Winter in California doesn’t feel the same as in other parts of North America. With it’s unique desert climate, getting out for a SOTA activation on New Year’s Eve may require nothing more than any other time of year. In this particular instance, I threw on a sweater, which for any outsider wouldn’t have seemed necessary in the slightest.
Signal Peak is located in Newport Beach, only a few minutes from Pacific Coast Highway. It’s mostly a residential area and the peak sits in the middle of some beautiful homes that overlook the Newport and Laguna coastline. Street parking is available all along Ridge Park Rd. It’s about a five-minute walk up a paved service road to the summit and you’re in the activation zone almost all the way up. As you pass the towers on your left, there is a rocky outcropping to the right. I sat on the largest of the rocks to try and get some height, although, without a bandpass filter, you may as well just not try VHF.
Website: https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W6/SC-362
Map: https://caltopo.com/m/L232G
Trailhead: Parking is available all along Ridge Park Rd.
Route: Once you find the service road, follow it up to the summit. ~.3mi to the top.
KN6RDC on W6/SC-362 (Signal Peak), 31 Dec 2021