Some snapshots I took of some of the showier flowers lining the trail to Peak 1,838′
2 APRIL 2021 W6/SC-311
I’ve been hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains for 60 years and I have never managed to set foot on this particular corner of the range. That’s what I love about the Summits on the Air program and the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks Section. These endeavors motivate me to travel to obscure sections of the world that I might otherwise miss. My brother and I hiked up to the edge of San Nicholas Flat from Leo Carillo State Beach a few years ago, but I’ve never been above the flat like today’s hike.
This is a really easy hike: a little under a mile and only about 300 feet of elevation gain. The area had burned over two years ago in the Woolsey Fire, but many of the Coastal Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) are recovering nicely. As I made my way up the gently graded trail in the first light before dawn, I could see dozens and dozens of white White Morningglory flowers marking the edges of the trail.
Interestingly the geology of this mountain is entirely sedimentary. There are a few big sandstone boulders on the summit. To the north Boney Mountain and the misnamed Sandstone Peak (W6/CC-056) dominate the view. Sandstone Peak and Boney Mountain are entirely igneous rock – breccia mostly – there is no “sandstone” up there.
The HF bands were a bit tough at first. Scott WA9STI made contact first on 20m by using 900 watts I believe he said. He gave me a 33. No other takers on 20m, so I jumped down to 40m and only made one contact there. I heard Hal N6JZT on Occidental Peak on 2m, and with the help of Mike KI6SLA in Cerritos we managed a summit-to-summit. After that 20m improved a bit and I heard from Chris F4WBN in France. Chris gave me a 55 “with QSB.” I also worked Martha W0ERI in Kansas. I got one contact on 17m – David N6AN – summit-to-summit over on Flint Peak.
KG6MZS 