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My original plan was to activate Sandia Crest/SI-001, but ultimately weather became the deciding factor. It snowed overnight the night before my activation. In the morning, I was using NM-165 to approach the Crest Road to the summit (I didn't realize using NM-536 was the better/paved option). As I headed up NM-165 the road started out dry, but became snow covered, and then progressively deeper in snow. There was one set of tracks in the snow from a prior vehicle, but the tracks were wider apart than they are on my vehicle, so I could only use one track at time. At the point where I was questioning my ability to get up the Crest Road (steeper grade) in 4 or more inches of snow, I saw the trailhead parking for Palomas Peak, and decided Palomos (plan B) was the better/wiser option. In hindsight, I believe I had a more enjoyable SOTA experience for the day than I would have had activating Sandia Crest. I also learned later from KT5X's posting that the Crest Road was closed the night before... I'm not sure when it reopened. The trail up Palomas Peak is a delightful trail. The first half of the trail is fairly flat until after crossing the Las Huertas Creek, then it's a steady hike up. Heading up I used micro-spikes (and gaiters) for the snow. As I hiked up the trail, the residual, low level clouds from the snowstorm, blocked my view of Sandia Crest and the surrounding area. It wasn't until I was on the summit that the clouds eventually burned off. The temps were on the low side, but with 2 or 3 layers I was comfortable... and it wasn't windy... so that helped too. My first contact was on 2m was with Jon/KC2SHO who says "Hang on!" "Don't leave this frequency... I'll text the gang." And he did! I got a bunch more contacts, many of whom followed me to the HF bands. Back at the trailhead, the snow on the road had melted and it was easy travelling on the muddy road back to pavement, and then to the Mine Shaft Bar (Thanks Fred/KT5X... great recommendation!). Also, thanks to the local contacts who made my day so much fun; KC2SHO, NK5W, WA6BJH, KI5VJJ, W5BYZ, K5ZN, and N5PEZ. I've attached some pics.
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Grand Central report
T-Mobile Popular for its extensive cactus gardens, Grand Central is as those who have been there before will expect, except for this: day use fees are waived for all NM residents from November 1 to April 30 in all state parks and lands. Light wind and temperatures in the 50’s made for a very pleasant hike. Strava says it was a 1,200 ft ascent, done in about an hour twenty. I particularly liked finding the rock pole support built several years ago still intact, hi hi. TNX to CN and N9KW for the chases. Condx fine, could see snow capped probably Wheeler and probably Canjilon. 73, John and Fred KX2 KH1
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W5N/MO-011 Chupadera Mesa Wednesday March 12, 2025. Depart my QTH by 0800 en-route to trail head parking. see GPX Drive QRV around 1830 UTC Weather will be partly cloudy with temps in the 60's with winds around 10 mph. From where we will park its a short hike along the ridge to the activation zone. see GPX Hike 73 all enjoy the previous pics WB5USB Geo...
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crest road
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Appears to have been closed as of ten last night, and no notice of reopening, though expect it will later this morning… fd
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146.52
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WELL - FIRST AND FOREMOST - SOTA IS NOT A CONTEST! Neither is POTA. It is much more like DXing, in where some operator travels to a specific location and others try to contact that location. The 146.520 frequency is the national calling frequency. Generally speaking, if you are going to look for anyone to be listening to a simplex frequency, this will be it. There is nothing wrong with calling CQ on the frequency, but a QSO should be moved off that frequency. That is just good manners. Yes - some lack good manners. There is also the wilderness protocol. People monitor 146.520 listening for emergency calls. This is less of an issue in large metropolitan areas, but if near a wilderness region that should be considered. I personally monitor 146.520 a lot. I will answer calls there, but will not have a QSO there beyond a few short words like "I'm in your driveway". Vy73 - Mike - KD5KC. El Paso, Texas - DM61rt. SOTA W5T-Texas Association Manager. https://summits.sota.org.uk/association/W5T
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I'm planning to activate Sandia Crest, W5N/SI-001, this Saturday. Here's the details: Arrive at parking/trailhead at 8:15am local time <<< from where are your driving? Begin Activating at 9:45am local <<< the trek from Crest parking to the ridge is 3 minutes. Après Activation at Mine Shaft Bar in Madrid at 1:00pm Forecast is partly cloudy with temps in the 40s <<< not exactly. Forecast temperature in the teens in the AM with a 20% chance of flurries.
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Activation Plan
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I'm planning to activate Sandia Crest, W5N/SI-001, this Saturday. Here's the details: Arrive at parking/trailhead at 8:15am local time Begin Activating at 9:45am local Après Activation at Mine Shaft Bar in Madrid at 1:00pm Forecast is partly cloudy with temps in the 40s The road up is reportedly clear/dry A SOTAwatch Alert has been posted 73, Ray / KD8EQA
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Partly cloudy as Don and I headed to trail head parking. From reading the previous reports we decided to approach from the west through the gate and drive around to parking. See GPX Hike to see where we parked. 34.958525, -108.133056 From parking its a relative easy hike of about .7 of a mile to the summit. I packed light just in case the hike would prove to be much worse the it was. A great hike with nice views. Once on top I set up my QMX and fed it into my tuned 20 meter vertical. Little QMX did a great job. Meanwhile Don set up near the rocky summit. Enjoy the pics.. Geo..WB5USB
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Morse code on Mars
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There is Morse code in the dust of Mars… until the next dust storm anyway. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p7f8oR5ELwk FD
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Action Plan: W5N/CO-013 Cerro Rendija Wednesday March 5, 2025 Don and I will depart my QTH by 0800 en-route to trail head parking. All roads up are in good shape. Last time I parked on the pull out I was informed by a Ranger that I must be within 9 feet of the road. see GPX drive Its a .9 mile hike up to the summit. see GPX hike See previous pics. Very rocky on top but there is areas just below the summit that are grassy with pines. 73 WB5USB Geo...
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Wagon Mound Activation Report
Wagon Mound/EL-016, and West Las Mesas del Conjelon/EL-014, proved to be everything I was hoping for. The weather was ideal... sunny with a little breeze. I activated with Matt/KF0RIG. For Wagon Mound, we parked at the cemetery, and hiked up, heading for the juniper on the right side of the summit (just like KT5X's posting suggested). In fact, studying and memorizing the SOTA postings was a great help for both summits. I'm happy to report, there's not a bit of snow or ice to deal with. I wore trail shoes (with grippy soles) and waiters (for the scrubby vegetation). The approach to the base of the mound seemed steeper than I expected from looking at pictures. The slot was awesome, with plenty of solid hand-holds. As you go up, near the bottom of the slot, pay attention to a rock that you'll need to use for your descent. It won't be visible when you descend, so it's good to know it's there. Once on top, the same Juniper that we used for a heading, is the one where the register/cairn is located. Looking at the callsigns in the register that came before me made me feel like it was a special honor to have my callsign associated with theirs. For Conjelon, we downloaded (from the SOTLAS page) and used K1JD's gpx track. Also, be sure to get the required NM Rec Access Permit, and display it on the dashboard of your vehicle. My permit took three days to get from online application (Sunday) to email inbox (Wednesday). Even though we had a track to follow, really, your going to have to do a lot of route finding through scrub oak to get to the rim of the mesa. The most important bit of advice I can pass on is to make sure you hike up onto the mesa at exactly the location along the rim that the gpx track does. Being left or right of the entry point you will either cliff-out or be climbing rock. Once on top of the mesa, it's about a mile of open, easy terrain to the last pitch and summit. The 360 degree views of both summits is impressive. Thanks to KT5X for finding his mic for a local contact. My other high points were a couple DX contacts in the Canary Islands, a S2S in W0C, a S2S in W5O, and being N0MTN's Complete for Wagon Mound.
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Palomas report
Best way to get local SOTA ops to join you, is post your intentions here, Ray. Glad you enjoyed The Wagon Mound and Conjelon. John and I ascended Palomas today (followed by the nearby Crest). Palomas road from Placitas is getting rougher. Very little snow on the trail already. Road above Palomas still has melting snow, I wouldn’t go in either direction without good tires. Palomas means “dove.” We heard doves coo’ing. Either we heard the doves, or perhaps we were being surrounded unknown natives. Little joke there. TNX to locals for the chases; N9KW, WB5USB, N5XR, NM5S, and NM5D fd Fred, What a fantastic list of fun SOTA peaks to climb! I’m already rearranging my SOTA schedule to make room for Cabezon and Pedernal. Thanks a bunch for putting this list together for me… very much appreciated! I’m always looking for operators to activate with. If anyone reading this thread has an interest in any of these peaks, and wouldn’t mind a tag-along, please reach out to me to coordinate something. My email: rgierlach@... So many peaks… so little time… Ray / KD8EQA From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Fred Maas via groups.io Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2025 9:11 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [W5N-SOTA] Activation Plans for Thursday, 27th Ray, other northern NM peaks that may be of special interest to you if you like hands-on climbing: Cabezon W5N/SM-019 … similar to but higher than the more famous Devil’s Tower in WY. in this area, also SM-033, SM-034, SM-037, SM-036 … this area deserves a multi-day camping trip. You will LOVE IT. Area roads MUST BE DRY. Also visit Guadalupe Ruin nearby. Pedernal W5N/SE-018 … made famous by Georgia O’Keefe. Also visit nearby Mesa Viejo, W5N/CC-020 vy picturesque. And then there is Cerro Blanco, W5N/CC-011. This mountain of marble, was once limestone. The limestone was turned to marble by a meteor impact. Fd
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Other Peaks Similar to Wagon Mound
Fred, What a fantastic list of fun SOTA peaks to climb! I’m already rearranging my SOTA schedule to make room for Cabezon and Pedernal. Thanks a bunch for putting this list together for me… very much appreciated! I’m always looking for operators to activate with. If anyone reading this thread has an interest in any of these peaks, and wouldn’t mind a tag-along, please reach out to me to coordinate something. My email: rgierlach@... So many peaks… so little time… Ray / KD8EQA
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Activation Plans for Thursday, 27th
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Matt/KF0RIG and I/KD8EQA plan to activate Wagon Mound, W5N/EL-016, and West Las Mesas del Conjelon, W5N/EL-014, this Thursday, February 27th. The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny, with a light wind. Our planned time for leaving the Wagon Mound trailhead/parking is 8:15am local... activating at 10:30am. For West Las Mesas del Conjelon, our planned time for leaving the trailhead/parking is 1:30pm local... activating at 3:30pm. We hope to catch some of you on 40m. We'll be spotting our bands and frequencies. Ray / KD8EQA
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Weather was cloudy as Don, Scott and I headed out towards Grants. Just east of Grants, Don and I peeled off and headed south toward W5N/CO-014 while Scott continued on to Grants and south to W5N/CO-011. From parking Don and I hiked the .7 miles, up the side of the volcano, to the summit. Temps were warm under cloudy skies and no wind at all. Took a couple of pics of Don on the summit. First time here for him. Mean while, Scott was trying to find his way to Cerro Lobo, but not having any luck, so he decided to bag this trip. Scott then decided to meet us at our trail head. see pics Nice summit but the first part of the hike is steep but then turns into a nice gentle slope. Nice to meet up with Scott, NM5SW, on the trails. 73 all and thanks chasers..Geo WB5USB
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"South Mountain" Cedar Grove
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K5TFL and I were eying that mountain a few days ago as a possible human repeater site in the need of an EMCOM situation. Has anyone hiked up there recently...if not, any known good entry points to get up there aka park and hike? Tom / DM65UD / Edgewood
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Having just retired my very old and extremely worn Mule pack, I failed to transfer the knife from it to the new Osprey. This is obviously why the antenna wire next to the 17m trap broke today. Used my teeth to strip the wires, make a temporary splice and then tie a knot which held fine for the windy activation on 6860. SWR was normal. Only a few DX stations, F4WBN (17m & 10m) and EA4R (10m). Photos of the inelegant but effective field splice on the workbench before repair and, thanks to Fred, of me at my usual 6860 activation spot. 73, John K1JD
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LIVE webcam of the Valle Grande… while closed, it gives a sense for how much (or how little) snow is upo there: Fd
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closure
Peak known as 9700, W5N/PW-018, remains closed following the Medio Fire in 2021. Repair of the Tesuque Peak power line will be underway this summer and maybe next with reopening of the area expected when the repair is complete. Barillas Peak, the entire hill, entire activation zone, appears to no longer be under a closure order, BUT I expect that there is a winter gate closing the road until after April 1. Valle Caldera site says that the ranger station is closed for renovation. The road in is certainly gated for winter. There is very little on their website, and with what is going on in Washington, I wonder when or if it will reopen. FD kt5x
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Cerro Brillante, W5N/CO-014, on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, we plan to depart my QTH at 0800 en-route to trail head parking. All roads up are SUBARU capable. see GPX drive. From parking its a .8 mile hike along a ridge line to the summit. see GPX hike. Nice summit with, good views, that sits alone on the southern boarder of the lava flows. Weather will be sunny and warm with little wind. QRV around 1830 UTC. 73 all and enjoy previous pics WB5USB Geo..
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Sat 8:39am
Sat 8:39am