Activated Donner Ridge

07/21/2018

The smoke from the Yosemite file still hung in the early morning air when Dan Fortune, KE7MVJ, my father-in-law and I made our way down the highway. We had decided to stop at McDonalds to grab some breakfast and coffee before making our way to Donner Ridge. Last summer we had activated Granite Chief but I decided that we needed something easier this year. Looking through the SOTA database near where we were staying, I found that W6/NS-181 had over 30 activations indicating a more manageable activation this year. We could drive most of the way to the summit and hike less than a mile and a half to the activation zone.

But, the faint smell of the burn and brown wispy clouds could be seen as we began our climb to the summit. Dan had been having some health issues earlier in the year and I wanted to choose a summit that he had a chance to succeed. And, unlike last year, I made sure that some hams had a lookout for us as I packed my little FT-815nd for some SSB contacts. I really wanted Dan to be able to activate the summit with me and had worked hard to stack the summit in our favor.

The air was cooler than back home but also more humid making me feel uncomfortable as we made our way through the pines. Younger and more athletic visitors were running past us for their early morning exercise while the two of us trudged along the trail. I deliberately kept a slower pace trying to let Dan set the pace suspecting that he would be trying to push himself. Years earlier, he had hiked the Granite Chief trail alone and had passed out on the way down in the tram forcing a visit to the emergency room. I didn’t want to repeat that during this outing.

Breaking above the timberline, we got a magnificent view of the surrounding meadow at the top of the hill. The trail had only a little over 200-foot climb while the summit elevation would be around 7400 feet. We had been staying at Olympic Village Inn for the past week which sat at 6400 feet and were acclimated to the altitude by this time. As a private pilot, I was well aware of the dangers of hypoxia and how it can quickly lead to danger and even death. Even though we were well below the “danger zone”, I made sure that we took pre-determined rest stops along the hike.

Rounding the corner, Castle Peak came into view off above us and off into the distance. By this time, most of the smoke from Yosemite had blown out of the area as it did most mornings. Even so, I would need to add some filters to the photo post-production to remove the haze the stubbornly lingered.

Turning, I caught sight of the old rail line cutting across the mountain above Donner Lake while the freeway wound its way beneath us. I thought it an interesting contrast with the old and new merged together making their way through Donner Pass. I could just make out China Wall, a structure build 150 years ago by Chinese immigrants still in use today. I couldn’t help thinking of our current immigrants just like those immigrants over a century earlier many brought here illegally with a promise of a better life only to end up virtual slaves to make someone else rich at their expense.

Reaching the activation zone, I took a moment to grab a picture of the summit and the surrounding countryside. By this time, it was a little after 9am and into our activation window that I had put on the SOTA Watch site. I unpacked my radio equipment and Dan helped me hold the mast as I connected the 2-meter antenna to make some local contacts first.

Calling on the national calling frequency, I at first didn’t get anyone but kept up at it hoping that someone would answer. Eventually, David Quest, WA7KQS, came back struggling to get my call sign in all of the noise. I was using a homebrew vertical dipole on the top of a 16-foot Crappy pole. He suggested that I change over to 146.50 MHz where some Reno hams were monitoring. Handing the mic over to Dan so he could make a contact before I switch, I was able to add his contact to the log as well.

Switching over to the Reno frequency and Dan and I got two more contact before switching over to SSB on 20 meters. Made a call the Jerry Kendrick, NG6R, came through for me. I’ve had him in the logs before but never on SSB. And then we heard Michael Wood, K6MW, all the way from Spokane, Washington and I had to make sure the Dan had him in his logs.

 

Just as we were just about to shut down the rig, I heard a station trying to get through and eventually made out John Reilly, N0TA, activating W0C/FR-057 as well. It was tough but we finally were able to add him to both of our logs.

Before heading back down, we both had a snack and took in the final views from the summit. This was a good hike and successful activation for everyone. I’ll need to remember this summit for a future activation and would recommend it to others that want a quick activation.

Keep safe and I’ll listen for you on the air.

 

73