Plans changed and had a day free, so I decided to hit Middle Peak, W6/SC-024, in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. Despite being in the desert southwest with lots of rock and cactus and chaparral, the coastal hills catch snow and rain and dew from marine moisture. Springtime it is the greenest. Things will dry and brown out more or less as it is a mediterranean climate depending on how much dew or summer monsoon moisture a location gets. I think @W6PNG captured this so well in his post for the nextdoor Stonewall Peak W6/SC-029. Just like the English Lake District!! – Wanderings
Weather was perfect, the views were great, and this summit is a good one for MTB activations. I started out at the Milkranch Rd intersection. The photo below is from the end of the ride, but shows how green the meadow and oak/pine forest is now. The grass was deep and somewhere in that photo is a brown dot that is a coyote who was out trying to pounce on a slow ground squirrel or other prey.
Deep meadow
On the way up, there was a lot to be seen. Introduced wild turkey, chipmunks (western) and ground squirrels. (Saw a mule deer doe on the drive home.)
Columbine blooming
Leaves of three leave them be - LOL
Apparently this spiky species is “bitter gooseberry”
Here’s the new steed.
Pedals level - nice. Tires not rotated into position, so not super nice.
This view from greenness shows in the distance dry desert mountaintops as the limits of marine moisture capture have been hit.
desert peaks in distance
This fire killed and weathered tree trunk was fun. The surface looks like a relief topo map. Perhaps someone should mold that into the dash of a pickup?
topography trunk
After the fire, there is impassable underbrush. If you head out for this one, get intel from others or go out with someone for the AZ approach.
2m was productive on our regional 146.58 frequency; I posted a self spot to let folks know I was QRV. Worked two bursts with a 5 minute break in between on 2m:
- N1CLC
- K1CT
- KF7NP
- N6DRE
- NT6E
- N6PVM
- KD6EFQ
- KI6SLA
- KJ6BXN
- AF5T
- WB9RKN
That would be good on a Saturday. Astounding for a weekday.
I also worked a quick run on 20m:
- WW7D
- WU7H
- N6MI
- NU7A
- KD7J
I haven’t posted a loadout recently. I have several different configurations, but have been using this one lately.
Packed for MTB
Not optimized for volume or weight
KD1JV ATS3B.1 QRP rig, Emtech ZM-2 QRP antenna tuner, K6ARK and N6ARA paddles, pieces of speaker wire, fiberglass telescoping mast, Talentcell battery, old Icom HT and period appropriate 1/2 wave whip.
2m
This HT has bandpass filter so does well on crowded mountaintops. May not be fantastic with in band, but that is rarely a problem. Have done 200 miles HT to HT with this a couple of times from the right pairs of mountaintops.
HF
Imagine the 10m wire unfurled and the 5m wire counterpoise deployed. 
ATS 3B.1
The ATS3B.1 is one point in the long evolutionary line of Steve KD1JV’s rigs.
Band modules
This particular radio was still plug in band modules. 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 bands.
It was always amazing to see Steve list another 100 kits available and have them sell out in 24 hours.
Fun stuff!
Drew
n7da