ACØPR, ham radio blog: "Ft. Pearce" W7A/NM-120 (3980) Pleasant Winter Hike

View of Arizona Strip from the summit

One very nice thing about living in the desert is being able to go on nice hikes in the middle of winter and still have wonderful weather. This is a gradual hike which starts in Utah, but near the beginning you cross into Arizona. This 4-pointer doesn't have a name, but the trail is called Ft. Pearce, from an old fort at the base. It's perfect for a December hike.

Trail report:

Access is gained from Warner Valley Rd. which goes through a desert area and can be reached by Washington Fields Rd. or the Southern Parkway. You stay on Warner Valley Rd. for 5.8 miles until you see a sign that says “Ft. Pearce Trailhead” (there is a historical area just before that, but don’t turn there). There is a nice gravel parking area for the trailhead.

This is a popular dirt bike area. Because of that there are numerous trails around, but if you follow the “main” trail, you will reach the base and a trail that goes all the way to the top as seen on Google Earth. Once past the main river bottom, full-sized vehicles are not allowed. The trail itself is really for a dirt bike or mountain bike, even an ATV will not make it (many places just one tire wide). I personally hiked it. It’s about 3.4 miles from the parking area and a pleasant grade up most the way. You do have to leave the trail at the very last to reach the high point. Just rocks to use for setup. The summit is marked, barely, with some wire as is typical in the area and a few rocks. Nice views of the AZ strip.

The experience:

If you blow up the picture, you can see the UT-AZ border

Once the semester was over and I had finished grading exams, I went out for a relaxing SOTA activation. I had done the first activation of this summit the year before, and thought it would be a good one to do again. There are PLENTY of summits that I will never go back to, for a variety of reasons. This one is a good one though. It's also one of the few that actually has a trail, which is a nice change.

The shack

I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and enjoyed making my way up the summit. There aren't really any good views until the top. It had rained pretty hard a couple of days before, so there were some pools of water still around--not common to see in our area. The highest point isn't actually at the very tip, that dips down, so you end up on west side just a bit. There are zero trees and only a few bushes, but plenty of rocks.

Pool of water after storm

Getting on the air the activity was good. I guess I kind of judge that by how long it takes for me to get
20 contacts. If I can do that within 25 mins. or so, I see that as being active and not a lot of calling CQ, I had 28 contacts in that time. I'm the kind of activator that is done when the activity dies down. Sure, I could stay on for another half an hour and get 10 more contacts, or try another band. But if I have over 20 contacts in the log, and I'm calling CQ three or four times with no answer, I move on. It was an enjoyable day, good hike, nice activity on the radio, I made it home safe--successful in every way!

Video of the activation

Date:13/12/2019 | Summit:W7A/NM-120 (3980) | Call Used:AC0PR | Points: 4 | Bonus: 0

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
18:43	NE4TN	14MHz	CW
18:43	AJ6CY	14MHz	CW
18:43	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
18:43	N4EX	14MHz	CW
18:44	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
18:44	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
18:45	WW7D	14MHz	CW
18:45	K6EL	14MHz	CW
18:46	K4MF	14MHz	CW
18:47	VA7VJ	14MHz	CW
18:47	VE7HI	14MHz	CW
18:48	KB9ILT	14MHz	CW
18:48	K7PD	14MHz	CW
18:49	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
18:49	K0EMT	14MHz	CW
18:56	WU7H	7MHz	CW
18:57	WG0AT	7MHz	CW
18:58	K6QCB	7MHz	CW
18:59	K8TE	7MHz	CW
19:00	K7MK	7MHz	CW
19:00	K7GT	7MHz	CW
19:00	KE6MT	7MHz	CW
19:01	NA6MG	7MHz	CW
19:02	N6NKT	7MHz	CW
19:03	K7VK	7MHz	CW
19:03	KX0R	7MHz	CW
19:04	AB9CA/7	7MHz	CW
19:05	K7PD	7MHz	CW