ACØPR, ham radio blog: 1st Activation of Scarecrow Peak W7U/WS-117

This was one of those peaks I've put off for a few years--it's way far out and only worth 1 point, but it has the allure that draws me in the most: it's never been activated before. I did a lot of map and image recon before going, although it never fails that a place looks different in real life. Normally I would wait until fall or winter for a desert mountain like this, but the day was supposed to be unusually cold for June.

Trail report:

Lots of Joshua trees in the area

Access is gained from near Shivwits Reservation to the west of St. George, Utah. From Old Hwy 91/Gunlock Dr. (the same road), you turn off on the Motoqua Road at Pahcoon Spring Wash (careful because Google will tell you a route that is gated off to enter Motoqua Rd.). From the turn-off, you stay on the same road for 13.9 miles. While the first little bit is paved, really from that point you'll be on dirt roads from then on. Motoqua Road is a very good, wide, dirt road that any vehichle could drive.

Then you turn left (SSW) towards Jackson Well on Indian Springs Trail, there's a sign that says "8 miles" to the well, but it's not quite that far. This is also a good dirt road. Once you reach the bottom of the dry river bed and come back up the other side, there is a major intersection. You have to take a hard right on Jackson Well Road. You follow that as it leads back down again into the river bed where the well used to be (still a structure, fencing, and pieces of old wind mill).

Typical desert terrain

From this point the road isn't as nice, though not terrible, with the worst being the river bed. The road continues all the way around the other side of the mountain which is definitely the best place to hike from. From the well it's another 4.4 miles to the last turn which is obvious since the other route goes away from the mountain and going left (due south) gets you closer. The road becomes smaller and more rutted in this last section. Personally I went another .9 miles before stopping and starting the hike.

From the road it's just under a mile. You can see there are basically two ways to get to the top while looking at the east face, left (north) or right (south). I did one up and other other coming back down. I honestly have no preference. It is rocky and very grassy. More interesting cacti on the left, a little more rocky on the right. The top has a cairn marking the top, no registry or other marker at this time.

The summit!

There's not a lot to use to support a mast/wire at the top--I used a bush a little off the top. Views are amazing (for the desert), enjoyable hike.

The experience:

It was a cool, breezy day, which made for a nice ATV ride to the base and a nice hike. It truly was out in the middle of nowhere, with "civilization" being on the other side of the mountain range far off to the east. It was quite grassy but rocky at the same time.

The plan I had from map work changed once at the base as the upper end looked to be steep and scrambly, so I went another route that worked out just fine. Once on top, the breeze was quite a bit stronger with nothing else around. I could see the pickup as a spot far in the distance because the sun was reflecting off of it. The summit had a cairn, but no registry or benchmark.

Holding the hat so it doesn't fly away

The only thing good for holding a mast on top was a cactus, but I wasn't going to use that, so I used a small bush--the problem with that is the mast was leaning with the wind, but still was able to work well. I didn't stay on long, only 20 mins on air. It took me longer to get there than planned, I was a bit worried about where I left the pickup, and the wind was picking up (and it was actually getting colder as the day went on).

The hike back down was fairly fast and pleasant. It was a cool-looking area for being so barren as well.

Video of the activation

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
15:19	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
15:20	VE7HI	14MHz	CW
15:21	WW7D	14MHz	CW
15:23	NE4TN	14MHz	CW
15:24	NG7A	14MHz	CW
15:24	NR0R	14MHz	CW	QRPP 100MW
15:27	KT0A	14MHz	CW	S2S W0D/NW-023
15:29	KA5PVB	14MHz	CW
15:30	WN4AT	14MHz	CW
15:34	W7RV	7MHz	CW
15:35	N6WT	7MHz	CW
15:36	K6KM	7MHz	CW
15:36	NS7P	7MHz	CW
15:36	NG6R	7MHz	CW
15:37	W0NF	7MHz	CW
15:38	K6HPX	7MHz	CW