KG6MZS

Cerro Grande x2

Carol KE6SRN and Tom KE6SRO in front of the spectacular Valles Grande in the crown of the Jemez Mountains.

26 OCTOBER 2025 W5N/SE-011

Elevation:	10,171′
Route:	Nice trail
Hike Distance:	5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:	1,175′
Navigation:	Easy
Steepness:	Moderate
Vehicle:	Passenger car
Road:	Good paved highway
Cell Coverage:	Good Verizon

Hike basics

For my second trip up this fine summit I was joined by newly-minted Mountain Goats Carol KE6SRN and Tom KE6SRO. The day was a smashing success! The goat herd gathered at the Pojoaque McDonalds at 7:30 and we all piled into Whitedog to drive up through Los Alamos on our way to the trailhead in the Bandelier National Monument. I’ve driven through the checkpoint to the National Laboratory several times. This time we were tersely denied admission with a one-word “No.”

After re-routing around the checkpoint we continued up the once-massive prehistoric super volcano that is now the Valles Caldera.

There was nobody parked at the trailhead when we arrived and we leisurely made our way up the golden autumn trail. Small patches of snow remained in the shade from Thursday’s early-winter storm. The air was delightfully cool and fresh.

Our ascent track (from my first visit)

Once we started to set up our respective stations, a steady stream of hikers began to arrive taking advantage of the glorious day. Conditions on HF were crowded on all bands due to the CQ World Wide DX Contest raging. Even the WARC bands were busy with non-contesters fleeing the maelstrom.

We spotted a plumb bob and line tangled in a dead tree near the summit from some other activation. I’ve come close to losing such an antenna support line, but always managed to work the snag loose.

It was a blast sharing my passion for SOTA with Carol and Tom – two lovely people who could appreciate my (mostly healthy) addiction to this wonderful pastime. It was fun to see how they activated. My only regret was that is was over too soon! Thank you Carol and Tom for sharing your vacation in the Land of Enchantment with me.

Here is Carol’s account of this activation

“CQ SOTA” – The station. Photo by Carol Bruegge KE6SRN

Three Goats. Photo on Carol’s iPhone by a random hiker.

The antenna. If you zoom in on the tree you can see the stranded SOTA gear. Photo by Carol Bruegge KE6SRN.

A section of the sweeping Valles Grande. Photo by Carol Bruggue KE6SRN.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Baby Black Mountain

Looking north at the austere, volcanic landscape of Black Mountain.

14 SEPTEMBER 2025 W7A/CS-040

Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.

Elevation:	7,507′
Route:	Cross country
Hike Distance:	1 mile round trip
Elevation Gain:	550′
Navigation:	Easy
Steepness:	Moderate
Vehicle:	Passenger car
Road:	Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:	Good Verizon

Hike basics

Originally I had intended to do Baby Black the same day as Black Mountain next door, but I ran out of gas after trudging up the volcanic scree on the latter. My revised plan was to get up at O’Dark Thirty and ascend the smaller mountain before driving back to California.

I’m glad I chose this plan as it allowed me to take my time and enjoy this strange landscape a bit more.

…and it is a strange and beautiful landscape. Just after sunrise near the top.

The hike is short and somewhat steep if one attacks it directly. I chose to meander a bit along use and animal trails and traverse along makeshift switchbacks. There is a fence that is easily crawled under right at the start. Small pines dot the summit for antenna supports. The summit has a wonderful view of Sunset Crater, Black Mountain, O’Leary Peak and, of course The San Francisco Peaks.

My track up this easy summit

Radio conditions were good. I heard from Gary in Pennsylvania for the first time in a long time and Christian was very clear from France. Thank you chasers!

Looking west to the highest point in Arizona, Mount Humphreys and the San Francisco Peaks.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Black Mountain

Moon-like cinder fields define this ascent.

13 September 2025 W7A/CS-037

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.

Here is my ascent track. Unlike most mountains, this is better than:

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

Humphries and O’Leary Lookout to the west.

Humphries and a field of Daisy in Sunset Crater National Monument.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Sierro del Ojito

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

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.

Here is my descent track. This is probably a better route to follow for an ascent.

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 Hills

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Chicoma Mountain

An unusual angle on Cerro Pedernal looking northwest across the summit meadow.

23 AUGUST 2025 W5N/SE-001

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.

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!

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Summit 10,837′

Looking west toward the Brazos Cliffs from the park-like meadows of this fine summit.

16 AUGUST 2025 W5N/OT-006

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

Here is my ascent track

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.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Mount Butler

Sunrise shadow of the imposing Mount Butler. In the distance is the snow on White Mountain.

8 JUNE 2025 W7N/NS-091

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.

Not recommended for beginners.

Here is my ascent track up Mount Butler

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.

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.

Tonopah at dawn. Click to enlarge the radar visible below the horizon right of center that gave 20m fits.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Pahroc Summit

The summit from the east.

7 JUNE 2025 W7N/LN-307

Elevation:	5,512′
Route:	Cross country
Hike Distance:	1.2 miles round trip*
Elevation Gain:	450′
Navigation:	Tricky
Steepness:	Steep
Vehicle:	Passenger car
Road:	Good dirt road
Cell Coverage:	Good Verizon

Hike basics

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.

Here is my ascent of Pahroc Summit

And here is the descent track

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.

Looking east – the way I came from Cedar City, Utah

Looking west to Mount Irish – the summit I had originally planed to do.

I love the desolation of basin and range geography and being “in the middle of nowhere.”

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Kiowa Mountain

Such a beautiful fire lookout tower on a lovely summit free of all the usual communications infrastructure that often clutters up such summits. Four stars for this wonderful, easy hike.

What a treat to find such a beautiful fire lookout tower on a summit with no communications infrastructure!

24 MAY 2025 W5N/OT-014

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.

Terrific view to the northeast of San Antonia and up into the Colorado Sangre de Christo. Click to enlarge.

Perhaps the most interesting example of a forest service fire lookout tower I have ever seen.

Locked gate and a good example of what the end of FS Road 110A looks like. Bumpy but passible.

Here are my SOTA summit ratings

Here are some cool links to Summits on the Air (SOTA)

KG6MZS Summit Index by Year

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Saritas Benchmark

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

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.