On Saturday, July 4, 2020, at about 1330 UTC, the AB3G SOTA and DX Association will activate Morton Peak - W6/CT-128.
Although this summit isn’t technical or particularly challenging, what makes this activation special is that this activation will immediately follow the wedding ceremony of @KM3ADavid, and Lizzette, K6LZT, on the same summit. The wedding will be officiated by @N0OIScott, who recently became ordained for this occasion. Members of the AB3G Association will activate the Morton Peak SOTA summit using club callsign AB3G and will utilize CW & SSB (40m, 20m, 17m, 15m), and 2m FM. The activation will also celebrate American Independence Day. If you hear us call CQ, please respond - we will love to get you in our log as part of the celebration—best Wishes & 73.
What an incredible story! If it is OK with you, I’d like to formulate a press release and circulate to the AR news sites and publications worldwide. Could you please email me photos of the happy occasion - ceremony and activation - to my email address as per QRZ.com?
Our original wedding plans were canceled (supposed to be on June 7) because of government COVID restrictions and closures of our religious sites. As a result, we were thinking of something unique, memorable, and fun that would go beyond the typical courthouse/clerk-recorder wedding, and a mini SOTA expedition seemed to fit the bill nicely We really like Morton Peak because of the views into San Gorgonio wilderness area, and thankfully my SOTA buddy Scott - @N0OI was willing to get ordained and put something together. I’ll definitely send you some photos! I’ll send you a link to a Google share drive to your email so you can get the full resolution and also to avoid size limitations etc. Liz and I are headed to Las Vegas for the weekend following the ceremony and activation, but I will send you a selection of photos to see if you like any when we get back. Thanks for the celebratory comments! We appreciate it.
I showed the announcement to my XYL, and we agreed that it sounds very romantic. We would, of course, at our wedding we left the church through an archway of ice axes held by our friends in the climbing club! We wish you both a long and happy marriage with good views and good DX. Please put some photos on the reflector!
The SOTA expedition to W6/CT-128 Morton Peak was a huge success. At about 0030 UTC, Me (Dave, @KM3A the groom) Liz, K6LZT (the bride), Liz’s mom (Rosie), my sister (Crystal), Scott, @N0OI (and newly ordained clergy), and Corrine, N2ZIP (Scott’s wife) arrived at the base of Morton and consolidated vehicles. After driving up to the locked gate, we all hiked a short 1.5 miles to the summit. Crystal created a bouquet using wildflowers, and we went live with the ceremony Scott put together. The views were stunning, as the sun crested over the San Gorgonio valley it created elegant shadows not only through the valley but on the San Bernardino city area below. We used Scott’s SOTA dog Zip as the ring bearer, which also worked out great. After the ceremony (we both said "I DO), we popped a bottle of champagne, mixed it with orange juice, and made a few toasts and drank mimosas.
Finally, we activated the summit using our club, callsign AB3G. I worked 20m SSB and CW and made a delightful number of contacts - including DX to Panama! Corrine worked 40m SSB, and Scott worked 40m CW. Most impressively, Liz, K6LZT, activated her first SOTA summit using 2m FM! She picked up the required four contacts and is now officially on the SOTA board with 4 points. In all, we made 49 QSOs, and it was terrific to hear celebratory words of happiness from all over the world. Of note: I had some QSL cards made and will be sending them out as “thank you” / special event cards (no return required or needed).
Walking back to the car, we all agreed it was a perfect wedding and an ideal SOTA. We then ate breakfast at a very relaxed cafe called Heska’s Sugar Shack, which made delicious omelets, and the owner and his wife blessed us by playing and singing the song “Tupelo Honey.” Finally, we headed out to Las Vegas and took advantage of the COVID room rates.
Here are some photos (@M1EYP I’m going to send you a separate email with full resolution)
Great photos. A historical SOTA activation that will be talked about for years to come I suspect, up there with those very first activations on 2nd March 2002, the expedition to Aconcagua LUM/PH-001, 6962m ASL and Colin M1BUU’s activation of Whernside G/NP-004 when he homebrewed the rig and antenna on the summit!
Many many congratulations, and like everyone says, thank you for sharing with the SOTA community. I think these photos above are OK for me to do my thing with the publicity / news distribution.
Congratulations Lizzette and David. We all SOTA JA team celebrate and wish your long happy life together.
Will distribute this good news in SOTA JA team.
We really like Morton Peak because of the views into San Gorgonio wilderness area, and thankfully my SOTA buddy Scott - 
