Life always seems to find a way. Wildflowers ran riot on this trip after the Bobcat file closures have finally be lifted
7 MAY 2022 W6/CT-082
After chasing Lorene W6LOR the previous day from home, I was motivated to attempt this hike that has eluded me for so many years. Between the road closures of the Santa Clara Motorway and the closures due to the Bobcat fire, all my previous attempts had been rebuffed. Lorene spoke of what a pleasant hike it was and the abundant wildflowers. That was enough for me.
I also wanted to bring Chester along to see if I could manage a few shots for the upcoming SOTA movie. Chester is my new camera drone.
I left Topanga at 4:30 AM and got to the empty trailhead without any hitches by a little after 6:00 AM. The entire drive is paved and good for all vehickes, but the gate at Highway 2 is closed from November until May.
On the hike up I met another HPS person – John. He lapped me moving a torrid pace while I lackadaisically photographed the flowers and flew Chester. Lorene said the hike took them an hour and a half and I figured it would take me a lot longer, but that was about how long it ended up taking me too. It’s a 2.5 mile trip up with 1,400′ of elevation gain. There is an additional 400′ of gain on the return trip. The Hundred Peaks section has a very good route description that avoids a little distance an elevation gain that going all the way down to the end of the firebreak entails.
With KG6MZR in New Mexico, I decided to hang out a bit and not hurry back home. I had a fruitful activation with 7 summit-to-summit contacts. I got to work Jon NT6E (Formerly K6LDQ) with his new call. I guess he managed to finally “Keep 6 Loud Ducks Quiet” 🙂 I also managed to eke out a S2S with David N6AN over on Kagel Mounain with a whole lot of granite in the form of Pacifico Mountain in between us. Keith K9TPR came booming in from back home in Topanga on 40m.
Cell coverage from Verizon was solid.
While is was a little breezy on the summit, it wasn’t bad. I did get my first high wind warning from Chester. I guess the winds aloft were a little more intense. KN6CQX over on Mount Baden-Powell said as much.
KG6MZS 