We did four peaks for SoCalSOTAFest 2022. I arrived with Kevin KN6FNY at the Tanglewood group campsite just north of Holcomb Valley in Big Bear and there was Gold Mountain just to the left of our site. Obviously, that’s where we were going to start. Everyone was awake and new arrivals were still trickling in. We hung out for a while until everyone more or less had a game plan for the day and headed out. We were joined for the day by Mike KN6EZE and his wife Linda KN6GOH.
W6/CT-053
From Tanglewood, we took the PCT toward Gold veering off when a clearing up Gold presented itself. The bushwhacking got a bit heavy through downed trees and overhead scrub brush. Once we made it through the thicker parts, it cleared and we made our way up to the summit. Pretty mellow hike if it wasn’t for the bushwhacking. I got a bit careless through a few sections and regretted it later with a long gash along my inner thigh.
Gold’s summit is large with plenty of area to spread out multiple activators. Being a Technician, I planned to work mostly 40M CW and VHF. Getting out during an event like this is a blast, most of my contacts were other activators on other summits. After a dozen or so calls in the log, we packed up and headed over to our next peak for the day, W6/CT-051 Arctic Point.
Website: https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W6/CT-053
Map: https://caltopo.com/m/L232G
Trailhead: We parked at the Tanglewood group campsite.
Route: Follow the PCT until it becomes clear that a straight shot up the mountain will get you there quicker and be prepared for some bushwhacking. It’s about 1mi with 1000′ of gain to the top.
W6/CT-051
Driving over to the base of Arctic, we made our way up the jeep track as far as we dared. There are some parking areas on the left side as you go up the track, we stopped at one and continued on foot up the jeep track turning east after a while to point us up Arctic. If you’re lucky, you’ll find cairns littered along one of the ridge lines. We didn’t see any going up, but as we descended later, it was clear there was a marked trail we most certainly missed.
Expect some boulder hopping and creative navigation around larger geological features. Nearing the summit there are plenty of trees if you’re curious about throwing a wire up. We met Adam K6ARK and a few others who were already on summit, activating. Again, making short work of the activation with all the other SOTAFest folk, we scrambled back down quickly and made for our next stop.
Website: https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W6/CT-051
Map: https://caltopo.com/m/L232G
Trailhead: Park along FR 3N43.
Route: Try to pick up the trail of cairns on the way up, if not, maybe you’ll find them on the way back like we did. Similar to Gold, it’s about 1mi with 1000′ of gain to the top.
W6/CT-054
Bertha was a hot grind to the summit. Mid-day sun, and the heat reflecting off the bright rock made for a tough hike. We followed the 4WD track most of the way. I wasn’t hydrated and my lunch hadn’t kicked in yet so by the time we reached the summit, I opted to get a few contacts on VHF and call it good. Luckily everyone that was out for SoCalSOTAFest was either still on summit or back at camp, so 2M wasn’t an issue. On to the last summit of the day, Delamar.
Website: https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W6/CT-054
Map: https://caltopo.com/m/L232G
W6/CT-050
Delamar was the highlight of the day for me. The hike up Delamar was considerably more shaded than the other peaks and following the PCT for a good bit made it enjoyable. The summit is huge with lots of tree cover as well, I could have spent hours up there. Unfortunately, band conditions weren’t the greatest so after a small pileup, that was it.
All in all, it was a great day with a few good efforts to get four summits logged. Good times with Kevin, Mike, and Linda.
Holcomb Valley as we drove back to camp.