Movement Alert Wheeler Peak, High Point New Mexico

Movement Alert

W5N/SS-001, Wheeler Peak - 4011m, 10 Points
Quick links: Back to W5N Association | Back to SS Region
Association: USA - New Mexico Region: Sangre De Cristo Mountains
Latitude: 36.5568 , Longitude: -105.4169
QTH Locator: DM76gn
Today’s Sunrise: 13:05 UTC , Today’s Sunset: 00:33 UTC

  1. Logistics: Depart ABQ for Taos Ski Valley. We plan to summit Friday 14 October. Other SOTA GOATs a fellow Kids are welcome. I am very sorry but Condo is full up, but it is the off season and rooms are cheap. Or you could just sleep in your car like a authentic ski bum.  We would all meet at about 0800 at the Bavarian Trail Head. Maybe we can all have a brat n beer at the Bavarian after the hike.
    
  2. Route of Approach: Drive up from TSV to Williams Lake parking lot. Dismount and hike up FST 62 to a point just before Williams Lake. The real climb starts (FST 67) , and zig zigs the way up the mountain approximate 2 miles where it intersects  FST 90 Turn down the ridge line about a quarter of a mile to the Summit.
    

Web camera video hosting by Brownrice Internet also see attached GPX and PDF for more data.

  1. Operation: I will operate 40 meters CW primary. 7.032, George will run 14.062-CW and Randy K5RHD will run phone on 40/20 ect. We will have HTs and plan to work 146.58, 146.52 FM. I may string up my J-pole. This is defiantly a Crappy Pole mountain. The tree line is far below the activation zone. 
    
  2. Communications Plan: 
    
  3. VHF 146.58 FM Attack
    
  4. HF 7.032 CW, 14.062 CW HF Traffic
    
  5. APRS 144.39 Dig NM5SW-1 (mobile) NM5SW-7 (Attack) (good aprs coverage) TAC DATA LINK
    
  6. Mega Link Via Taos Mountain
    

Taos Ski Valley (NE of Taos)
11,900ft
147.140+
67hz
5. Cell phone: coverage spotty especially in Rio Hondo Canyon.

SPOT tracker… Linked to family and Debbie. SPOT Shared Page.
http://www.goo.gl/WqAL7B

  1. Safety: We are edgings toward the late fall. As such dress for winter weather in layers. Blue Jeans are a no-no and a recipe for hypothermia. I plan to wear synthetic base layer with wool socks. Water proof your boots, as there is snow up there now, and bring your gaiters just in case. I will have the standard winter load which includes a bivy and small Nesbit stove. We need to cache about a gallon of water half way up the mountain. We can not depend on snow melt or springs above WL.
    
  2. Weather:
    Friday Sunny, with a high near 54.
    Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
    Saturday Sunny, with a high near 54. Breezy.
    Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 33.
    Remember that with adiabatic cooling it will be much cooler on the summit. Expect wind.

  3. Egress and After Action Plan:
    

Down the way we came. Bull of the Woods route is long and nasty… 7 miles one way. We will return to the Condo, rest and recuperated. Depending on the blisters we may decide to operate the next morning at the Guadalupe SOTA cluster near Questa. Draft After Action Report.

  1. Hazing:
    

Hazing of new Goats is not allowed, lest you spend the night in the parking lot. Adulation and cash would be better.

NM5SW Sends
Scotty Wright
NM5SW
QRP ARCI #10970
ARS #1130
« Au-delà des montagnes il y a montagnes »: proverbe Haïtien
“Beyond mountains there are mountains” Haitian proverb

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Phew, for a minute there I was worried the mountain was moving! (beyond normal continental drift, of course)