Did you know there are two ways to hike up to the Vetter Mountain Fire Lookout?!
There's Option 1 many of us are familiar with- pretty straightforward. You park just below the elevation of the destination and follow a paved road as it sort of meanders up and down. It is a beautiful walk/hike with immediate payoff (views)!
And then there’s the other way, the Silver Moccasin Trail to Vetter Mountain Trail.
While I can assure you that I have no regrets about hiking that way- it was charming, with a seasonal stream babbling along, patches of snow still hanging out in the shade, and more intimate than the paved road- I would recommend taking the paved road up, and this route back. 🙃
Now for the activation details
I did the HF portion from this awesome picnic area, which by the way has live 120 volt AC power for some reason. We joked about bringing a 1,500 watt amplifier next time...
With the homemade random wire end-fed hanging off the picnic area's metal cage (far from it to avoid RF coupling, which may still have occurred) and my carbon fiber mast using a tree to hold up the other end, we were off to the races:
After that, doggie and I relocated to the fire lookout itself for some VHF work which was not without its own challenge. Apparently something between my radio and Roll-up J-Pole antenna is bad because the rubber duck antenna is what brought home the internet points. Special thanks to those who chased:
- WA2QWP
- K6EL
- K6HZR
- KG6MGS
- NT6E (John's the man!)
- K6CPR
I also enjoyed meeting KN6ZOO (Steve) who was setup with a stunning collection of HF antennas operating POTA (Parks on the Air) with NT6E on the other end.
And special thanks to WA6ABC (Michael) for keeping me company on his SoCalHam repeater system via C4FM, which I'll need to expand on in another post. That modulation type continues to shock me with its forgiving capabilities around terrain!
Until next time, happy trails and radio waves to you 🙂
Member discussion: