Summit Rock (elevation 3076') is located in Sanborn County Park. Click here for an aerial image showing the location of Summit Rock relative to the South Bay. Click here to see the location on a topographic map. The topo maps shows the location of Summit Rock relative to Castle Rock. Summit Rock is roughly half a mile north of Castle Rock and on the opposite side of Highway 35.
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This picture shows my operating location near the top of Summit Rock. I forgot to bring the tripod mount so I had to lean the mast up against the rock to take this picture. On the air I was saying the elevation was 2800', but I looked at a topo map when I got home and it showed the elevation to be 3076'. |
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Here's a closer view of the mast and antenna. I was using my trusty Arrow portable 2m beam in the vertically polarized configuration. The two radios on the rock next to the mast are from left to right, my Radio Shack BTX-127 and my Vertex Standard VX-150. I was using the Radio Shack HT to talk to my wife back at the ranch on one of the MURS channels. I used the VX-150 for FM simplex on 146.520 MHz. |
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Since I forgot to bring the tripod mount, I had to hold the mast with the other hand while operating. I made a couple of distant contacts from here: one was to Sonoma Valley and the other was to Placerville. The Placerville contact was Norm (KC6ZWT) who was full-scale on my signal strength meter and sounded like he was operating from the Santa Clara Valley below. I was able to reach him with the VX-150 set on the lowest power setting of 0.5 watts. Norm was also my most distant contact on 2m sideband. His signal was S9+ on 144.200 USB. |
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Here's the view from Summit Rock looking toward the Northeast. |
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The setting sun was my cue that it was time to pack up and head back down the trail to the car. |
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I made use of the telescoping mast climbing down the rock. I extended the mast and then lowered it down to the ground so I wouldn't have to carry it as I climbed down the rock. The portable beam rollup bag is hanging from the top of the mast. As you can see, there is lots of graffiti on Summit Rock. In fact when I was climbing down the rock I thought I smelled fresh paint. Hmmm... I wonder if one of the visitors to the rock while I was there was doing a little tagging. . |
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Perhaps I stayed too long. It got dark fast on the trail back to the parking lot. I brought a flashlight just in case I stayed past dark, but I didn't use it. I met a couple on their way up to Summit Rock. They said they liked to hike at night because it was quiet. When I got back to the car I heard some yelling coming from the direction of Summit Rock. Bigfoot? Nope. Someone yelling "Hello San Jose" as if anyone could hear them. So much for that couple's peace and quiet. |
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This is the sign at the trailhead. According to this, Summit Rock is only about .4 miles from the parking lot. A pretty short hike for such great views and great hilltopping location. |