IFR departure attempting to contact nct was issued low altitude alert; later discovering ATC had iss...

Narrative:

I departed in IMC with clearance from a mountain airport at 2;100 ft and was cleared to climb to 3;000 ft and contact 121.25. On climbout; I attempted to make radio contact at least 3 times with no success. Meanwhile; I was dealing with an autopilot recycle and fighting some crosswind turbulence that caused me to get on a 270 degree heading which was not correct for the VOR that was my first checkpoint. Realizing I couldn't make contact on 121.25; I went to 125.4 (the usual contact from this airport) and informed them of my situation. They told me to stay on the same heading and shortly afterwards; issued a terrain alert and an immediate climb to 5;000 ft. On or about that time. I requested a direct routing to my next waypoint that was at about 240 degrees; which they allowed. All of this occurred in IMC. I was told to call the controlling agency on landing; which I did. After relating the situation; I was informed that they gave me someone else's clearance! (For an airport that is 33 miles south of my departure!) I should have been suspicious of such a low altitude clearance and a contact frequency that is normally used south of my area.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IFR departure attempting to contact NCT was issued low altitude alert; later discovering ATC had issued wrong clearance; an operational error was recorded.

Narrative: I departed in IMC with clearance from a mountain airport at 2;100 FT and was cleared to climb to 3;000 FT and contact 121.25. On climbout; I attempted to make radio contact at least 3 times with no success. Meanwhile; I was dealing with an autopilot recycle and fighting some crosswind turbulence that caused me to get on a 270 degree heading which was not correct for the VOR that was my first checkpoint. Realizing I couldn't make contact on 121.25; I went to 125.4 (the usual contact from this airport) and informed them of my situation. They told me to stay on the same heading and shortly afterwards; issued a terrain alert and an immediate climb to 5;000 FT. On or about that time. I requested a direct routing to my next waypoint that was at about 240 degrees; which they allowed. All of this occurred in IMC. I was told to call the controlling agency on landing; which I did. After relating the situation; I was informed that they gave me someone else's clearance! (For an airport that is 33 miles south of my departure!) I should have been suspicious of such a low altitude clearance and a contact frequency that is normally used south of my area.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	821385
Time
Date	200901
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	MYV.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 12.4 Flight Crew Total 1557 Flight Crew Type 1299
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance

IFR departure attempting to contact nct was issued low altitude alert; later discovering ATC had issued wrong clearance; an operational error was recorded.