Ray and Deryl's Story
August 25th 2012
Since the other two official teams submitted a report, I
thought I
should also. The previous month we went to Frazier Park
and had lunch
at Denny’s. We were waay off from where the hider
actually was at.
This would affect our decision process at the start of
this hunt that
led us to the wrong area.
Our initial bearing went to the west of Frazier Park,
which indicated
it could be Mt. Pinos. However it could also be much
closer in the
Santa Monica mountains or possibly above Fillmore at the
Condor
Preserve where Deryl hid once before. So reluctantly
we went north on
PCH rather than the 405. Slow and slower in case it
was in the Santa
Monica mountains.
Before we reached LAX it was apparent that it was further
to the
north. However going this route was a good thing for
me. I could not
remember if I had turned off the lights on my car that I
parked at
Deryl’s. Since we were basically going right by
Deryl’s home we
stopped and checked. Of course I had turned them
off, but at least it
would not be nagging me during the rest of the hunt.
We hopped on the 90 to the 405 north. We are now
headed for the
Condor Preserve above Fillmore. The route was the
405 to the 118 to
the 23 north, to the 126. At Fillmore it was lunch
time and we were
hungry, so we searched for a place to eat. After
driving around a
while we decided upon a place called the “Movie Train
Cafe” across the
street from the train station in downtown Fillmore.
We were not in
the mood for mexican food (which there are plenty of
places, including
El Pescador) and there was no Denny’s in the area, so we
finally
decided to take a chance on this place. I had a
terrific tri-tip
sandwich with pasta salad. The prices were no more
than at Denny’s.
After lunch we headed to the Condor Preserve. As Don KF6GQ
reported we
met he and Steve KD6LAJ on the way up. The signal
was still pretty
good so we went a little further up the road until we were
satisfied
that it was not up there.
We felt it was now at Pinos so we went the 126 to the 5. A
left turn
for us Don and Steve turned right headed towards 33 we
presumed. On
the 5 as we were just passing Pyramid Lake, Deryl got a
good signal to
the west. Upon exiting at Frazier Park we got gas
(yes the Hybrid
needs to do that occasionally as well). As we approached
Lockwood
Valley Road it did not look like it was at
Pinos. So off we went on
Lockwood Valley Road towards possibly Reyes Peak.
As we came up on 7N03 Mutau Road I gave it a hard look on
the map and
said it was a possibility. The bearing from the 5
north of Pyramid
Lake went through this area and on out to the Reyes Peak
area. On
past we went towards Reyes Peak. At the road
headed up to Reyes Peak
we saw Don and Steve. We exchanged truthful
information respectively
and decided to go back to 7N03.
Once going down 7N03 it became apparent that we were
finally in the
correct area. The t’s we found were enjoyable.
As the sun was
setting, we decided we had driven enough and that it would
soon be
dark so we headed out.
Good hunt Doug, thank you. Congrats Bob.
-Ray, N6EKS
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