N1CLC: Sycuan Peak and Another Snake

Today’s adventure was a short 2.2 mile hike up and back to Sycuan Peak (W6/SC-203). It’s mother’s day so I didn’t get on the trail till about 12. The marine layer burned off and it was clear. It wasn’t too hot, maybe 80 tops.

I’ve done this peak before and had forgotten how eroded it was. I had told someone that it would be good for mountain biking but no way would you want to do this one. After being surprised by last week’s rattlesnake, I was on the lookout. I’m not sure that would do me any good as the species we have in this area are the Red Diamond rattlers and they really blend in.

I was about a third of the way up to the summit when I ran across a rattlesnake in the shade. He let me know he was there and I gave him plenty of space. I turned around my GoPro camera this time and took some video and included an enlargement of the little guy above. (click for larger)

The trail / road is very wide so I would be able to see any snakes that decide not to warn me. Once on top, the antenna setup should have been easy but during this procedure I got a piece of a wood james in between two extensions. I had to take the pushup pole apart and figure out a way to get it unjammed out.

Once setup, I saw that Amy, AG7GP, was on a summit. I was able to get a summit-to-summit with her pretty quickly and she had a nice signal from her summit in Oregon. I also noticed that everyone’s favorite Kansas chasers, Gary and Martha were on a summit. I tried to contact them but I couldn’t hear anything. I moved on and spotted myself on 20m and had a huge pileup. My CW (morse) skills were shitty but I made it work. I did use SSB for chasers that don’t know CW, and worked some local stations with my handie held on FM 2m.

Before I shutdown, I was able to work John, ZL1BYZ, in Australia on the 17 meter band so that sorta makes up for a tough day on the summit.

The trip down was uneventful, and there was a nice breeze out of the west to keep things cool for a while. I got my fix for SOTA and radio, as best I could and all in all, it was a nice day.

Contacts

Date:10/05/2020 | Summit:W6/SC-203 (Sycuan Peak) | Call Used:N1CLC | Points: 2 | Bonus: 0

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
20:49	KR7RK	14MHz	CW
21:00	AG7GP	14MHz	CW
21:06	K6HPX	14MHz	CW
21:07	WW7D	14MHz	CW
21:08	NS7P	14MHz	CW
21:09	NG6R	14MHz	CW
21:10	N6NKT	14MHz	CW
21:11	N4LAG	14MHz	CW
21:12	K6KM	14MHz	CW
21:13	WB7VTY	14MHz	CW
21:14	N0DET	14MHz	CW
21:16	KJ9X	14MHz	CW
21:18	AB6SO	14MHz	CW
21:20	K9OZ	14MHz	CW
21:21	K7TP	14MHz	CW
21:21	NA6MG	7MHz	CW
21:27	K8TE	7MHz	CW
21:28	NW7E	7MHz	CW
21:31	K3TCU	7MHz	CW
21:39	KN6GHM	14MHz	CW
21:41	K9EYZ	14MHz	CW
21:42	WC0Y	18MHz	CW
21:48	ZL1BYZ	18MHz	CW
21:50	K7MK	18MHz	CW
21:51	K6QCB	18MHz	CW
22:13	K6MXA	144MHz	FM
22:14	KD6IFG	144MHz	FM
22:16	KK6MJG	144MHz	FM
22:18	N0GPS	144MHz	FM