2. Ham Radio

Carpenter Ridge (W6/NS-123) SOTA Activation 7/23/2013

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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.
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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.

SOTANorthernSierra

  • 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.
  • To get to Carpenter Ridge, travel on Highway 89 between Truckee and Sierraville. Turn onto Sagehen Road (39.44632N, 120.21447W) and follow the signs toward Sagehen Creek Campground. Be sure to turn left at the point marked FS11 (39.45247N, 120.23069W) as that sign was missing today. When you see a sign indicating that the campground is 0.5 miles to the left, at the CARPCAMP point (39.4377N, 120.26459W), continue to the right on Tahoe National Forest road 11. At the Y intersection at CARPSAGE (39.42042N, 120.28223W), bear right. At CARPJUNC (39.42379N, 120.31258) turn left and drive to the end of the road to begin your hike.<br /> <br /> The roads shown above in green are fine for any 2WD vehicle when they are dry. The blue roads require a rugged 2WD or preferably 4WD. The road shown by the dashed orange line goes to a UC Berkeley research station and is gated and closed to the public.
  • The sign at the CARPCAMP intersection. Don't go the direction the sign is pointing, continue to the right instead.
  • The Y intersection at CARPSAGE. Take the right branch, but if you decide that you also want to activate Sagehen Hills W6/NS-193, come back down and take the left one (see my <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-SagehenHills-W6NS193-2013">Sagehen Hills (W6/NS-193) SOTA Activation 8/13/2013</a> album for more information).
  • My SOTA Steed (Yamaha Grizzly 700) parked near the end of the road at the CarpenterPark point on the map. I made it the approximately 10 miles from Highway 89 to this point in 23 minutes. If you are in a normal vehicle you should allow for significantly more time. Either that, or allow for a significant vehicle repair bill. ;-)
  • The summit of Carpenter Ridge as seen on June 5th, 2013 when I made my first attempt to activate it. Just before beginning the final climb from the saddle, I was viciously and mercilessly attacked by the largest swarm of mosquitos this side of Hades. They were apparently breeding in the snow melt. The skeeters were on my arms, in my eyes, going up my nose and I had no bug repellent to discourage them with. I turned around, vowing to make another attempt after the snow melted.
  • The summit of Carpenter Ridge today on July 23rd: dry and soarable with a cummie above. I brought along a veritable arsenal of bug repellents including single use wipes (quick to deploy) and a bottle of 100% DEET liquid. I briefly considered bringing an aerosol can of starter fluid and a Bic lighter (improvised flame thrower), but with fire restrictions in place I decided that wouldn't exactly be prudent. Of course since I was fully armed and prepared to deal with mosquito swarms... I didn't see a single danged one.
  • Per my GPS, the hike is 0.84 miles long with an elevation gain of approximately 370 vertical feet. Climb up through the forest then contour along the open bowl below the north side of the 8784 foot point to the saddle. From there, climb up the spine of the ridge to the summit. The hike took me about 45 minutes.
  • There is a faint use trail heading up through the forest. Brush is minimal so don't worry if you can't find it and end up going a different way.
  • This is the open ground on the side of the bowl that you should contour across. Climbing to the top is unnecessary if there is no snow. Note that this north-facing side of the ridge will be covered in snow until late in the season. This last winter was exceptionally dry, so it was all gone today on July 23rd.
  • Looking up to the summit from the saddle. Pt. 8812 (W6/NS-130) near White Rock Lake is on the skyline to the left of the summit. Postscript: <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Pt8812-W6NS130-2013">I activated that one a week later</a>.
  • Looking back the way I came from just above the saddle. On my aborted attempt back in June, I was trying to make my way along the snowfree but steeper south-facing side of the ridge (to the right in this shot). The mosquitoes descended upon me just as I was picking my way through the not-exactly-stable rock slide you can see to the right of Pt. 8784.
  • Zoomed in view of Pt. 8784 and its rock slide on its south slope.
  • OK, enough about past failed attempts. Here I am standing on the summit.
  • Looking back down the way I came.
  • I decided to bring the Alexloop today instead of my 88' doublet because the summit ridge is narrow, and I thought I would be forced to orient the doublet in a non-optimal direction (beaming N-S instead of E-W). I found a spot about 20 vertical feet below the summit that would give me shade while operating, had great views and a fantastic downslope to the NE, and also had some handy vegetation to which I could bungee the Buddipole shockcord mast.
  • Standing near my operating spot. That's Independence Lake in the background to the north.
  • My operating spot.
  • My view while operating.
  • The Alexloop supported by the Buddipole shockcord mast.
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