Kel, Ebun, and myself camped out in the Mojave National Preserve in February to do some hiking. I’ve always wanted to climb Kelso Dunes, and as it turns out, it’s also a SOTA summit! These dunes are neat because there are several endemic species of insects. In addition, the sand makes a very low frequency booming sound when you walk over it. The trailhead is easy to find, three miles down a graded dirt road that intersects with Kelbaker Road. The first mile of trail is pretty flat, with increasing grade for the last half mile or so. At the top, I was able to sink my antenna mast directly into the sand, firmly securing if from wind gusts. I self spotted on APRS so the chasers could find me, made two S2S contacts on 40M, didn’t bother trying any UHF/ VHF.
https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CD-019
(Update 05-09-2022 – a server migration, plugin and php update revealed the timestamps on this .gpx file are broken. I’ve added fake times so this page renders correctly)
Max elevation: 3083 ft
Total climbing: 688 ft
Total time: 00:08:48
Date:19/02/2021 | Summit:W6/CD-019 (Kelso Dunes (HP))
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:08 | W9MRH | 14MHz | SSB | 55 52 |
| 21:09 | N0WAE | 14MHz | SSB | 21:09 |
| 21:10 | W0MNA | 14MHz | SSB | 55 55 |
| 21:11 | AC1Z | 14MHz | SSB | 21:11 |
| 21:11 | WW7D | 14MHz | SSB | 55 56 |
| 21:12 | KF4BY | 14MHz | SSB | 59 57 |
| 21:13 | WB7BWZ | 14MHz | SSB | 59 53 |
| 21:14 | W0ERI | 14MHz | SSB | 55 55 |
| 21:16 | KI6EAB/W4 | 14MHz | SSB | Florida 55 55 |
| 21:23 | KR7RK | 7MHz | SSB | S2S W7A/MN-120 52 53 |
| 21:24 | N7MAM | 7MHz | SSB | 59 51 |
| 21:25 | K7SO | 7MHz | SSB | 55 44 |
| 21:26 | WA7JTM | 7MHz | SSB | S2S WA7/CS-049 59 56 |
| 21:28 | W7RV | 7MHz | SSB | 59 42 |
