Table Mtn W6/CT- 067

Halloween brought a nice day for a SOTA activation in the Angeles National Forest.  My wife and I were going to a Halloween party in the evening, so I was looking for a SOTA spot that wouldn't wear me out.  Table Mtn was a nice and easy drive from my house through the ANF.  In years past, there was already snow and the ski lifts were open.  In this drought season, the lifts may not open this year.

The Mountain High North Resort at Table Mountain originally opened in 1938;  When Roxy and I arrived, we had the parking lot to ourselves.

    
In addition to ski slopes, Mountain High North has three "disc" (frisbee), nine hole courses.  The disc golf opened in 1999 and is open during the summer.  Of course, I didn't drive to  Mountain High for skiing or disc golf, I came for an awesome SOTA adventure!

It was a cool, clear morning and I walked the road for .29 miles before I cut up the side of the hill to the peak.  It was an easy walk with a 125' elevation gain.  The route up is marked in red and the route down, .16 miles, marked in yellow.

There are many places within the activation zone to set up a station, as well as many trees for antennas.  I set my radio up at the base of this tree next to Roxy.  I ran the antenna to a tree north of this spot.

After completing 20m, I had a pleasant surprise from Mark, K7MAS, and his wife, who hiked up for an activation.  They were down from Washington.  It is always nice to run into fellow SOTA activators when on a summit.

 Seeing the non-operating ski lift, brought back memories of Kratka Rdige.

There are some nice views of the other Mountain High ski slopes and surrounding mountains.

 
After the activation, I scouted the area near Pine Mountain, W6/CT-040.  While at the trail head, I "chased/contacted" Martin on 2m, K7MAS, who had moved over to Cricle Mtn W6/CT-071.  While driving to the Pine Mtn trail head, I passed some interesting sites going through the Mountain High ski area.  The lower photo is Pine Mountain.

Another awesome SOTA adventure.  I could hear several SOTA chasers on 2m, but I had no luck contacting them.  I made the following contacts on 20m and 40m.  Thank you chasers and spotters!

20m - N4EX, VE2JCW, W4TZM, W0MNA, W6PNY, NS7P, N7KRN, KD0MQO, KB5PVB, KF7JQV, WA2USA

40m - KB6CIO, K6EL, WA6RIC, K6CMG, W7RV, AA7DK, KN6CCW, NA6MG, K6TUY, KH2TJ, NU6T, KK7EL, WA6KYR, NK6A, W7USA