2. Ham Radio

Schallenberger Ridge (W6/NS-213) SOTA Activation 7/12/2013

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Donner Lake down below the ridge. The two lines along the ridge on the other side of the lake is I-80 winding down from Donner Summit. Castle Peak (W6/SN-038) is the highest point on the sky line.
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Donner Lake down below the ridge. The two lines along the ridge on the other side of the lake is I-80 winding down from Donner Summit. Castle Peak (W6/SN-038) is the highest point on the sky line.

  • The SOTA Northern Sierra region logo. This logo is available on Northern Sierra T-shirts, sweatshirts, beer steins, mouse pads, etc. for SOTA participants who qualify for the Northern Sierra Award (offered by yours truly KU6J). The award rules are linked to from my page on QRZ.com.
  • Schallenberger Ridge (with the bald summit) as seen from <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-862012-Donner">Donner Ridge (W6/NS-181)</a>. Recent land acquisitions by Donner Memorial State Park have placed the summit within the park. The route I hiked up meanders through land owned by Tahoe National Forest and the state park.
  • To get to Schallenberger Ridge, take the Donner Pass Road exit from I-80. Go to the Chevron station near the exit and continue past it on Coldstream Road. The road will turn to dirt. Continue on the road past (behind) Donner Memorial State Park and follow the signs that point towards Pacific Crest Trail. When the railroad tracks come into view, park in the dirt parking area on the left of the road at 39.29422N, 120.27173W. Hike about 150 feet further down this road, then climb up and over the railroad tracks to pick up another dirt road on the other side.
  • The parking area is also used by visitors to Lost Trail Lodge, a hike-in or ski-in lodge up Coldstream Canyon.
  • From the parking area, hike up the dirt roads as shown in my black dashed GPS track log above. Per my GPS the hike is 4.35 miles long with an elevation gain of about 1250 feet. At the CutOnFoot point shown (39.30529N, 120.27556W) I left the road, which appeared to be running down off the north side of the ridge, and hiked cross-country through the forest, along the spine of the ridge, heading straight for the top. I discovered that the road actually does go all the way to the summit, and I ended up rejoining it near the border of the activation zone. I stayed on the road for my hike back down.
  • Standing on the top of Schallenberger Ridge. There is no summit marker. I spent some time watching a couple of hawks thermalling down below on the lee side of the ridge. That's exactly where you wouldn't want to be if flying a hang glider, as the lee side rotor would most likely put you in the trees. These two local pilots were masters of course, and were soon able to climb up into the safe air above the ridgeline.
  • There was no shade on top, and with the temperatures up in the scorching low 80's (I live in snow country so please cut me some slack ;-) .... I continued on towards the fir trees that you see in the distance on the north end of the ridge. An eagle had been working the ridge lift and thermals on the windward side and I saw him land in one of the trees ahead of me.
  • Look halfway up the center tree, on the left side. That's the eagle peering out towards the west.
  • Another shot of the eagle sitting on the left side of the center tree. Now he is checking me out. He must have figured out that I'm a ground-bound hang glider pilot, because as I continued to hike towards him he took off, hooked a boomer and climbed rapidly right over my head. Show off!
  • A cluster of fir trees near the NE edge of the activation zone provided a nice shady spot to operate from. It also gave me a nice down slope to the east.
  • I raised my 88' doublet on my 28' Jackite pole and oriented the wires N-S for maximum signal to the E-W.
  • I bungeed the mast to the end of this old downed tree.
  • While I was operating a grasshopper climbed up onto my KX3 to check out my frequency, SWR and power output. Apparently satisfied, he hung around for quite a while. It didn't bother him at all when I'd reach over and press the MSG button below him to send out yet another CQ SOTA.
  • He finally decided to be a team player by operating my RX passband tuning while I handled transmit duties. Not sure, but I think his callsign is H0PPR.
  • Donner Lake down below the ridge. The two lines along the ridge on the other side of the lake is I-80 winding down from Donner Summit. Castle Peak (W6/SN-038) is the highest point on the sky line.
  • A zoomed in shot of Castle Peak up on the sierra crest. Pacific Crest Trail runs past it on the far (western) side.
  • Donner Ridge (W6/NS-181) to the north on the other side of I-80. See <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-862012-Donner">my Donner Ridge activation album</a> for more information.
  • Mt. Lincoln (W6/NS-149) at the Sugar Bowl ski resort. <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-MtLincoln-0313">I activated it on skis last winter</a>.
  • Mt. Pluto (W6/NS-138) and some of its ski runs at the Northstar ski resort. <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-MtPluto">I've activated it twice on skis</a>.
  • Snow sheds on the railroad tracks that wind down from Donner Summit.
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