W7A/MS-048 Mt Suappoa

 Mt Suappoa is easy to pick out from a lot of places in Phoenix. The forest of towers on top really makes it stand out. In fact, I could see it from the airport train despite having never been to Phoenix before. It is also an easy summit to reach, since there is a road that goes to the Gila Lookout just below the summit.

The views from the lookout were nice.

I drove up to the lookout and parked. From there I walked back down the road towards the summit. At the first driveway I stepped off the road and headed up the hill to the fence. Once I was confident I was in the activation zone, I stopped and got out the KH1. I was tired after doing a big loop over the other two peaks in the park, so I did a quick activation. Thankfully there were still chasers listening, and I got my contacts quickly.

Saguaro along the road.

Having got my QSOs, I headed back to the car for the long drive to Yuma. 

 

Trailhead: Gila Lookout parking.

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Walk back along the road, then cross country into the AZ.

Red Tape: Don't go climbing over fences.

W7A/MS-065 Goat Hill

 This was the second summit I did on my loop in South Mountain Park. After coming down from Salt Benchmark I continued up the National Trail which slowly climbs up the ridge. By this point I realized I had underestimated how much water I needed, so I was feeling slow and thirsty. But the scenery kept improving as I climbed so I kept going. 

Looking towards the summit.

This trail seemed busier than the Alta Trail across the valley. Maybe its easier? Either way I was making good time going up, and soon had the knobby summit in view. I was slightly concerned with how I would get to the top, but as I got closer I could see some well defined switchbacks leading to the high point. These don't appear on any map I looked at, but afterwards I could see they were clearly visible in the satellite view.

Mt Suappoa in the distance.

Like Salt Benchmark, the summit area is small. It would take some skill to string out a wire on this summit. After doing HF, I was getting ready to call on 2m when I realized my HT antenna had fallen out of my bag somewhere. Disappointed, I had to call it quits. From the summit it was a short and quick run back to the car. I headed down the Ranger trail, and after crossing the road, turned left to go back to the parking lot.

Looking back up at the summit, which is the knob on the right.

I was glad I had filled up my nalgene, and I promptly drank a good fraction of it. Since it was still early enough I decided I had enough time to drive up to Mt Suappoa for a quick activation before heading out of town. 

Trailhead: Alta Trailhead, as named by Google maps

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Head parallel to the road, then go up the hill on the Ranger Trail. Follow the National Trail to the summit use path.

Red Tape: None. 

W7A/MS-060 Salt Benchmark

 This is one of three peaks in Phoenix's South Mountain Park. I had mapped out a loop over this peak and Goat Hill to get my Sunday run in, so headed to the park after my flight landed. I parked at the Alta Trailhead, at the corner of Stephen Mather Drive and Telegraph Pass Road. My plan was to go up to Salt Benchmark, then along the ridge and down across the valley and back up to Goat Hill before dropping back down to the lot. By my calculations, it would be about 14 miles.

Heading towards Salt Benchmark.

I set off down the Bajada Trail, then turned right onto the Alta Trail. The Alta Trail climbs up to the ridge with plenty of switchbacks. It was my first time in the desert with saguaro cacti, so I was slowed down taking pictures of them. They're pretty neat. On the ridge I turned left, staying on the Alta Trail. The trail along the ridge goes over or around some minor peaks, and I saw a coyote on the shady side of the hill. 

Cliffy area just below the summit.

When I reached a point north of the summit, I turned and stepped off the trail and headed straight up the ridge. This was quite steep, but nothing too bad. Just below the summit are some small cliffs, but I was easily able to find a way through them to the top. The summit area is small, so don't plan on stringing out a long wire. My KH1 whip did very nicely instead. I had cell service on the summit.

Cholla on the ridge.

Once I was done playing radio I took the same route back down to the trail. It looked like there might be a use path along the ridge to the slightly lower summit, but since I knew what the north ridge one was like I took it. Didn't want to get stuck on top of a cliff. Back on the trail I continued along the Alta Trail and took it down to the small parking lot where I turned left onto the Maricopa Trail/National Trail. This took me across the valley to the base of Goat Hill.

 

Trailhead: Alta Trailhead, as named by Google maps

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Bajada Trail to Alta Trail, then cross country to the summit.

Red Tape: None. 

W6/CD-012 Quail Mountain

The summit of Quail Mountain is the highest point in Joshua Tree National Park, and was my goal for the morning. After breakfast in the hotel room in the town of Joshua Tree I headed into the park to the Quail Springs parking area. I had done some research beforehand, and this seemed like the best place to start. 

The direction I started out in.

 From the parking area there was a trail that headed straight towards the mountains. It was well used until it crossed the wash, where it disintegrated into a lot of lightly used use paths. I picked my way through these to find the start of a trail that would go over a low pass to the base of Mt Minerva Hoyt.

Heading up the trail.

Turned around, looking back towards Quail Springs.

 

The trail did not appear in any of the park maps I looked at, but it is clearly visible in satellite views of the area. Having the trail marked on my phone map made it a lot easier to find. Once on the trail it was quick going to the wash on the other side. In the wash you need to choose which ridge to take up to the top of Minerva Hoyt. I walked down the wash about a quarter of a mile before turning and heading up the hill.

Heading up the ridge.

The climb up was steep, but not too bad. The terrain was open, and I had no bushwhacking problems. Once I got to the main ridge I turned and headed up to the summit of Minerva Hoyt (named after one of the main advocates for creating the park). There looked to be a false summit that I went around, but it turns out it would have been easier to just go over it. From the summit of Minerva Hoyt there is a use trail that goes along the ridge to the summit of Quail Mountain.  

Looking across the ridge.

 The use trail was mostly easy to follow, and I was soon on the summit of Quail Mountain. The summit is broad and it is not entirely clear which pile of rocks is the highest, so I tagged both of them. There was marginal cell service (Verizon) on top, but none lower down the mountain. It was a bit chilly, so I quickly got on the air and made plenty of contacts on the bands I tried. The views to San Gorgonio and San Jacinto were great, and it was nice to see the park from a different angle.

View of the Salton Sea and Coachella Valley

 To get back down, I simple retraced my steps. Following the use path back to Minerva Hoyt was challenging in places. In the wash at the bottom I climbed out too soon and had a little work to find the trail. There were people going up the trail as I headed out, hopefully they had fun. Back at the parking lot it was quite busy, all the spots were taken and people were playing on the big rocks there. Overall, a fun summit and nice morning.

 

Joshua Trees at the parking lot.

 

Trailhead: Quail Springs parking area.

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Take the trail across the wash, then find the trail that goes over the low pass. Head down the wash a short ways, then up the ridge to Minerva Hoyt. Take the use path across the ridge to the summit.

Red Tape: None, just the standard national park things.