2. Ham Radio

Diamond Mtn W6/NS-191, Thompson Peak W6/NS-183 SOTA Activations 7/10/2014

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Susanville is visible down in the valley on the other side.
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Susanville is visible down in the valley on the other side.

  • 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.
  • Diamond Mountain W6/NS-191 as seen from along Plumas National Forest motorized trail 12M29. It is the northernmost 8-point summit in the Diamond Mountains, and in the Sierra, and in the SOTA Northern Sierra region, so as the Northern Sierra Region Manager... I felt duty-bound to activate it. :-)
  • To get to Thompson Peak W6/NS-183 and Diamond Mountain W6/NS-191, take highway 395 to Janesville, CA. Turn onto the paved Janesville Grade road (on the north side of the Chevron station at 40.29063N, 120.50029W) and climb up to the P01P28N02 point at 40.24429N, 120.51688W. Turn right onto the graveled and well maintained Plumas National Forest road 28N02 shown in purple. This road should be easy even for 2WD passenger cars if it is dry, and signs point the way to Thompson Peak. Drive for about 2.5 miles westward until you reach the THOMPSON intersection at 40.23846N, 120.54806W.<br /> <br /> The road up to Thompson Peak is rougher than 28N02 and steep in places, but it is generally a good road. 2WD passenger cars should be able to make it up at least half way, and rugged 2WD vehicles (e.g., pickup truck) can drive to within a few hundred yards of the lookout tower. 4WD is necessary (or at least highly recommended). to make it the last hundred yards or so up a steep, rough section to the lookout tower.<br /> <br /> I was headed for Diamond Mountain first, so I kept my Yamaha Grizzly 700 zooming westward on the smooth-as-a-baby's-butt road 28N02.
  • The beginning of road 28N02 at the P01P28N02 point. Note the road marker sign on the right. Plumas National Forest is MUCH better at placing these at road junctions than Tahoe National Forest is. In fact, these handy markers are extremely rare in Tahoe NF, which makes navigating that forest much more difficult.
  • Zoomed in on the right half of the map.
  • The THOMPSON intersection. 28N02 continues to the left, and the right turn to Thompson Peak is really straight ahead. The sign says it is 3 miles up to the peak, but it is actually a little less than that.
  • Zoomed in on the left half of the first map, showing the road route past WIldcat Ridge W6/NS-229 and on to Diamond Mountain W6/NS-191. From the THOMPSON point off the map to the right, continue on 28N02 through the P28N0243 (40.25717N, 120.59747W) and P28N0243B (40.25338N, 120.60343W) points which are major road intersections. Stay left at the first one and right at the second one. I think that the signs point towards Red Rock Lookout. If in doubt, look at the little road marker signs and make sure you are still on 28N02. DO NOT go in the direction of Susanville or Antelope Lake. Pass by Wildcat Ridge and go to P28N0217 where you will now take road 28N17 (shown in green), which is straight ahead vs. road 28N02 continuing to the left. Note that <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&amp;cid=stelprdb5322854&amp;navid=360000000000000&amp;pnavid=null&amp;ss=110511&amp;position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&amp;ttype=detail&amp;pname=Plumas%20National%20Forest-%20Maps">Plumas National Forest's Motor Vehicle Maps</a> (<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5409101.pdf">Janesville Area map</a>) show the green road as being 28N15 instead of 28N17. Maybe it is, but I thought I read 28N17 as my GPS-guided and high-powered vehicle zoomed through that intersection at just under Mach 11. ;-) The green 28N17 (28N15?) road is rougher than 28N02, but not that much rougher, and 2WD passenger cars should be able to handle it just fine if they slow down on the rougher stuff. Continue to the P12M29_800 point at 40.29823N, 120.67257W and turn right onto motorized trail 12M29 (shown in red).
  • The sign at the P28N0243B intersection. Continue on 28N02 towards Red Rock Lookout.
  • The beginning of motorized trail 12M29 (at P12M29_800), 13 miles from where you left the pavement on Janesville Grade road. As per the route marker, this trail is open to motorcycles, ATVs and 4x4's. It is a pretty tame motorized trail and rugged 2WD vehicles should be able to make it at least half way up. It is only about 1 mile long, so you can park and hike up it if you like. Per my GPS track log, this point is 2.11 miles from the DIamond Mountain summit and 800 vertical feet below it. NOTE: I forgot to take pictures, but there are some of the largest Wooly Mule Ear fields that I've ever seen along this route. That's saying a lot since I am from Truckee where Wooly Mule Ears are about as common as bears raiding trash cans (or <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/Animals/Bear-Raided-My-Hummer/">raiding your Hummer, eating all your get-home-bag's MREs, then leaving a "calling card" to add insult to injury when they are through</a>).
  • My Yamaha Grizzly 700 SOTA steed at the top of (end of) 12M29. This is the DIAMOND_458 point on my maps and is at 40.31118N, 120.67452W. From here it is a cross-country hike (no trail) of 1.16 miles to the summit as per my GPS track log, with an elevation gain of around 460 feet per the USGS topo map.
  • Susanville is visible down in the valley on the other side.
  • There is a small pond at this DIAMOND 458 point, so if you are short on water and have a water filter, you can refill your H2O here. Note that the camera is looking SSE, Diamond Mountain is in the other direction.
  • Topo map showing the track logs from my hike up (red) and back down (green). The turquoise and white dashed line is my estimate of the activation zone. My route back down was better, I stayed along the summit ridge or on the south side of it. On the way up I made the mistake of trying to go along the north side of the big rock formation, and that put me onto a steep bowl that I had to climb back up (1 step up, slide back 1/2 step, take another step). The north side is also the lee side, so it felt like it was 10 degrees hotter without the SW breeze to cool you down.
  • Google Earth view of the hike, looking north.
  • Looking in the direction of the summit from the DIAMOND 458 point where I parked my ATV. The summit is not yet visible. There is no reason to climb up to the rocky point that you see, that was another mistake on my hike up: all that buys you is a descent of about the same amount on the other side. The best route would be to stay on the left side of the fence line and aim for about 1/3 of the way up from those trees to the rocky point.<br /> <br /> WARNING: Although I didn't see a single snake anywhere on my hike up or down, this area screams "Rattlesnake Habitat". Watch where you step, and poke a hiking pole out ahead of you if you have to step somewhere that you can't see.
  • It is generally an easy hike with no brush or footing issues. However, there isn't much shade along the way, and none at all on top. This wind-swept pine was one of the few shady spots along the way (DiaShadeTree waypoint the topo map). The summit is now visible on the skyline.
  • A Google Earth view looking NW that shows the rock formation that I mentioned before. Going around the formation on the west (left) side is best.
  • The rock formation as seen from below with the summit on the skyline to the right of it.
  • Some of the volcanic rocks in the formation. That odd looking gap between two of them is about 6 feet high (just the part that you can see through) so that gives you an idea of how big these rocks are. They would probably be lots of fun for a rock climber to play around on. By the way, doesn't that gap in the rocks look like the profile of a Roman centurion's helmeted head? Or did I drink one too many cocktails as I write up this trip report? ;-)
  • Wildflowers along the way.
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