N1CLC: 2020-01-19 Guatay

Joe Toth decided to join me on today’s 138th SOTA hike and we were wheels up by 7AM. The original plan was to activate Cuyamaca Peak and Stonewall but after arriving, we found out that the top of Cuyamaca is closed to the public while SDG&E digs it up to lay in more power. We could have easily gone over to Stonewall across the street but there were a LOT of people that were doing that one because of the closure. The trail would have looked like the 405 freeway. Instead, we headed over to Guatay Mountain for a little peace and quiet.
(Route is HERE) <click on image for larger>

The hike up to Guatay was nice. The weather was cool making it a very pleasant climb up the mountain. We saw only one other group of two hikers on their way down so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

After we summited, I put the K6ARK spider web antenna up and chased KX0R using CW. He was up on W0C/FR-061, Taylor Mountain in Colorado. I then switched over to 14 SSB and picked up 8 contacts there. I then switched over to 7MHz and used CW to pick up another 4 contacts. I was able to contact KM3A on my HT who was on a no name hill about 76 miles to the north of me. My big chase of the day was netting WG0AT on North Kaufman ridge in Colorado. WG0AT is one of the reasons I do SOTA. When I first started out, I watched his videos on Youtube, among others, and he inspired me to get out there, hike, and goof around with the radio. I really enjoy his videos, attitude and sense of humor. Being able to contact Steve via CW is an accomplishment since I couldn’t have done it a year ago, as I was still learning my ABCs and Steve mainly runs CW.

While I was doing all of this, Joe was taking a nap on the peak out of the wind. The descent was pleasurable. This mountain isn’t a simple descent though since we have to go up and over a few other peaks to get back to the car.

We finished the day out on the mountain with an awesome lunch at Veronica’s Kitchen, downing some awesome carnitas. This is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the area. The people there are really nice and it’s great to be out in a small town at a slower pace.
(UPDATE: Steve, WG0AT sent me the following audio clip. You'll have to turn it up to hear my signal. Very cool and THANKS Steve)

Contacts

Date	Time	Band	Mode	Other Callsign	Other Summit	Is S2S?
19/01/2020	18:38	10MHz	CW	KX0R	W0C/FR-061	✔
19/01/2020	19:16	14MHz	SSB	WW7D
19/01/2020	19:17	14MHz	SSB	W0MNA
19/01/2020	19:18	14MHz	SSB	VE2JCW
19/01/2020	19:19	14MHz	SSB	W5IJH
19/01/2020	19:20	14MHz	SSB	W4KRN
19/01/2020	19:20	14MHz	SSB	W0ERI
19/01/2020	19:22	14MHz	SSB	N4EX
19/01/2020	19:22	14MHz	SSB	W7NE
19/01/2020	19:26	7MHz	CW	NS7P
19/01/2020	19:30	7MHz	CW	N0DNF
19/01/2020	19:34	7MHz	CW	K7PX	W0C/SP-085	✔
19/01/2020	20:07	7MHz	CW	KI6KU
19/01/2020	20:09	144MHz	FM	W6RWS
19/01/2020	20:20	14MHz	FM	KM3A	W6/SC-457	✔
19/01/2020	20:31	7MHz	CW	WG0AT	W0C/SP-085	✔