Another former fire lookout, all that remains is this foundation
9 JANUARY 2022 W6/CT-153
I had thought about attempting Parker Mountain several times before but had decided against it because of windy weather forecasts. This summit lies in the corridor that funnels the Antelope Valley airmass down through Newhall Pass (formerly Fremont Pass) into the San Fernando Valley and the coastal plain. This is the boundary between the Great Basin and the Pacific drainages.
This weekend also had a windy forecast but I really wanted to try my new Tacoma (Whitedog) out on these roads, so I went for it. I got to Acton just as it was getting light and the wind didn’t seem too bad. I had a bit of trouble finding Hughes Canyon road and the surrounding dirt roads seemed a little worse for the wear of our heavy December rainfall.
Desecration being the better part of valor, I decided to leave Whitedog a mile or so shy of the summit. I passed by two remote control model airplane enthusiasts who later took there vehicles to the summit. One was only a 2wd truck, so this summit is actually a drive-up for those so inclined. I’m just too new to four-wheeling.
As billed, the summit was very windy. I hunkered down behind the foundation of the former fire lookout and set up my Packtenna random wire end fed because it is so easy to deploy.
Propagation was decent on 20m and 4om and I quickly made the required 4 contacts.
On a side note the RC hobbyists purposely pick windy days to fly their gliders. These guys had their planes exceeding 300 mph. I later found out on the way home talking to Cliff (Callsign to come) that remote control devices legally should not exceed 100mph. These planes made a wicked sound when they would swoop by.
KG6MZS 