Venerable SOTA Goat Fred KT5X showing the new guy the ropes. La Mesita behind us.
16 FEBRUARY 2026 W5N/SS-039
| Elevation: | 7,024′ |
| Route: | Cross country |
| Hike Distance: | 1.6 miles round trip |
| Elevation Gain: | 400′ |
| Navigation: | Tricky |
| Steepness: | Steep gaining the mesa |
| Vehicle: | Passenger car |
| Road: | Good dirt road* |
| Cell Coverage: | Excellent Verizon |
Ever since coming to New Mexico to activate SOTA summits I’ve been picking the brain of New Mexico’s SOTA guru Fred Maas via email. Fred normally activates during the week so to avoid weekend crowds and I am generally limited to weekends, early mornings and holidays by my work. We have tried to get together several times in the past few years to activate a summit and, finally, we managed to meet up in Pojoaque at 8:40 AM on President’s Day, 2026.
If you have never met Fred, he is a wealth of wide ranging knowledge from amateur radio to geology, history, native American lore and beyond. A great hiking companion.
We had a nice morning as we drove in Fred’s Xterra Off-Road up the length of the Española Valley and into the gates of the Taos Plateau at Velarde. I was the beneficiary of Fred’s experience of how not to gain the tableland of La Mesita by following a ducked route that largely avoided the basalt blocks and cliffs that form the apron around the mesa.
Here is Fred’s tried-and-true ascent route. Take care to look behind you as you ascend and make note of what will be your descent route. The area is a maze of cliffs.
As one might gather from this summit’s name, the activation zone is HUGE! One regret I have is that Fred opted for a nice spot near the edge of the mesa to activate, while I opted to continue on a considerable distance to the actual summit. This meant that I did not get a chance to see Fred in action with his amazing micro mini CW station.
Conditions were okay and I managed contacts with many of the usual suspects
Here’s a little video I made from the trip. Turn up the sound and enjoy:
KG6MZS 
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