2014 and November 4, 2014, I activated five (5) of these SOTA summits. This report is #1 of 5.
Total elevation gain from the Damfino Lakes Trail 625 northwest trailhead on FS 31 via the northwest ridge trail of Cowap Pk to the activation location just northwest of Cowap Pk summit: 413 m (1356 feet). Approximate trail distance each way: 3.4 km (2.1 miles). The activation is a reasonable one-day trip, and, except for one spot just northwest of the actual summit, a problem-free climb. The activation zone northeast of the summit is easily accessible, and a great family destination.