Santa Rosalia (W6/CC-062) SOTA Activation

On the 7th of September I activated Santa Rosalia Mountain. This was a great activation on a hot day. Plenty of Red Woods for shade on the way up and plenty of trees at the top for shade also. This was a great local hike for NA SOTA day. Lots of Ants and flies at the top. 

Driving Route: This is the route that I took to get there. Right at the right to Buzzard Lagoon Rd there is a good place to pull your car over. Though you could technically go futher then this the road gets pretty crowded with Bikes and the road gets pretty rough that you would need high clearance and 4wd. It is an easy 2 mile walk from here.

Cell Signal: Yes (Verizon) No issues with sending or receiving information off of SOTA goat on the top of this one.

Interference: None. Loma Prieta is not far away from this one so it gets all the attention for putting up local antennas.

Distance: Round trip about 4 miles. Not to steep but very gradual.

Trail Condition: Fire Road. In all actuality a jeep can make it most of the way to the summit if the gates are open. You will probably upset the bikers if you drive on the road though as they have pretty much claimed this road.

EveryTrail Route: I did track this trip but before I uploaded it to the website my cell phone got damaged and I was unable to upload. 

Setup: FT857d, MP1 SuperAntenna, 6 Counter poises at 1/4 wavelength, 12 ft telescoping whip, J37 Straight Key, 7.5 A/H SLAB.

Contacts: 13 w/ 7 S2S (WS0TA, KC5CW, N0BCB, K5RHD, K8TE, NM5SW, KE5AKL). I had trouble while calling CQ in that my I was getting a lot of QRM from adjacent stations and I was having a lot of trouble hearing. I ended up just mainly hunting and pouncing on other SOTA Stations. Sorry if you did not get chaser points from me it was just tough for me with the contest. I wanted to stay up for a while but only had one battery so I did not want to sit there calling cq for ever. I would try for a little bit and then take a break and go work other Activators.

This was a sign along the fire road. There is a gate right next to this sign that cannot be passed with a vehicle. This is about 1/2 mile from the summit. 

I brought my little camp table up to this one with me. It worked great. Notice my straight key. I got it cheap used at a yard sale. I have not put a base on it yet but it worked!

Fire Road all the way but the last 1/4 mile to the summit.

I know that it is hard to see in this picture but in the middle just to the Right of the three larger trees there is the tallest antenna that I have ever saw. This picture does not do it justice. I swear the guy lines for this antenna must be 1/2 mile apart at the bottom!

Another picture of the trail. Nice and Shady most of the way.

Just because it is a neat Redwood stump!

Entrance to the park. It says no horses but I definitely say horse shoe marks on the way down.

This gate was open and there was definite tracks on the way up the road. I think that you would upset the mountain bikers if you drove on it though. They seam to own this trail and it is very popular. I was probably passed by 30 mountain bikers during my hike.

Log: 

QSO: 72850 SS 2013-09-07 2026 KF7PXT        55         NS7P          22          

QSO: 14342 SS 2013-09-07 2009 KF7PXT        55         NU0T          53          

QSO: 14061 CW 2013-09-07 1950 KF7PXT      599        KE5AKL        449         

QSO: 14333 SS 2013-09-07 1942 KF7PXT        55         NM5SW         57          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-07 1939 KF7PXT        58         K8TE          57          

QSO: 14344 SS 2013-09-07 1928 KF7PXT        55         K5RHD         57          

QSO: 72850 SS 2013-09-07 1918 KF7PXT        33         N0BCB         33          

QSO: 14348 SS 2013-09-07 1901 KF7PXT        33         KC5CW         33          

QSO: 14333 SS 2013-09-07 1819 KF7PXT        22         N7AMA         44          

QSO: 14333 SS 2013-09-07 1819 KF7PXT        22         N4LA          33          

QSO: 14333 SS 2013-09-07 1818 KF7PXT        33         W0ERI         33          

QSO: 14333 SS 2013-09-07 1817 KF7PXT        33         W0MNA         33          

QSO: 14061 CW 2013-09-07 1755 KF7PXT      559        WS0TA         559         

Thanks again for everyone that has worked me while up on the summits. I am tentatively planning a trip to the Sierras for an activation of 2 unactivated peaks in the upcoming weeks. Trying to get a couple unactivated 8 point summits in before I head into back surgery on 7 October. This will likely make me a Chaser for at least 30 days. I hope to hear you all on the air. I will post to SOTA Watch when I have finalized my dates. 

Thanks to all the Chasers!