ACØPR, ham radio blog: Starvation Point W7A/NM-134, AZ summer bonus round 2

This is the one of the closest summits to my home. It's the first exit off of I-15 as you head south and cross into AZ. It has awesome views of the Virgin River and what is called the Gorge. This is also one I do every year normally doing the summer bonus season.

In the area:

The first time I did this one was on a mountain bike (not in the summer though). It has a very nice
desert terrain. Some see the desert as barren and ugly, but there are plenty of interesting and beautiful parts of the desert. No rattle snakes this time. I never see anyone else on the trail going up (which is true of a LOT of the places I go actually). There was a light breeze, which was actually nice.

I go pretty early in the morning compared to the other places I go. With a heat wave coming, this may be the last in the summer bonus area for a while--we'll see. There's cool cacti and desert scenery all the way though.

On the air:

Once again I was lucky to have F4WBN from France be there right on the money and get in first before the calls started rolling in. It's such a great feeling to get a DX early on and know that not only is your setup working well but that bands are good enough for 4 measly watts to reach that far. Time of day also has a lot to do with getting those far away ones.

Stayed on 20 minutes is all and then packed up to head back. I love being there, but before the heat gets to where it can't go unnoticed, I like to get out of there.

It may be because I had an activation some years ago where I went later than I should have, and it was a tough climb. Although I didn't stay long, it took longer than expected (first activation for that summit). On the way back down, which was still difficult, I started to get overheated. I got to the point I was close to being done and down, but felt I needed to sit in the shade, take my pack off and just let my body recover some before going down what was probably only a 1/4 mile left, and downhill.

Anyway, this was a good activation and I got back just fine before the heat got bad.

Date:02/06/2021 | Summit:W7A/NM-134 (Starvation Point) | Call Used:AC0PR | Points: 4 | Bonus: 3

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode
14:03	F4WBN	14MHz	CW
14:04	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
14:05	KN3Y	14MHz	CW
14:06	WC0Y	14MHz	CW
14:07	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW
14:08	KU4R	14MHz	CW
14:08	K6MW	14MHz	CW
14:09	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
14:10	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
14:11	KF7WI	14MHz	CW
14:11	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
14:12	K1EBY	14MHz	CW
14:13	K7SO	14MHz	CW
14:13	W5GDW	14MHz	CW
14:15	VE7HI	14MHz	CW
14:20	AA7OY	7MHz	CW
14:21	W6JP	7MHz	CW
14:22	N7EDK	7MHz	CW
14:22	KE6MT	7MHz	CW
14:23	K6EL	7MHz	CW
14:23	K8TE	7MHz	CW
14:24	K1LB	7MHz	CW