Townsend Peak W6/SC-161

Return to Townsend Peak!  I was last here and activated in May, 2014.  I was deep in thought as I drove up the 5 freeway and missed the exit at Templin Hwy.  I had to continue up the freeway and turn around at Pyramid Lake.  Unlike last time, the dirt road that leads to a fire gate was in really bad shape due to the rains.  I thought about driving up the gate, but I made the right decision and parked on the main road and hiked the extra short, extra distance.  On the google map, the red line leads to the fire gate and is .42 miles.  The yellow line from the fire gate is 1.1 miles.

As I looked at the dirt road, I really thought about driving up.  I am glad I didn't.  The road was still soft from the recent rains and even with four wheel drive, the weight of a vehicle would have crumbled the road near the ditches and you would be stuck.

After hiking up the road for .62 miles, we came to the gate where we parked last time.  We took a short break to catch our breath.  On the hike up, I was listening on the PAPA repeater and I heard a gentleman from Australia link in on the repeater using IRLP.  Not bad on 2m. 

Continue walking up the road past the gate.  I stopped at the location of the first geocache and enjoyed the views.

I continued up the road around the first mountain.  As I made it to the back side of the first mountain, I noticed that there had been some recent slides due to the rains.

As I continued on the road, Townsend Peak comes in to view.  To reach the summit, you actually walk past the summit, and cut back.  When on the back side of the mountain, you can't hear the freeway noise on the other side. 

I arrived at the summit and it took me a little time to figure out how to set up the antenna.  I put it in a different location this time, running from north to south.

 

Here is my setup for today using the KX3.

After the activation, I located the geocache at the summit.

Band conditions were not optimal today.  I could hear Scott, WA9STI, down below in the valley on 10m, but he couldn't hear me.  I also had a strong signal from K7HLN in Montana on 20m, but he couldn't hear me. Thank you chasers!

10m - N4EX, NG6R

20m - W0MNA, W0ERI, NM5S

40m - K7JFD, W7RV, NK6A