W5RJD Summit on the Air (SOTA) Activations

We had originally planned to visit Mount Diablo today with our wives (who don't really enjoy hiking but love views) and do a quick activation, but I found out at the last minute that the upper parking lot was closed and the steep hike from the lower lot to the summit viewing area was probably not a good idea for either of our better halves. So Peter and I got on a local 2 meter repeater and identified a couple of potential peaks we could do easily, and Fremont Peak fell out as the best plan. It was a little over an hour away from my house, and looked like almost a drive up, but even so it would still take at least 3 to 4 hours round trip.  So we took off and eventually started to wind up San Juan Canyon Rd toward Fremont Peak State Park.  We were amazed at how few cars we on the road.  We got to the park and stopped at the self-service pay station. The fee was $6 for day use, and there's also a campground there (with a little higher fee of course) and a few tents were set...

W6/SC-155 Mount Bielawski  We were a lot more ambitious today, and decided to hit at least two peaks in one day.  Our plan A was to hope the Mountain Winery was opened up for business so we could park in the lot and tackle Table Mountain, but they're still closed.  We'll have to save that for another day. So plan B was to start with Mount Bielawski.  This summit itself is on private property but the activation zone extends into areas within Castle Rock State Park.  We did a little research and watched the video on the SOTA site beforehand.  In fact, Peter and I drove by this peak in the rain when we did El Sereno a while back, so we already had an idea of what to expect.  The road to the peak is private and gated, but you can park just up the road in the Castle Rock State Park lot and do a short easy jaunt down the highway to get to the trailhead.  We passed the lot closest to the summit and ended up at the main lot, which was pretty packed. ...