Peralta Ridge

Looking north across the amazing Valles Grande – the 8,000′ high center of the Valles Grande Caldera to Chicoma Mountain.

6 JUNE 2026 W5N/SE-015

One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.

Elevation:	9,941′
Route:	Cross country
Hike Distance:	.66 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:	125′
Navigation:	Easy
Steepness:	Gentle
Vehicle:	Passenger car*
Road:	Good dirt road*
Cell Coverage:	Excellent Verizon

*The road is a bit bumpy and rocky. Nothing an. average sedan can’t negotiate. Your mileage may vary.

Another spur-of-the-moment activation. My Saturday opened up and I set my sights on another new one: Peralta Ridge. On the drive up Forest Service Road 280 I am pretty sure I saw a Mexican Wolf bound across the road early in the morning. I have seen coyotes up close all my life and I don’t think this was just a large, grey coyote. The head seemed too big. Canis lupis baileyi is the smallest of the wolves and likes the sub-alpine zones also frequented by elk. To underline this shortly after spotting this animal, I saw a couple of young elk bulls with fresh, fuzzy racks. On the way back I saw two sleek, bay wild horses. Quite the day for wild things!

The hike is very short and leads to a huge activation zone that extends across a saddle. The saddle is about 80′ below the two bumps, so it just clears the activation zone requirement. Next time I would probably set up in the saddle and test Fred NT5X’s theory of avoiding the edge of any drop off. I did experience some steep, deep QSB that is the signature of the deep nulls present when an antenna is too far from earth/ground.

Here is the round-trip track

Radio conditions were fun. I managed to pull Carol K5TFL out on 40m for a New Mexican summit-to-summit among 3 other s2s contacts. My California W6 friends were noticeably absent from the airwaves however.

On the way down after I saw the wild horses, I was hit with a major downpour. Pancake-sized drops and sleet splattered Whitedog’s windshield. Unlike Saint Peter’s Dome, I was not concerned about the road conditions even as water formed large rivulets and ran off the road. FSR 280 is much more rocky and gravely than the silty FSR 289 Dome Road. That road looked to have the potential to get axle-deep volcanic mud. Not so much 280.

Here is the driving route to Peralta Ridge