The station on the uneven ground of the summit. Looking south with Cuymaca Peak in the background.
SPECIAL ACCESS NOTE: This summit is on the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation. A day-use permit is required to visit this summit. Permits are $40 per person and must be obtained in advance. A liability waiver is also required.
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
8,694′
Route:
Dirt Road
Hike Distance:
1 mile round trip
Elevation Gain:
450′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Moderate
Vehicle:
High clearance suggested
Road:
Long dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Spotty Verizon
Hike basics
Toro Peak is a summit that has eluded me. It is the highest of the Santa Rosa Mountains one of the HPS summits that I have never done, so this was an extra special summit for me. I left Topanga about 5 AM and had a relatively fast trip to the Ramona Expressway. Once here however I was stopped by a seemingly endless procession of signals. Back in the days when I was rock climbing Suicide and Taquitz Rocks we often went this way. I was amazed to see the number of bedroom communities that have sprung up since that time.
Santa Rosa Road leaves Highway 74 — the so-called “Pines to Palms Highway” at
33° 34.0662′ N, 116° 30.7052′ W
From here is is 12.5 miles of pretty bad road. It’s the kind of road I have driven passenger cars on but I was glad to have Whitedog’s high clearance and 4 wheel drive. There was a Tesla and a Lexus parked about half way up before a rutted, muddy section.
The hike itself is short – about half a mile up 450′ – to a large communications facility. I continued past that to the west side where I found a place to set up away from the microwave dishes and repeaters. the ground here was pretty uneven and it took me much longer to set up than usual as my wires and ropes kept getting tangled and jammed in the rocks and buck brush.
It was pretty hot in the sun and I brought an umbrella. This was fortunate because my electronics rapidly overheated in the direct sun.
Looking south to Palomar and Cuyamaca Peak.Sign at the trailhead.Looking north to Mount San Jacinto, Mount San Gorgonio and Mount San Antonio — all the bigs.Looking west to Santiago and Modjeska Peaks and the fog laden Los Angeles Basin
On my way back to Southern California from our total solar eclipse adventure I like to break up the trip from Taos to Topanga with a layover in Flagstaff. The cinder cones on the Coconino Plateau are easy and fun activation. This time I set my sights on two juicy 10-pointers for uniques and completes: Goverment Hill & Mountain.
Strangely Government Hill is higher than Government Mountain by about 100′. The dirt road is a little bumpy but otherwise good. The hike is pretty straightforward — just head up the steep slope up and around a false summit to the right east. The false summit is just discontinuous from the activation zone – I checked.
Looking Southwest from Sycamore Lookout. Peaks in the area have a reputation for having no view. This one defies the stereotype. Photograph by Cassie Fitzgerald.
11 APRIL 2024 W5O/OU-005
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
2,379′
Route:
Drive-up
Hike Distance:
n/a
Elevation Gain:
n/a
Navigation:
n/a
Steepness:
n/a
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Paved
Cell Coverage:
Verizon
Hike basics
On our way back to New Mexico from our adventure taking in the total solar eclipse in Arkansas I wanted to activate at least one summit in the state of Oklahoma. I had this idea that Oklahoma was all rather flat, dry and dull. This excursion disabused me of that notion. I found the place to be interesting, lush in places and lovely. From Rogers, Arkansas we drove southwest into the Ouachita Mountains across some really beautiful country.
Sycamore Lookout is along a long ridge line off an abandoned spur of Highway 1. There had been a lookout tower there once judging from the remnants of a foundation. It was a easy to find just west of a communications facility. We drove up the dirt spur to within feet of the summit. Here are the coordinates:
I was with Cassie, my brother and his companion Anne so I made this a relatively short activation. Besides we wanted to get a move on into Texas before the end of the day.
The station and the author. Photo by Cassie Fitzgerald
The 2024 North American Eclipse at totality. 400mm lens with a 100000 neutral density filter.
Our Moon is closer in size to the Earth than any other moon & planet combo in our solar system. The relationship is so close that we are sometimes called “The Double Planet.”
It is an astounding coincidence that the angular size of our Moon in the sky is almost exactly the same angular size in the sky as the far more distant and far larger star we call the Sun. This totally rando twist of fate gives us the wondrous phenomenon we know as a total solar eclipse.
In 2017 Cassie and I traveled to the Tetons in Wyoming to witness a solar eclipse in the path of totality in the backyard of our good friend Linnea Gardner. This profound four minutes of our lives prompted from us a vow to chase these magic moments whenever we could.
Our vows led us to Mount Nebo in the state Arkansas this year. This time we were joined by my brother Mark Fitzgerald, his girlfriend Anne Salzer and our good friend Kim Russo.
Cassie, Mark, Anne and I left Cassie’s little adobe in New Mexico on the 6th and battled a pretty decent-sized late season snowstorm over the Sangre de Christo Mountains. Once we cleared that hurdle we were met at the edge of the Great Plains by tremendous winds that tossed legions of tumbleweeds across the highway and into the grills of our intrepid vehicles. Totality or Bust!
Battling tumbleweeds across the Panhandle of Oklahoma. Photo by Cassie Fitzgerald.
Not only did the Sun and Moon align but so did our crew of merry eclipse hunters — we picked up Kim by the shores of Beaver Lake and excitedly made our plans for the following day. We had Mount Nebo State Park in our sights but we were prepared to go wherever the skies were clear. Our good fortune continued as the overnight thunder, rain and lightning moved on ant the big day dawned clear blue.
When we arrived at Mt. Nebo, the state park was very well organized by friendly people. We were two of the last three cars allowed to park at the Sunrise Point parking lot! My first choice! The view of the Arkansas River Valley is spectacular.
Some of our “Furry” friends at Dawn Point on Mount Nebo 😉Left to right: Mark, Anne, Kim and the author. I’m grateful to have shared this experience with such wonderful humans. Photo by Cassie Fitzgerald.
A total solar eclipse starts out oh, so slowly. The Moon takes a bite out of the sun. As the bite slowly grows the quality of the light changes in a way that is unlike a sunset or a cloud moving in front of the Sun. Colors seem to change and contrast increases. The air cools. Everything gets darker and darker by imperceptible increments. The nuclear reactions in the face of our Sun cause the surface to be so luminous that even when the Sun’s face is almost covered it is still too bright to look at.
And then, all at once: BAM! It’s dark! the stars come out. Jupiter and Venus burn steadily in the darkened sky. The temperature drops. The birds cease their songs. Crickets chirp. Streetlights come on in the villages down below.
The entire horizon is circled by the sunlight streaming down from overhead in the far distance. Not like a sunset – it is all around and the angle is too high. It is truly like nothing else.
The crowd gasps, cheers and then there is a hushed awe. Tears well up in my eyes even now reliving those powerful moments that rocked us all to the very cores of our being.
And then, just as suddenly: BAM! the Sun returns the life-giving light to our small blue planet.
Totality on Mt. Nebo’s Dawn Point. Photo by Cassie FitzgeraldThe first ray of sun returns to the limb of the Moon creating the so-called “Diamond Ring” effect.Photo by Cassie Fitzgerald.Our neighbors from the University of Colorado at Bolder had a Celestron 11″ Telescope and shared this amazing photo with us.
8 APRIL 2024 W5A/MA-004
Three stars – Highly recommended.
Elevation:
1,790′
Route:
Drive-up
Hike Distance:
n/a
Elevation Gain:
n/a
Navigation:
n/a
Steepness:
n/a
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Steep “crooked” paved
Cell Coverage:
Okay with Verizon
Hike basics
After the eclipse we figured we would let the crowd thin out and file down the steep “crooked” road that is the only way in and out of Mount Nebo State Park. Band conditions we very poor and I accidentally left my Yeti 1500 AC power inverter on for a portion of the activation. This added a lot (s9) noise to several bands. 10m was completely dead. Not wanting to drag the activation out in consideration of my crew, I only made 6 contacts. The icing on the cake of a wonderful day was catching David N6AN on Ortega Mountain in Arizona for a summit-to-summit.
Looking south across the Taos Plateau and the Rio Grande Gorge.
30 MARCH 2024 W5N/SS-037
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
8,720′
Route:
Trail and cross country
Hike Distance:
3.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
780′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
A little steep
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Verizon was in and out
Hike basics
It had snowed a lot the previous week at Cassie’s little adobe so I was looking for a summit that was doable amidst all the mud and snow in the Land of in Enchantment. The Taos Plateau is a remarkable geologic feature – a high altitude volcanic deposit that was laid down about 4 million years ago. The Rio Grande River has cut through this impediment to its relentless path to the Gulf of Mexico and has formed a tremendous gorge.
Two National Monuments were established in 2013 at the north and south ends of this gorge. South Guadalupe Mountain lies in the beautiful Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
The trailhead is at the end of a very well-maintained dirt road. It was 29ºF when I left Whitedog about 7AM and what mud was there was nicely frozen. The trail follows an old roadcut up to a saddle along the north side of the mountain. As I climbed up the moderate grade the patches of snow became more frequent. These drifts were mostly frozen but every now and then I would break through up to my hips. Snowshoes probably would have been more hindrance than help given all the deadfall and exposed rock and frozen mud. Going was very slow. It took me over 2 hours to do 1.8 miles!
When I got to the saddle I left the trail and contoured around to the east side a bit further than I otherwise would’ve done and found a relatively snow-free route. On the descent I left the trail at the saddle and stayed on the south side of the slope. This tactic avoided most of the snow that had now become very soft and treacherous in the afternoon. This strategy really paid off as this cross country route was relatively brush-free and free from deadfall.
As Tom K6TAA mentioned there is a nice open spot on the summit to set up and some trees for antenna supports.
Band conditions on the non-WARC bands were pretty chaotic with the CQ WPX Contest raging.
I had a lot of fun on the summit with DX contacts to France (thanks Chris!) and Spain, S2S contacts to North Carolina (thanks Jean and Mark) and California (thanks Herb and El). I got a lot of the usual suspects and a surprise visit from Cecil WD6FZA – grand poobah of the PAPA System. That was a first! Thanks Scott WA9STI (using club call WA6LE) for spotting me on the PAPA system. Thank you everybody for chasing!
Chester shoots north from about 30 feet above. Ute Mountain (left) and Blanco Peak in Colorado (right)A sign in the relatively snow-free saddle on the way upLooking south across the relatively open summit area to the Rio Grande Gorge and the Taos Plateau.The station looking northeast toward Questa and Red River.The snow and mud free trailhead made this a smart pick for an Easter weekend attempt.Looking north from the Sheep Crossing turnout at the beginning of the gorge. Ute Mountain and Blanco Peak just peeking over the rim.
Looking northeast to Humphreys Mountain – the highest point in Arizona at 12,635′ – and Kendrick Peak 10,420.
22 MARCH 2024 W7A/CS-032
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Route:
Cross-country
Hike Distance:
1 mile round trip
Elevation Gain:
635′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Moderate
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good forest service dirt
Cell Coverage:
Good (Verizon)
Hike basics
On a Friday morning I set out from our house in Topanga at 4:30am on my way to meet Cassie in Santa Fe. We are getting ready to set out for Arkansas and the total solar eclipse on April 8th. I got to William about 11am and decided that was about enough battling the big rigs on I-40 for one day.
I had my eye on Spitz Hill as an easy hike with a short approach drive. I was not disappointed. There are apparently several ways to walk through the forest to reach this summit and I chose the west slope. There is no particular route beyond the numerous elk trails the crisscross the deadfall. It’s pretty easy to find the summit through the trees – just go up!
Here is my track up Spitz Hill. I will say that it was a bit harder to find my way down than it was to find the summit going up. I didn’t worry about it too much because I knew I’d hit County Road 76 if I just went down.
The weather was pretty much perfect; mild and a light breeze now and again. I managed to get Chester the Drone in the air to shoot a little video:
I made 25 contacts – no big DX but a lot of familiar callsigns. Thank you all for helping to make this a very enjoyable day. I was down and in Flagstaff by check-in time at my motel.
Chester the Drone takes a shot of me on the summit.
After doing Box Springs Mountain (W6/CT-180), I wanted to do another Complete, so I meandered through the neighborhoods of Jurupa Valley and drove to the end of Lakeshore Drive.
This is a short hike to a trashy summit with a decent view on a clear day. I picked up a little trash but it is pretty much a lost cause. Easy to set up a HF station among the graffiti stained granite boulders.
I had fun on the radio working some Winterfest folks: Lorene W6LOR & Mike K6STR up on Mt. Ord, David N6AN on his Flint Peak and Mark KD7DTS on Pacifico Mountain.
The Station with San Gorgonio and even Box Springs Mountain in the background.
KG6MZS 
Leave a comment