01/25/2005 | KQ6EE KQ6EE (OLD MAN CHU) still can hike. I did not do any contact on Saturday because of family duties. So, on Sunday, wake up early in the morning, pack everything in my back-pack; from 6m to 1.2 ghz; Ft-817 for all vhf/uhf band, Alinco 220 HT, Icom 4 bander HT, dual bander beam, mag-mount and all the stuffs, and hiked up to Mt. Disappintment (5900+ feet) above Pasadena Ca. I almost hiked to San Gabriel (6100+ feet) Peak but there is still some snow up there. So I had turned back and landed on Mt. Disappointment. This is a easy hike. It only takes less than one hour hike, and I was at the top of almost everybody. I only did contacting from about 9am to 1 pm. My beam antenna didn't do very good ( need to tune up ---high swr ). So, I used the magmount for 2m and 6m most of the time, and used the rear connector on ft-817; just put the magmount on any steel surface; Telescope antenna (2m and 440) was used in the front connector on ft-817. Also, my digital camera was went out of battery, so I cannot take any wonderfull pictures. I haven't calculated my score yet. But I have my fun. May be in June, I might pack my sleep bag, tent and all equipments to camp at the top of the mountain and do CQ CONTACT, CQ CONTACT. -- KQ6EE