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.
Terrific view of the big San Gabriel Mountains over their namesake valley. Baldy or Mount San Antonio is in the background.
13 JANUARY 2024 W6/CT-180
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
3,045′
Route:
Good trail and access road
Hike Distance:
4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
700′
Navigation:
Tricky
Steepness:
Extremely steep
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Paved
Cell Coverage:
Just below the summit Verizon
Hike basics
Despite the heavy RF environment due to a massive, unlovely communications complex, I give this one two stars due to the interesting hike up and unusual view. You can do it from a trailhead off Hidden Springs Drive that is a bit longer with more elevation gain, or you can do what I did and go from the Box Springs Mountain Reserve trailhead at the end of Pigeon Pass Road.
The park opens at 7am I got there just at 7 and was the first car there. As I drove up Pigeon Pass Road I spotted a warning sign that had the picture of a donkey on it. Weird, I thought.
As I started hiking the sun came up and started to warm the hillsides after a chilly winter night, I head the sound of braying! Sure enough herds of wild donkeys were everywhere. Cassie KG6MZR had a saddle mule – Kentucky Darla – for years and would’ve loved this. I took the Springs Trail shortcut and I got pretty close to three of these creatures. I suggest if you want to seem them you plan on being there early as I saw very few on the way down.
This summit has an interesting location that sports fine views of not only San Jacinto and San Gorgonio, but novel views of Palomar, Santiago and the San Gabriel Mountains.
Stations reported hearing me on 2m but I heard nobody due to my FT-5D’s receiver getting totally de-sensed by the RF environment. Others have suggested setting up on the south side to avoid this problem. I tried several spots down the mountain with no joy. Likewise with cell reception. I had to use my Garmin InReach Mini’s Iridium satellite network to put up spots. HF was not a problem.
The station with San Gorgonio in the background.Park greeterLocals near Box Spring.Santiago and Modjeska Peaks to the west.The summit with Palomar Mountain in the background.
The tall skinny rock on the left is called The Bong (aka 2001) by rock climbers.
15 DECEMBER 2023 W6/CT-097
Three stars – Highly recommended.
Elevation:
5,738′
Route:
Trail
Hike Distance:
3.7 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
875′
Navigation:
Easy to lose the trail over rocks
Steepness:
Steep
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Paved road
Cell Coverage:
Good (Verizon)
Hike basics
My last trip up to The Pinnacles was on May 5th, 1995. It snowed lightly that day and there was an earthquake the next day in Yucca Valley. This turns out to be a very nice hike to a very interesting summit. The trail is steep in places and can be tough to follow where it dodges the boulders strewn across the route. The trail is threaded through these areas and while most roads lead to Rome, some are easier than others. A few venture off into easy third class climbing.
This time my brother Mark and I had a chamber-of-commerce day for our hike. Cool, clear and calm. We got a late start due to the long drive from Topanga Canyon, but still made it to the summit in time to have some fun with the radio and fly Chester the Drone. Here is a short video that includes a 360º panorama from 100m above the summit:
I gave this summit three stars because I found it it an interesting and surprisingly enjoyable hike. It was a long day door-to-door from home, so it might be better as a weekend hike with Mount Marie Louise and others.
This sign isn’t kidding. The last half mile of this route is steep!
4 NOVEMBER 2023 W6/CT-271
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
3,094′
Route:
Fire road and motorcycle track
Hike Distance:
3.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
550′ in and 100′ on the return
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Extremely steep at the end
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Good (Verizon) APRS Excellent
Hike basics
It continually amazes me that considering all the time I have spent in my life traipsing across the mountains Southern California, I still manage to stumble upon obscure corners of this state that I have never seen. My brother Mark and I set out on this pleasant Saturday morning to try our hand at what I call Burn Benchmark #2. I think of the higher, more oft visited W6/CT-136 Burn Benchmark as Burn BM #1.
We took Rush Canyon Road (5N13.1 ) off Sierra Highway and headed up toward Rowher Flats OHV area. The parking area is about a mile and a half up this road where the Vasquez Truck Trail (locked gate) joins Rush Canyon Road. This is the trailhead for the popular Texas Canyon rock climbing area. There is ample parking.
This route follows the Vasquez Truck Trail for a little more than a half mild before taking off to the left up the “Hell of a Hill” motorcycle trail. Take careful note of that name.
The hike takes you past a great view of Elephant Rock in the Texas Canyon rock climbing area. We saw several groups of climbers on belay.
The hike is a very enjoyable, seldom traveled route right up until the last quarter mile or so. At this point the route ascends the aforementioned “Hell of a Hill.” My older brother and I grew up hiking steep firebreaks in the Santa Monica Mountains, so this hill didn’t particularly phase us. Be forewarned that your mileage may vary. I found that my trekking poles came in handy, especially on the descent on my 67-year-old-knees.
Radio conditions weren’t great but I did have a lot of fun working 5 bands.
Looking east at the station and the San Gabriel Mountains. Photo by Mark Fitzgerald.My brother Mark and the Packtenna.Looking west on the way up at Elephant Rock in the Texas Canyon rock climbing area.We passed this ominous warning at the bottom of the last hill.Mark heading down “Hell of a Hill.”Looking southwest over Santa Clarita, Newhall Pass and Saddle Peak in the Santa Monica Mountain faintly visible through the pass.
Looking west toward the San Gabriel Mountains over what is left of summit 7,940′
21 OCTOBER 2023 W6/CT-060
No stars – This is a one-off summit. I am unlikely to return. Not recommended..
Elevation:
Something less than 7,940′
Route:
Mining road
Hike Distance:
2.2 miles round trip.
Elevation Gain:
350′
Navigation:
Tricky because of the changing topography
Steepness:
Gentle on the route below
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Good (Verizon) APRS Excellent
Hike basics
There is very little to recommend this summit in my opinion. The OMYA Sentinel Quarry has decimated the summit to the point that it probably no longer meets the SOTA criteria for prominence. It looks like the north side of the quarry is now higher. About the only thing I can say is get this one now in case it gets de-certified later.
I followed the track posted on SOTLas by KX6I and the “short climb up a rockpile” is now a treacherous scramble up very loose powdered quartz. I spent 15 minutes or so carving out semi-stable steps to make the ridge. I don’t recommend this.
My route down follows a road that is a much better route. Who knows how long this will last given all the earth-moving up there.
I did have an enjoyable time on the radio despite all this and had my first-ever chase from down under!
The unlovely landscape of “Strip Mine” SummitThe StationLooking North across the OMYA Sentinel Quarry to what I suspect is now the higher “summit.” The old route comes up the cliff in the foreground.
KG6MZS 
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