Sierra Estrella W7A/MS-001

Summit Info
1

I’m going to try to activate this tomorrow. Nobody has done it yet. Has anyone tried and failed? If so, what happened?

It seems getting to it can be problematic because of the reservation and Gila River. Thanks for any info.

Jon

2

Hi Jon,
I have no direct info on the summit, but thought I should mention the summit page where notes may be posted about access, navigation etc. Also you may not be aware of the NASOTA group on groups.io, you may find local info and focus there that isn’t posted here. I joined it when conditions were better and a S2S was a more distinct possibility between VK and North America. Not much happening at present of course, but sporadic E is still livening up the higher bands from time to time.
Good luck with your activation and be sure to add some comments to the summit page to help the next activator plan their day.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH

3

Summit Page for Sierra Estrella is here: SOTA Summits It also states that the summit is on an Indian Reservation - could that be why access is difficult??

73 Ed DD5LP.

4

Thanks for the advice on navigating the reflector. I’m still getting the feel of it so your info was helpful. I will post something in the right place when I’m done. Thanks

5

Thanks Ed, according to the boundaries the peak is not on the reservation. The East side of the range is Indian land though. They don’t mess around with trespassers around here either so I’ll be careful. Thank you.

6

Jon,

All reservation peaks REQUIRE a permit to hike them from the tribe in question, so you need to contact the tribe for a permit before you attempt a hike to that summit.

If you can work around the tribal land to get to a peak that is not on a reservation than you don’t have a problem.

Pete
WA7JTM
W7A Association Manager

7

Might want to double-check your source for boundaries. Some sources make it look like the county border is actually the reservation border, but the reservation goes into Maricopa also.

8

I have to tell you. I was certain the peak was not on the reservation. You were all right. It is! Thanks for causing me to question myself and research further (although I was a little agitated at first because I thought you were all wrong :blush: )

In case anybody else is interested, I called the land use planning and zoning with Gila river. It is possible to apply for a permit, but Paul Shorthair intimated that approval is unlikely. That area has some cultural significance.

Thanks for calling me out. You saved me some grief.

sincerely,
Jon

9

Jon,

FYI…last year in the January VHF Contest one of the portable rover operators was detained by the Tribal Police for over two hours as they decided what to do with him. After two hours they let him go with a warning.

He had acquired Verbal permission from someone, but they told him he had to have a written permit from the Tribe, and frankly they are hard to get.

So EVERYONE be warned…on Tribal Land in Arizona you need to get a WRITTEN Permit from the Tribe to set foot on their land, even if just passing thru on foot.

Obviously this does not pertain to vehicles passing thru a Reservation on highways, etc, but as noted stopping to operate a station from Reservation land was, as is, not tolerated. Tribal Lands are a country within a country, so they can confiscate your stuff if they choose to do so.

So everyone be warned!

(and by the way…I was also told to get off the reservation once myself…a different tribe but the same story)

tnx

Pete
WA7JTM
W7A Association Manager