Alpine Butte

Alpine Butte is a modest pile of granite in the Antelope Valley.

20 APRIL 2025 W6/ND-334

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:3,248′
Route: Cross country
Hike Distance: .4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 190′
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: A little steep
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Sandy dirt road
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

My brother Mark and I headed out to the Antelope Valley on Easter Morning at a civilized hour driving Mark’s rental car, a Hyundai Sonata. This car did fine with a little fishtailing in the sand. There are a few compounds right out of Road Warrior along the drive up, but we didn’t see anybody. and parked short of the end of the road. This is a quick and easy hike.

Here is our track up Alpine Butte

The summit affords nice views of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, Sierra Pelona and Tehachapi Mountains.

Radio conditions, once again, weren’t great and I didn’t want to spend too much time on the radio because, as patient as my brother is with my SOTA obsession, it has limits. I did manage a s2s with a station in Alberta.

Mark rests on the summit after the short hike. Looking east.
The Station
The town of Lake Los Angeles to the east.
A mast tie down right out of Royal Robbins’ Basic Rockcraft

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Cahuilla Mountain

My brother Mark far ahead on this enjoyable hike.

13 APRIL 2025 W6/CT-103

A Summits On The Air Classic!
Elevation:5,636′
Route: Well graded trail
Hike Distance: 5.8 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 1,200′
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: Gentle
Vehicle: High clearance vehicle suggested
Road: Rutted dirt road
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

To use N7DA Drew’s words: “Cahuilla Mountain is a hidden gem.” This peaceful summit garners 4 stars from me on the wonderful solitude of the Cahuilla Mountain Wilderness alone.

After doing the short but strenuous Little Cahuilla on Saturday, Mark and I made a lovely camp Saturday night in Juan Diego Flat between the two Cahuilla Mountains. I was struck by how little man-made noise finds its way into this out-of-the-way sanctuary.

Sunday we got an early start and found the well-graded trail to Cahuilla much easier than the bushy use-trail of the previous day. We only saw two other hikers all day – remarkable in itself for a nice spring day in Southern California.

.Here is our ascent track We took our time.

It was a short activation but one with a gratifying number of summit-to-summit contacts. Thank you chasers!

Mark and I found a peacful campsite between the two Cahuillas at Juan Diego Flat.
Santiago and Modjeska Peaks to the northwest.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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Little Cahuilla Mountain

Little Cahuilla Mountain from the Cahuilla Mountain trail. Note the saddle to the right of the summit.

12 APRIL 2025 W6/CT-253

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:5,043′
Route: Bushy cross country
Hike Distance: 2.4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 600′
Navigation: Moderate
Steepness: Moderate
Vehicle: High clearance vehicle suggested
Road: Rutted forest service road
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

My brother Mark and I wanted to do an overnight car camping trip and the Cahuilla Mountain Wilderness Area seemed like a good spring trip. We were not disappointed. This area is an overlooked gem — very quiet — away from the noise of highways. In all my years of exploring Southern California I had somehow missed the hidden corner of the Golden State.

We had planned on doing Little Cahuilla and Red Mountain, but the former was surprisingly taxing. We found the use trail easy to follow but somewhat overgrown with Redshanks and Manzanita. Ascending the first hill I kept a sharp eye out for rattlesnakes and, sure enough, a large one was right in our path. We clamored around this guy on the rocks that provide the preferred habitat for these shy reptiles. I was glad I brought my trekking poles to probe ahead when the brush precluded seeing where I was putting my feet.

My brother remarked that this seemed to be the longest mile and a quarter he’d ever done. To cap it all off there is a deep saddle that must be traversed right at the end. I’d say the 600 feet of elevation gain underestimates the elevation loss.

There is not a lot of space on the summit rock pile and we disturbed another rattlesnake just off the summit. The first warm days in March and April are always an adventure.

Here is our ascent track

I kept this activation short but still managed 4 s2s contacts if not anything further than Washington and Arizona.

Mark makes his way through the brush with the San Jacinto Ridge in the background.
Still a ways to go to the summit.
Looking southwest across Reed Valley to the Palomar Ridge.
Looking southeast from the summit to Thomas Mountain and Toro Peak. Note the rocky snake habitat.
Gorgonio and Jacinto to the north. Little Cahuilla Mountain does have a nice view.

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Valley View Benchmark

Valley View Benchmark is a lovely summit. Not sure what kind of bird that is – maybe a condor? (See below)

29 MARCH 2025 W6/SC-377

Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:735′
Route: Trail
Hike Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 550′
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: Pretty steep in one place
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Paved
Cell Coverage: Good from Verizon
Hike basics

I love the central California coast in the spring! Late winter is even better. Too many tourists in the summer, but in the off season this part of California is a joy.

I got up early again and wanted a new summit that was easy. Those are getting harder and harder to find nearby as my SOTA obsession matures. The green hills from the late season rain prompted me to return to the central California coast.

This summit can be hiked from the east or the west. As I had never actually been to the end of the cul-de-sac that is Avila Beach, I opted for the west end off Cave Landing Road.

Here is the route I took

The Saturday crowd even in the off-season was fairly robust. Lots of people out to take in the good sea air and have at the one big hill that goes straight up the mountainside through the Black Mustard and grass.

On the way down I took a the featured picture above and I think that large bird might be a condor due to the white patches under the wings. This didn’t seem like condor habitat to me. Here is a blow-up:

Looking southwest to Avila Beach
Lovely trail along the summit. A dense forest of Coastal Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) cloaks the north side away from the ocean. Lots of poison oak on that side!
The station using an oak as a mast support.
I handed out a lot of my SOTA cards to the many passerbyers.
Southeast down the coast

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Agua Dulce Benchmark

Looking west across the station to Hines Peak and Ventura and Santa Barbara Summits

25 MARCH 2025 W6/CT-273

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:2,844′
Route: Cross country
Hike Distance: 1.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 800′
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: Moderately steep
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Paved road
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

Looking for an easy new one and this pleasant jaunt filled the bill. I wanted to get back and spend some time with KG6MZR before she left for New Mexico so I made this one a quickie. The hike is very straightforward. Just follow make the first ridge line and follow it up. A recent fire has made the going easy.

Radio conditions were poor due to recent solar storms, but I still managed a few contacts

Here is my track up Agua Dulce Benchmark

The route up follows a sometimes steep ridgeline up from Agua Dulce Canyon Road. That’s Soledad Canyon Road visible in this shot.
The station looking west.
Looking northwest to Highway 14 and Cobblestone Mountain.
Recent fire made the route easy pickings. Looking east. You can actually see Whitedog below if you blow this shot up.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Summit 3,620′

Looking west to Santa Ynez Peak

1 MARCH 2025 W6/SC-124

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:3,620′
Route: Paved Road
Hike Distance: Drive-up
Elevation Gain: n/a
Navigation: n/a
Steepness: n/a
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Good paved road
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

Nothing much to this one. The high point on Camino Cielo is within the activation zone. There is a gated road to the summit but a fenced aviation radar facility blocks access to the actual summit. I look at a spot up that road but opted for a spot along Camino Cielo that was shielded from the radar.

I did manage to lose my Packtenna end fed random wire on the turnout on the road.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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La Cumbre Peak

The early morning marine layer to the south of this lovely summit.

1 MARCH 2025 W6/SC-086

Three stars – Highly recommended.
Elevation:3,986′
Route: Almost a drive up
Hike Distance: .2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 80′
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: Gentle
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Good paved road
Cell Coverage: Good verizon
Hike basics

Three stars for a virtual drive-up two pointer!? I just love this mountain. The Santa Ynez Range is so dynamic with unparalleled vistas of the Channel Island to the south and the great expanse of wilderness to the north. Yes, it isn’t much of a hike – and on a weekend afternoon, not much of a wilderness experience, but it still has a place in my heart.

I left Woodland Hills about 5am and was meandering up Gibraltar road as the sun came up. I had the summit picnic table, and, indeed the whole picnic area to myself.

It was a bit early for Saturday Morning chasers, but I made my contacts and moved on to W6/SC-124 further down the range.

I love this shot looking south over Cathedral Peak out to Diablo Mountain, the highest point on Santa Cruz Island. Indeed the highers point off the entire California Coast.
The derelict fire lookout tower.
Looking west down the Santa Ynez range to Santa Ynez Peak.
Nice place to set up a SOTA station
Looking Northeast past the Gibraltar Reservoir and perhaps my favorite wilderness ares of Southern California.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Thomas Mountain

Here is one leg of the doublet and the roll-up slim jim antenna for 2m.

23 FEBRUARY 2025 W6/CT-016

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:6,825′
Route: Drive up
Hike Distance: n/a
Elevation Gain: n/a
Navigation: n/a
Steepness: n/a
Vehicle: High clearance 4wd suggested
Road: As of this trip pretty rutted
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

When I first visited Thomas Mountain in August of 1996 I found all the campers down off the summit at Yellow Posts 6 & 8. They were all anxiously looking up to the summit while the sound of gunfire echoed down the mountain. I slowly drove to the beginning of the summit and found a campsite littered with broken booze bottles and bullet casings. Some extremely drunk guys were over on the actual summit yelling and squeezing off rounds. I beat a hasty retreat.

This time there were only a few, well behaved campers and I found an unused campsite near the top.

I ended up doing both roads up from Highway 74. I went up the one marked “Thomas Mountain” and down the one marked “Little Thomas Mountain.” I’d suggest the latter as it is a bit shorter.

Both roads seem to have suffered from the last two rainy years. I did it back in 1996 in a Volvo sedan. I would suggest a high clearance 4wd now, but I saw some guys going up in a Lexus sedan.

When it came to the radio portion of our show: what a difference a day makes! The summit-to-summit contact with Pavel OK1MCS/P in the Czech Republic really made my day!

Sunrise on San Jacinto
Only two 2m contacts on the rollup slim Jim seen in the background here.
The station is looking a little battered.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Lookout Mountain #1

Looking east from the summit toward Toro Peak.

22 FEBRUARY 2025 W6/CT-104

Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:5,590′
Route: Pacific Crest Trail and use trail
Hike Distance: 4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 1,000′ plus 400′ on the return
Navigation: Moderate
Steepness: Steep use trail
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Paved highway
Cell Coverage: Good Verizon
Hike basics

It’s always good to get what I consider to be a SOTA trifecta: a unique activation, a complete activation and a new Hundred Peaks Section (HPS) summit. Lookout Mountain (number 1 by the HPS) provided just such an opportunity.

Since I was making the drive, I figured to spend the night in Idyllwild and do Thomas Mountain in the morning before returning to the San Fernando Valley. Cassie (KG6MZR) and I have been staying with a friend since being displaced by the Palisades Fire.

I got a pretty early start and got to the trailhead just before 8am. It was a warm, dry, clear day with a general offshore flow to the airmass over Southern California. The Pacific Crest Trail leaves Highway 74 and heads up to a small pass through a forest of large Redshanks. The trail then descends 400 feet over the next mile or so to the gully where I left the PCT at 33.54859º N, 116.57528º W and headed up a pretty well defined use trail.

Here is my ascent track up Lookout Mountain

Here is the HPS guide

The use trail is fairly obvious but I did need to backtrack a few times where animal trails threw me off.

This is a relatively seldom visited summit and the summit register went back 15 years.

Radio conditions weren’t the greatest and I missed quite a few of my regular chasers, but it was such a nice day and a peaceful summit I didn’t mind too much.

Looking north toward Thomas Mt. by my head and San Jacinto to the right.
Looking west toward Cahuilla Mountain
Fairly obvious use trail.
The summit.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

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KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Mount Lemmon

Highway 39 on the way up to Mount Lemmon.

15 DECEMBER 2024 W7A/AW-001

Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:9,167′
Route: Drive up if the gate is open
Hike Distance: 3.6 miles round trip if gate is closed
Elevation Gain: 800′ if gate is closed (Dec 15 to Mar 1)
Navigation: Easy
Steepness: Gentle
Vehicle: Passenger car
Road: Good paved road
Cell Coverage: Full bars Verizon
Hike basics

Cassie KG6MZR and I decided to take the southern route to her place in north central New Mexico to avoid any weather and to do a bit if exploring. We had driven from Topanga, California to Tucson the previous day and decided to lay over a day in Southern Arizona.

K0NR had mentioned that the road to the summit from the small ski area might be closed in November, so we knew we might need to do a bit of hiking. Highway 39 turns out to be a very good road that ascends through multiple vegetative zones from Sonoran Desert to Coniferous Forest. This fun drive winds its wayup through a maze of dramatic granite formations and offers spectacular views of the Tucson area below.

Looking southwest on the way up

We lucked out and found the gate open with a sign that said the road was closed for winter from December 15th to March 1st. Later we met a forest service ranger that was locking the gate on Mount Bigalow.

The day use area below the observatories and communication facilities is within the activation zone and offers a comfortable place to set up the station. I kept this activation short because KG6MZR was with me, however Cassie did get her first SOTA activation thanks to 4 chasers on VHS in the greater Tucson Area. Thanks guys!

KG6MZS 30′ fiberglass mast for my doublet in the day use area on Mount Lemmon.
Some dramatic granite on the way up.
Some dry waterfalls on the way up.
Suguaros in the Sonoran Desert on the way up.
Comfy station set-up on a picnic table in the day-use area.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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