It was fairly cold and breezy at the start point.  I suspected this would be the case throughout the hunt.   We heard a good signal at about 315-318 degrees with the antenna horizontally polarized.  Plotting out on a good  ‘ol paper map, the line went just west of route 33 parallel to it.  We headed out PCH to Kanan Dume Road to the 101.  It was a very nice drive; traffic wasn’t too bad and a really pretty day.  Deryl felt it was a about a 50/50 chance for going up 33.  So we did. 

When we got to Oak View we got gas and got BBQ Tri-Tip at a ‘Texas style” eating establishment.  We headed on north.  When we got to the Lockwood Valley turn off we had a very strong signal pointing towards Mt. Pinos/ Frazier Mtn.  After pondering over the map, we reluctantly headed out into Lockwood Valley. 

After about a dozen miles the signal had not gotten any stronger, so we decided to turn around and go back down 33 to the 101 and head towards Santa Barbara.  Shortly after heading south on 33 we saw a white Forerunner t-hunter it was either Jippy or Doug heading north on 33.  We did not get a very strong if any signal, most of the way from the 101 and 33.  Unlike the signal we were following that led us up 33.  Still we felt they must be at Figueroa Mountain.  But how would we get there?  Deryl and I hid up there a number of years ago; the route we took had been closed off due to a winery.  Deryl found 2 possible ways in, IF the gates were open.  We decided to go the closest way in off of 154 and Santa Rosa Road. 

As we meandered our way through the vast horse properties, we were worried that the road would not be open since it seemed to go into these horse and cattle properties.  We came upon a large sign that said the gate was OPEN.  Hooray!  But do we believe it?  A phone number to call if it was not open was on the sign.  So on we went.  Along the way we passed several signs that warned to go slow because cattle could be on the road.  The only cattle we saw was one large bull that was near the road.   Finally the gate and it is…OPEN.  In we go.  The road wasn’t great and the map said it would turn to dirt for a part.  I was looking forward to the dirt part because often when the pavement is bad, the dirt is usually better.  We crossed a couple of rivers and when we got to the dirt, it was somewhat better.  The signal sometimes gave us hope to be in the correct direction and other times we didn’t know if the road would get us over to where the signal was coming from.  As darkness fell and night was upon us, Deryl kept saying that if we didn’t go up 33 we would have been here 4 hours earlier, in the daylight.  The higher we got the more the temperature dropped and the wind increased.  Until now we had not encountered very much wind since we left P.V.  As we got to the peak, we saw another white Forerunner t-hunter; it was Doug RJN so it must have been Jippy that went by us on 33.  We drove in a circle and went by Doug.  We soon realized we were headed down the mountain on the northern road, but there was no place to turn around.  FINALLY the road widened out far enough where I could make a 3-point turn.  We went back up past where we saw Doug stopped and on through a gate where the main signal we had been hunting came from.  We followed the narrow dirt road and got some mixed info from the different radios/ antenna configurations.  Never mind, on to the main signal.  As we wandered through the bushes our headlights picked up the reflectors of a vehicle.  We rounded the bend and saw Bob & Cathy’s truck and the blue Durango of the hiders. 

We found them at least.  Temperature gauge said it was 37 degrees and it was windy.  We got our coats on and out we went.  David was talking with Deryl as I got geared up.  We went over to the main transmitter, where a monkey was hanging from the beam antenna.  I had remembered to get the mileage, but I forgot the bananas for the monkey.  I went back to the truck to get the bananas, signed in and was informed there were more transmitters to find.  Shortly afterwards we found a micro t hanging on a branch.  That was it around here.  Deryl was about to collapse from hypothermia and my fingers were hurting from the cold (I had forgotten my gloves).  So we got into the vehicle turned on the heater and the seat heaters and thawed out.  Deryl had announced earlier we would find 3 transmitters and that would be it.  That was all right with me although I prefer to find an even number.  So we had one more to find. 

We headed out, back to where we had quickly heard a “Michael Jackson” voice t.  It was in the area we saw Doug at.   We parked headed where the signal was coming from, off towards the trees.  We headed out and shortly found a monkey sitting in a tree.  But where was the transmitter?  There it is, looked like a handheld buried in leaves against the stump of the tree and the sign in sheet was buried under some other leaves.  At least here thee was no wind. 

We got back into the vehicle, decision time.  Do we go back down the way we came where the road wasn’t too good and we don’t think we passed any transmitters or go down where we started going down the other side of the mountain where the road was newly paved and a number of signals seemed to be coming from that direction?  We decided to go the northern route, even though we would be going by “Neverland”. 

As we went down the road, there were definitely more transmitters ahead of us.  Steve XFC came up the road and we chatted.  He had found 3 transmitters and none were of the three we had found.  We went on and came along side Mike's “T8” voice transmitter.  I got out and followed where the beam was pointed.  There was high dry grass and a barbwire fence.  It appeared that the signal was coming from beyond the fence.  It was very cold and windy we decided to go back to the vehicle.  Doug had passed us and we came up to where he had stopped, another signal seemed to be coming from the same side of the road but a ways down from where we stopped.  We got out and after a cold hike thru the bushes, determined it was not there.  We drove on slowly.  Doug passed us and eventually turned on to a road on the opposite side of where we had been looking, and yes the signal came from that direction.  Up the road we went also.  Doug was already out searching.  I messed around with my handheld trying to get a direction from body shielding it, with the wind and cold it was not easy.  I stumbled around and finally came upon where Doug was and then Deryl came.  We saw a monkey hanging from a tree branch, Doug handed me the sign in sheet while he looked for the transmitter.  He said the bag with the sign in sheet in it was between the monkey’s legs.  I tried to put it back, but I did not think it would stay because of the wind.  Doug placed the bag in some way between the monkey’s legs as he found it.   Deryl and I headed on down the road/mountain. 

We had found a total of 4 transmitters, we knew there were more, but did not know exactly how many.  We passed at least 2 other transmitters that we could hear.  We did not feel like dealing with the combination of the cold, wind and darkness.  

After a while we were on the flatland again.  Coming up on our left were some bright vehicle lights.  As we got closer I could see it was a news van.  Deryl asked what it was, I told him to look to his right; he would see the entrance to “Neverland”.  As we went by, we saw only a few news vans.  I wanted to take the antenna off, but not there.  We went on a few miles; I stopped so we could remove the beam antenna.  Onward towards home we went.

Ray N6EKS