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| | Hiking | | 8 Hrs 30 Mns | | 0.00 mph |
| | 30 LBS Pack | | |
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I climbed Sugarloaf to activate the summit as part of the SOTA program, a ham radio game. It was another unseasonably beautiful May day, 2019 seams to be having a lot of those, and the views were amazing. It appeared no one had come that way in many years, with only a long forgotten road at the start of the trail and no footprints besides my own.
A friend and I drove out in 2 vehicles for safety and parked as close to my planned route as possible, where I left him and started walking. I'd planned my route to maximize terrain contours in the climb using the HikeAz Route Editor app. it proved its worth as my chosen route was also where the local game thought the best route was, I was on solid game trails all the was to the base of Sugarloaf. Beginning my climb I was harrassed by cholla balls hidden in the long grass and I valued the additional security provide by my hiking staffs as the footing often gave way and became more of a scramble as I worked my way thru the escarpment, picking my way thru the cliffs.
I reached the top northwest of the actual summit and had to cross a ridgeline with rock outcroppings like stone walls I had to climb up one side and down the other. Finally after crossing a final valley I approached true summit. The views from Phoenix to California were breathtaking. While only 3,400' high, its position in a vast desert gave it a commanding view with a welcome, cool breeze. Glancing over the southwest edge I stared down thru the tops of saguaro at hairraising sheer drop to a stream bed at the base hundreds of feet below. Previous climbers chipped their initials into boulders on the summit in 84 and 72. I guess "leave no trace" wasn't a thing then.
I set up a mast, raising the center 66' antenna high above me. This makes use of ultralight dyneema line looped around boulders, I wasn't leaving any evidence of my visit. I connected a radio and started making the required contacts with other hams to "activate" the summit. It required 4 completed signal reports, within an hour I had 11 and broke the rig down. I was the first person to log contacts from this summit so I got the honor of first "activator".
My descent reminded me I'm a backpacker, not a mountain climber. The first mile of the descent took over an hour in this sheer terrain. Once off the mountain I explored a different route back to the trucks. |
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Route Editor
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