SOTA Summit: W6/SD-024, Peak 5863
Trail: PCT and then 100% bushwhack to summit
Hike: Difficult (bushwhacking) ~ 5+ miles round trip.
Elevation gain: 820 feet
Self Spot: N0 (RBNhole – CW)
2-meter FM: No
Files: GPX
Bushwhacking ahead…
After completing Combs Peak in the morning I set out on the South side of the PCT to Peak 5863. This one is not for the faint of heart when it comes to bushwhacking. Once you leave the PCT there is NO trail, no use trial, no game trial, nothing. It is 100% bushwhacking and bush navigating. Make sure to wear long pants, the bush become bigger and thicker the higher you go.
The hike should be about 2 miles total but you will wander around a good bit trying to find your way through the bush and up the ridge. Eventually I succumbed and just started powering through. That seemed to be quickest.
There is supposed to be a peak register but I did not find it. I don’t expect many entries as there is little evidence of other visitors except for a pile of 3 rocks at the summit. Truth be told, after the climb, I didn’t spend too long looking for the register, I just wanted to finish up and get back down to the PCT. I made a quick go of it on 20M. I did listen on 2-meters and called CQ a few times but nothing heard.
There was a large rattlesnake on the way out. A PCT hiker ahead of me spotted him first and the snake was in full-blown rattle mode. Just visible slithering away into the bushes in the last photos, (not the snake in the earlier images.) That was my one caution during the bushwhack – constantly probing the backside of rocks, logs, and branches just in case a rattlesnake was on the backside.
The PCT hiker was a local from San Diego who was section hiking. He was finishing the last bits of of Sections A and B. He and I had a great chat about our mutual obsession for lightweight backpacking gear on the way back to the trailhead.
Thank you to all the chasers who helped to make this a successful activation.
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