Bills Hill SOTA Activation

I decided to do this summit when I noticed that it had not been activated. I hate to see summits that are not activated so I thought that I would give it a try. It is about 50 miles from my house to the trailhead and I knew that the Garlic Festival was going on in Gilroy, CA so I thought that I would beat traffic and heat and get out a little early. If you are ever in the Area I hear the Garlic Fest is pretty neat. When I was returning home the Traffic was backed up about 5 Miles headed South into Gilroy.

I got to the trailhead and there was only 2 other cars in the lot. I had to pay $6 to park and then headed right out on the trail.

The Trail was really a road that appeared to be used mostly by Rangers, Horses, and Bikes. 

I ran into a few turkeys on the way. They are hard to see under the tree but on the Flikr pics they are a little better.

There were a few places where the road crossed streams that looked like they would be running pretty good if it were the right time of year. They were all dry now though.

I followed this road for a couple miles and then started looking for the Trail that was going to take me up to Bills Hill. (Note: This trail does not exist! Others have noted this on other online forums) The Pic Below is me taking a break at about half way up to the ridge line after breaking brush and slipping numerous times. The brush got so thick in some places that it would have been impossible to get through without a chainsaw. Requiring some back tracking and rerouteing at times. Map my run said that my average grade was 9.5% I know that it was basically level for about 4 miles so the other two were pretty steep!

I finally made it to the top and the terrain opened up to good view of Bills Hill. I was thankful to see trees at the top that could provide some shade.

I set up the rig and worked for about 1 hour. 

On the way down I took the road along the upper ridge which was nice but you hit the same thing further down, Steep hills and thick brush.

Here is the Track:

I think that I figured out why no one has activated this summit. Though it is only 7 miles and one of the shorter summits that I have done that steepness of the hill and the brush that you have to fight through to get up there is only for the most motivated.

Thanks to all the Chasers and Activators that I contacted today!

Summary:

Equipment: Yaesu 857d (25 watts) / MP1 SuperAntenna (With 6 Radials and a MFJ 12ft Whip)

Summit: W6/NC-277 (Bills Hill)

Date and time: 7/27/2013 1710z to 1809z

Contacts: 

**20M**

W7IMC - S2S - W7M/SF-161 - Thanks Scott!

AB7YL

W0MNA

K5RWP

W0ERI

WA2USA

KD9KC

W7RV

VE7KBN

KJ6NHF - S2S - W6/SN-049 - Thanks!

ND0C

W5ODS

N4EX

KJ6YHE - S2S - W6/SN-049 - Thanks!

WB5USB

N7AMA-Thanks for your persistance!

NM5SW

VA6FUN

**40M**

N5XL

K6TUY

W7USA

N7SP - S2S - W7O/CM-116 - Thanks Phil!

Link to the Pictures on Flikr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96800739@N08/sets/72157634816878451/

Link to Bills hill on EveryTrail: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2237023 (Check this Application out. It is great for tracks and photos in your trip. Let me know if the link works)