Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
7,556′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
2.0 miles up*
Elevation Gain:
680′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Moderate**
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Excellent Verizon
* 1.4 miles on a direct return (3.4 miles round trip) **Steepness can be avoided.
On my return trip to Southern California I decided to layover in Flagstaff for a day to wander around the Coconino Plateau. Originally I planned to do both Black Mountain and Baby Black on the same day. But after negotiating the scree fields of Black Mountain, I decided to push Baby Black off to Sunday morning.
As Flagstaff resident Keith KR7RK noted, the cinder fields on this mountains can be difficult to ascend. One step up, two steps back. However this sliding action makes scree fields pretty easy to descend. Because Keith suggested that the wooded areas are easier, I rolled off to the west side and climbed up the wooded west ridge. This was pretty easy.
My descent track saves about a quarter mile and descending the black volcanic scree is much easier than trying to go up.
Radio conditions were noisy on 40m with s9 static crashed from the thundershower activity in New Mexico, but I was able to make quite a few contacts despite the QRN and rather anemic signal reports from California. 20 meters and 15 meters has much less noise. Christian came booming in from France.
I also got a summit-to-summit with Carol KE6SRN and Tom KE6SRO who had just been up this mountain and who’s blog inspired me to try it.
There are plenty of trees on the summit for antennas
The Station.The Packtenna on a 20 foot mast.Humphries and O’Leary Lookout to the west.Life always seems to find a way.Humphries and a field of Daisy in Sunset Crater National Monument.A stark landscape.
The view northeast across the Conejos River and the San Luis Valley to Blanca Peak (14,350′)
7 SEPTEMBER 2025 W0C/RG-165 – First Activation
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
8,189′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
575′
Navigation:
Very easy
Steepness:
Moderate*
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Paved road**
Cell Coverage:
Excellent Verizon
*Steepness is easily avoided. **Many ways to the trailhead. Most are paved, the rest are very good dirt roads.
Sierro del Ojita perhaps gets its name as a lookout for Pike’s Stockade along the Conejos River to the north. The stockade was built in 1807 by United States soldiers on the Zebulon Pike expedition. Pike was arrested by Spanish authorities and taken to Santa Fe for trespassing on then Spanish soil.
Sierro del Ojito is the highest of the so-called Fairy Hills section of the San Luis Hills
In planning this activation, it wasn’t clear from my Gaia Maps Private Property overlay if this summit was on BLM land or not. There is clearly BLM land on three sides, but the actual summit wasn’t referenced. I figured I would start on BLM land and turn around if I came across any “No Trespassing” or “Private Property” signs. I didn’t want to go the way of old Zebulon Pike. 😉
I parked along County Road W in a section that was clearly BLM land and started across the high desert toward a prominent gully on the south side of the mesa.
My heart sank when I saw a sign far ahead and I almost turned around on the spot thinking it had to be a “No Trespassing” sign or some such. I’m glad I didn’t because the sign turned out to be for a BLM marker. This erased all doubt in my mind about the summit.
A “Do not disturb” sign for the BLM marker below near the rim of the mesa. The Miocene basalts of the Hinsdale Formation are easily avoided along with many cacti.
The top is a huge mesa the supports a gigantic activation zone. I found a cairn and set up my station happily anticipating activating my 14th first time activation.
Radio conditions were good, but I just missed Gary W0MNA and Martha W0ERI on a summit-to-summit in Oklahoma when their battery died! They were a solid 54 before they dissappeared.
The station looking northeast to Blanca Peak.Looking south across the expansive summit to Flattop (W0C/RG-156) – the highest of the San Luis HillsThe antenna farm looking north.
An unusual angle on Cerro Pedernal looking northwest across the summit meadow.
23 AUGUST 2025 W5N/SE-001
Three stars – Highly recommended.
Elevation:
11,539′
Route:
Cross country and old logging road
Hike Distance:
4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
650′
Navigation:
Tricky
Steepness:
Moderate
Vehicle:
Passenger car*
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Good Verizon
57 miles of dirt road, rough in spots but nothing an average car can’t negotiate.
This was a mountain I have wanted to do for a long time. It’s a summit that figures prominently into the view from Cassie’s little casita in Arroyo Seco and it has been calling me since I first visited New Mexico in 1989. This would probably rate 4 stars if the hike was a bit easier and the approach wasn’t so long.
At 11,539 feet Chicoma Mountain is the highest of the Jemez Mountains
Forest Service Road 144 was in very good condition – but even still – it is 27 miles of dirt road (54 miles round trip). It’s a road I would have no problem taking the family sedan on, but there are some rough, rocky spots and washboards. Your mileage may vary.
The hike up starts along FS Road 114B. I tried to find the track that is on the map along the ridgeline. This led me into a maze of deadfall that was very difficult to negotiate.
Here is my descent track. It’s probably a closer to the way I would do it next time. I’d follow FS Road 114B to the end and try and go straight up the hill through the deadfall. Either way it’s pretty tough going through all the fallen trees.
A large meadow appears just before the summit and the vistas are breathtaking.
This was on the way down when the afternoon thundershowers were more developed than I would normally like.
There is a large cairn on the summit and several shrines. I saw several clay pots and an arrowhead. I didn’t disturb anything, leaving everything just as I found it. There was a summit register but the lid was jammed on too tight to remove.
A bone and an arrowhead.
Radio conditions started out slow but picked up as the day progressed. I stayed longer than I should’ve as the cumulus clouds gathered and became threatening. I was glad to work Lorene and Mike on Triunfo Lookout in the Santa Monica Mountains! On the way down I was pelted with hail and the forest floor sent up a wonderful petrichor! The lightning didn’t start until I was driving Whitedog well down the mountain. I was a wonderful activation!
Looking west toward the Brazos Cliffs from the park-like meadows of this fine summit.
16 AUGUST 2025 W5N/OT-006
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
10,937′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
4 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
700′
Navigation:
Fairly easy
Steepness:
Gentle
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Paved highway
Cell Coverage:
Spotty from Verizon
Hike basics
Originally my next door neighbor and I had planned to do this trip together, but work reared its ugly head and David KK5ULI had to bail. Too bad, because this turned out to be a very enjoyable hike and activation.
The Taos Plateau really showed off at sunrise with majestic rays spreading out from Wheeler Peak in the Sangre de Christo Mountain. I spotted a family of wild turkeys off the side of Highway 64 on the way up.
A radiant sunrise across the Taos Plateau.
The hike starts out at about 10,000′ on the lovely Highway 64 and approches the summit across alternate bands of conifers and alpine meadows. It had rained the previous day and everything smelled wonderful
The approach hike is a stroll through alpine meadows and fragrant copses of pine and fir.
It was fairly easy to pick my route as the summit is visible for much of the hike. There are many ways to negotiate the series of benches and rock ribs
Radio conditions were much better than they had been and it was good to hear from so many of my usual chasers after taking over a month off to move to New Mexico from California.
Plenty of places to set up and plenty of trees to support the arms of my doublet.Puffy cumulus clouds cooled this summer day and did not threaten any thunder or lightning. Looking South.Looking west toward Taos.
Sunrise shadow of the imposing Mount Butler. In the distance is the snow on White Mountain.
8 JUNE 2025 W7N/NS-091
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
7,116′
Route:
Road and use trail
Hike Distance:
2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
400′
Navigation:
Moderate
Steepness:
Extremely steep – 3rd Class*
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:
Excellent Verizon
*Not a beginner hike. Some rock climbing experience suggested.
This summit might look like a stroll by the numbers at one mile round trip with 400 feet of gain, but 200 feet of the elevation gain comes in the last tenth of a mile after leaving the access road! Then there is a scramble up some very loose rock to cross the road-cut. This was my least favorite part. Getting to the saddle between Mount Butler and the bump to the east is steep but not hard. Then there is some enjoyable third class going from the saddle to the summit. Serious exposure can be avoided if one stays to the ridge line.
The sun rose as I hiked up the access road. I liked doing this early on a Sunday morning before the rowdy town of Tonopah wakes up. This walkabout from Cedar City, Utah across the Silver State took me on a lot of new ground, new dots across my map, so to speak. Yesterday’s first activation of Pahroc Summit and today’s first activation of Mount Butler made this an exceptional adventure for me. I saw wild horses both days.
Radio conditions weren’t great and I received poor reports with a lot of noise noted. There is a military radar facility to the northeast over on an unnamed summit between Red Mountain and Booker Mountain that provided the periodic “fog horn” noise that made some QSOs difficult on 20m. Unlike the near zero noise the previous day.
Also I wondered if the massive Crescent Dunes Solar Project that was plainly visible to the north was adding some QRM.
Satellite shot of the Crescent Dunes Solar Project. Click to enlarge.Close-upThe station looking south.Here’s a good view of the route. The route leaves the road below the saddle of the summit and the bump on the left.Here’s the saddle from the road. The hardest part is going up the road-cut at the bottom.Here’s the 3rd class section from the saddle. No real exposure but uneven footing. Beginners beware.Not a first ascent 😉Tonopah at dawn. Click to enlarge the radar visible below the horizon right of center that gave 20m fits.Brock Mountain to the east.The northern scarp is precipitous.SouthThe gate – It’s all BLM land.
Apologies ahead of time for posting too many pictures of this activation. It was just such a beautiful day! …and to think that this was a punt. I didn’t actually think I would be doing this summit.
I left from Cassie KG6MZR’s little adobe in north-central New Mexico expecting to have a leisurely little walkabout on an extended weekend. My job had other plans for me.
I drove across the top part of New Mexico on a beautiful Friday morning. I saw literally over a hundred elk, antelope and deer over Highway 64 and the San Juan Mountains. I had to drive very slowly. However when I got to Paige, Arizona my clients began to call and I had to repeatedly stop to make changes on my laptop at McDonalds. Too bad, because the drive from Kaibab to Cedar City is wondrous.
As I dropped into Cedar City the sky opened up and it poured with monsoon lightning striking everywhere!
Once in Cedar City, Utah, I knew my plans had to change. I wouldn’t have time to do a more ambitious tour of unactivated summits in Nevada, so I re-focused on Pahroc Summit.
This mountain is deceptively difficult. It didn’t help that in the “shoulder months” of the summer heat (late spring and early fall) provided a day that topped 90ºF. The “shoulder months” are deceptively dangerous in that the heat is a threat that doesn’t have the obvious hallmarks of the plus 100º days of summer.
Then there is the route. While the topographical maps make it seem like there is an easy ramp to the summit, they don’t have the resolution to show the large boulders that make this summit more difficult that the maps suggest. I had to continually turn around and try different routes to find a way. This was very tiring in the heat. As a solo climber in the middle of nowhere, I had to be cognizant of the fact that a twisted ankle could be serious.
Radio conditions were a lot better than they have been. I had a good number of summit-to-summit contacts including a personal fav – Mount Tamalpias – with Julie N6EKO and “Zop” KB6ZOP.
The Station from the control position looking west.Both masts visible.Looking east – the way I came from Cedar City, UtahA petroglyph?Looking west to Mount Irish – the summit I had originally planed to do.The trailhead.Looking north.I love the desolation of basin and range geography and being “in the middle of nowhere.”
What a treat to find such a beautiful fire lookout tower on a summit with no communications infrastructure!
24 MAY 2025 W5N/OT-014
A Summits On The Air Classic!
Elevation:
9,734′
Route:
Dirt road
Hike Distance:
1.2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
600′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Gentle
Vehicle:
High clearance suggested
Road:
Good dirt road*
Cell Coverage:
Good Verizon
*Dry weather only, A little rough on the short piece of FS Road 110A
What a surprise treat this summit turned out to be! I wasn’t even going to activate anything on this Memorial Weekend Saturday when at the last moment my chores evaporated and Cassie KG6MZR said “Go!”
This was my 200th SOTA unique activation and Kiowa was a fitting prize.
As Don AC7P mentioned in SOTA Data, the approach drive from the south is a better road – especially if conditions are less than dry. This road was a little bumpy but an intrepid passenger car driver should have no trouble with everything up until the last bit – FS Road 110a – and even that wasn’t too bad until the end. The gate was locked and it looks like it has been for quite a while. Here is my driving route off of State Road 111
The hiking route is a delightful, shady and easy walk though the Carson National Forest with glimpses out across the forested Tusas and Ortega Mountains. Even if the gate had been open, I would have taken this delightful stroll.
This summit is unusual for the fact that there is a reasonably well-preserved forest service fire lookout tower on this forested summit, but not any other communications infrastructure that usually attends such a juicy hilltop. Or at least there is very little of the usual junk. There was a small building at the base that housed what I am guessing is a single repeater. I did hear some audio chatter coming from within the building. But with no big microwave junk, this peak has a lost-in-time vibe. The tower is one of the tallest, if not the tallest, I’ve ever seen. It is a little spooky to climb. I’d suggest a firm grip on the handrails as some of the plank steps seem pretty weathered. There was an inspection tag from 2023 at the bottom that gave the structure a satisfactory grade. The very top trapdoor into the lookout itself was locked.
The tower makes a great place to hang a high end of an antenna.
Radio conditions were somewhat better then they have been. Chris F4WBN was an honest-to-God 57 on the KX2.
There was a wonderful place to set up in front of the ranger’s cabin. It would make a good overnight camp.Wider view of the station.“King Kiowa” presides over the summit.Terrific view to the northeast of San Antonia and up into the Colorado Sangre de Christo. Click to enlarge.Some of the peaks to the northeast.Perhaps the most interesting example of a forest service fire lookout tower I have ever seen.Obligatory benchmark photo.Locked gate and a good example of what the end of FS Road 110A looks like. Bumpy but passible.
Looking southeast Twin Benchmark is visable as the shaded hills below and to the left of Ute Mountain.
17 MAY 2025 W0C/RG-174 First Activation
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
8,284′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
1.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
500′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Moderate*
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Good dirt road**
Cell Coverage:
n/a
*Footing is somewhat precarious on hummocks and rocks. **Dry weather only
After activating Twin Benchmark for the first time, I went after another first time a activation: Saritas Benchmark. Coincidentally both summits are exactly 8,284′!
The wind that had started on Twin was becoming stronger. NOAA had forecast gusts up to 30 MPH and that usually means that or more on summits. The hike crosses over to private land from BLM land just after a false summit and the sturdy barbed wire fence can be stepped over on some large basalt blocks. There are no “no trespassing” or “private property” signs. What looks like uninteresting dun colored hills are actually alive with wildflowers and cactus upon closer inspection.
Once on the summit it was difficult to find a place out of the wind and a place to secure a mast. I had decided to forsake the table and chair in an effort to lighten my pack and speed up the ascent. It turns out that a chair is pretty important to my nearly 70-year-old frame for a lengthy and comfortable activation.
I fastened the mast to the wreckage of the ancient weather station and this produced less-than-satisfactory results. The mast kept blowing over making a tough activation more difficult. Furthermore the bad HF conditions I experienced on Two just got worse and I began to worry that I wouldn’t succeed in activating this one.
Fortunately faithful SOTA hardcores Darryl WW7D and Josh WU7H came through. Even more surprising was Chris F4WBN making the trip from France! He was barely there but I got him.
An uncomfortable station setup with no table and chair and in the wind under poor HF conditions.Not much to lash an antenna to on this one, but a beautiful day not counting the wind.Gotta show the benchmark on any summit with that in the name.San Antonia to the southwest.Looking west to the flooded farmlands around Antonito and the San Juan Mountains beyond.Crimson Hedgehog about ready to pop.The dun hills look uninteresting from a distance, but are alive up close. I don’t know the name of these pretty white flowers.
Looking south to the smaller Twin that lies in the state of New Mexico.
17 MAY 2025 W0C/RG-164 – First Activation
Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.
Elevation:
8,284′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
1.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
525′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
Moderately steep
Vehicle:
Passenger car*
Road:
Excellent dirt roads*
Cell Coverage:
Very good Verizon
*Normally I would stipulate dry weather only here, but these were really good dirt roads at the time of activation.
The San Luis Hills are one of my favorite places to wander in solitude. On this trip I activated two previously unactivated summits and didn’t see another soul all day – not even on the very well-maintained dirt roads that connect them. Quite a surprise for a nice spring Saturday!
The Taos Plateau was absolutely radiant at sunrise. As I drove across the farmland after Antonito I was a little alarmed to see all the low-lying areas flooded given I was headed for a lot of dirt roads that tend to get quite sticky with that special flavor of volcanic mud only found on the Taos Plateau. To my pleasant surprise, not only were all the higher roads dry, they were maintained about as well as any dirt road can be. I wonder why Costilla County spends so much on a road that doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
The hike is quite direct with slightly unstable footing of tussocks, lava detritus, cactus and scrub.
This summit has an interesting feature. It is actually two summits as one might expect from a benchmark called Twin. One summit, the higher, is in Colorado. The other is in New Mexico. The activation zone extends between the two. It underlines the disparity in SOTA activation points to note that if the southern summit was just a few feet higher, this would be an 8 point summit and not a 2 pointer. I figure if you activate this one from the New Mexico side, you should get 8 points 😉
Twin Benchmark’s actication zone
This summit was also notable for the fact that in 270 activations that I have carried a first aid kit, this is the first time I have needed to use it on myself (I have used it for others).
On this summit, like the next one after this, there was some kind of wreckage. I think these must’ve been old weather stations or something like that. Among the weathered wood is a bunch of rusted guy wire that is the same color of the basaltic lava rock. This stuff is hard to see and easy to trip over, as I discovered. I was setting up when my feet became entangled in this treacherous, camouflaged stuff and I came down hard on my left hand.
The link below are photos before and after my first aid job:
Radio conditions were execrable. 20m was the only band that seemed to be working and that was probably only because there was no background noise. I did manage to pull Chris F4WBN out on two bands, but it was tough.
The StationThe station looking northeast up to Blanca PeakGetting ready to goSan Antonio early in the day before the wind and cloudsThere were two benchmarks appropriately for TwinLooking west you can see Saritas BM, the next up, just left of center and below the snowy San Juan MountainUte Mountain in front of the Sangre de Christo Mountains.Looking northeast past Piñon Hills high point to Blanca Peak and the Colorado Sangre de Christo.Bunche Valley road is excellent until it gets to the New Mexico border where it is less so.
View of the highest point in Arizona, Mount Humphreys, from the enjoyable approach hike to the fun-named Wild Bill Hill
3 MAY 2025 W7A/CS-014
One star – Nothing special but I’d do it again.
Elevation:
8,189′
Route:
Cross country
Hike Distance:
2.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
525′
Navigation:
Easy
Steepness:
A little steep in one place
Vehicle:
Passenger car
Road:
Short dirt road
Cell Coverage:
n/a
Hike basics
After Wing Mountain’s cacophony of dirt bikes and gunfire and steep slopes, I found that the peace and quiet and gently sloping prairie to be a relief. There are several stands of aspen that have survived the ravages of the changing environment along the south side of the ravine that my route took me.
This is another forested summit with not much of a view on top, but a lot a great trees to hang wires.
I didn’t bring my table and chair and found that underneath the layer of pine needles there was a sooty layer of ash that got on everything. If ever there was a summit not to bring these amenities, this one was not it!
Radio conditions were again very poor. I think I owe my 10 points to Jay W7USA who roused some other Phoenix area hams to give me the necessary contacts on 40m.
Looking southwest on the summit slopes to Bill Williams Mountain – a mountain where I met Jay W7USA my hero for this activation.The forested summit of Wild Bill Hill.A striking burnt tree on the route.The route moseys up this pleasant draw.
KG6MZS 
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