If you are a regular reader of this blog you would notice that this post lacks a quick video from the top of the summit. That’s because I forgot to record one! Tumamoc Hill is close to downtown Tucson, and it would have been a nice bike ride to the trailhead from where we was staying in Iron Horse. There is no cycling allowed on the trail up, but a rack to lock up is available at the bottom. Not knowing this, Kel and I drove there and parked along West Akalam Road. Turns out this is a very popular place to walk! It was packed! The trail up is completely paved, weaving through the flora. There is some kind of research center halfway up which had some fun things to look at,

At the top is a commercial communications installation with no access to the actual summit, however, a big chunk of the public path is in the activation zone. I didn’t follow KK1J’s advise and ask permission to operate from Benjamin T. Wilder, Director. I could see how putting up a 40M antenna up here would be frowned upon due to the congestion of visitors. As such, I sat on a rock in the AZ and used my KH1 and internal whip to activate the summit, working 40M and 15M CW. I also called out on 2M FM, multiple times and got zero calls, which was surprising.

https://sotl.as/summits/W7A/AW-057

Date:05/02/2026 |  Summit:W7A/AW-057 (Tumamoc Hill) 

Kel and I were driving out to Tucson on interstate 10 for the gem show. Guadalupe Mountain is East of Quartzsite with easy access from the freeway. It’s also a good spot to stop and walk around after being in a car for a few hours. Get off at Gold Nugget Rd, then follow it East until you get to the communications site access road, which goes to the summit. We drove a Subaru about half way up before it got too rutted out to continue. From there, it’s a steep hike up. The last bit it of road is paved which makes it easier. At the top are several communication shelters. I found a rock off to the side to operate from, and gave 2M FM a shot, with two QSOs into Quartzsite. Worked 17M with one S2S. Got a text from another SOTA op needing a complete, so I moved to 40M using the whip and coil on the KH1. That worked pretty well! There are a lot of unactivated summits around Quartzsite, and maybe it’s worth a dedicated trip out there to bag several of them.

https://sotl.as/summits/W7A/PZ-060

Date:04/02/2026 |  Summit:W7A/PZ-060 (Guadalupe Mountain)