Here's a shot of the Cone Peak Lookout at the summit. My Arrow II Back Pack Portable 2m antenna can be seen on the left side of the lookout.

Using bungee cords, I strapped my telescoping mast to the rail surrounding the lookout.

Here I am trying to work some stations on 2m sideband. That's my Yaesu FT-817 hanging from my neck. I made no contacts on sideband that day, probably due to the fact that it was a Tuesday. I did make one contact on 146.520 FM with K6IOU, who was in Atascadero (between San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles). I was able to maintain the contact even after lowering the power to 0.5 watts.

I did hear W6KLH back in San Jose, but his signal was only 1 bar on my VX-150. I tried calling him, but he couldn't hear me.

This is the view from Cone Peak looking NE. That's Junipero Serra Peak in the distance. At 5,862 feet, Junipero Serra Peak is the highest mountain in the Santa Lucia Range. Cone Peak is the second highest at 5,155 feet. John Fedak's site has a nice picture of what Cone Peak looks like from Junipero Serra Peak.

The view from Cone Peak looking south down the California Coast. It is quite a view from 5,155 feet just a few miles from the Pacific.

The view from Cone Peak looking north up the California Coast.

Here's a shot of the USGS marker on Cone Peak.

I took this picture on the way back down Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. This is the view looking north up the California coast. Highway 1 can be seen cutting through the hillside.