I woke up early at the big RV parking lot/ campsite in Stovepipe wells; not my favorite place to sleep but an easy option. I quickly made some coffee and headed up to Towne Pass to start my hike up to Pinto Peak. Once there and moving around I noted the temperature was 37F, the wind was blowing at an uncomfortable speed, and I was wearing shorts. The sun wasn’t over the horizon yet so I knew it would warm up at the day progressed. As I started the hike up the first climb, the sun peaked over the landscape directly in front of me, inhibiting my vision. This made route finding somewhat tricky. The majority of this hike is class 2, with some light class 3 sprinkled in.

After several wrong turns, I finally made it to the summit, where I found and signed the register. It was still very windy at the top, setting up my standard EFHW antenna would have been tricky, and perhaps result in a broken mast or wire. Luckily I brought a KH1. This radio has a small whip antenna and tuner built in. While not a great performer compared to full size aerials, it works in situations like this well. Huddled behind the rock cairn, out of the wind – I worked 15M, and 17M. No S2S unfortunately.

After the working all stations in the initial pileups, I signed QRT and headed back to the truck. I’d had enough of the strong winds and was feeling fatigued by it. I made good time heading down the hill but made several wrong turns off my initial track which slightly extended the trip. This also sent me down some class 3 spots which I could have possibly avoided. Back at Towne Pass, there was a guy in a 1st generation Toyota Tacoma refueling from portable jugs. He was pulling a large, 7,000 pound trailer. I chatted with him a bit and turns out the truck had the 2.7L engine, mated with an automatic transmission. Impressive.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-055

Download file: Pinto.gpx

Date:21/02/2025 |  Summit:W6/ND-055 (Pinto Peak) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
19:13	W9MRH	21MHz	CW	S53N R55N
19:14	W2WC	21MHz	CW	S55N R599
19:15	WW7D	21MHz	CW	S599 R55N
19:16	W4JKC	21MHz	CW	S57N R44N
19:18	NU7A	21MHz	CW	S52N R53N
19:19	W5ODS	21MHz	CW	S55N R55N
19:21	WU7H	21MHz	CW	S57N R54N
19:28	AC7P	18MHz	CW	S53N R22N
19:30	F4WBN	18MHz	CW	S55N R599
19:32	K7SO	18MHz	CW	S58N R56N
19:38	WB7ULD	18MHz	CW	S599 R51N
19:41	KF9D	18MHz	CW	S57N R32N

From Highway 190, take Dante’s View Road all the way to a large parking area. This is a pretty well known spot in Death Valley which offers stunning views of Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range. The summit of Dante Benchmark is just a short hike north of the parking area, and beyond that, Mount Perry, a little over 4 miles away on a well worn trail.

Like most of my hikes, I got up to the trailhead later than I would have liked. From there I wasted no time getting on the trail and away from the tourists on the pavement. It only takes about 5 minutes (or less) to get to the first summit, but my plan was to activate the furthest one first. The trail to Mount Perry is easy to follow, but you loose about 1,000 feet of elevation on the way there, before climbing another 1,000 feet back up. Near the summit the trail is a bit of a scramble. See .gpx file below. Once at the top I had the whole mountain to myself. I setup an EFHW and worked 15M and 7M CW, no S2S. After exhausting the initial round of chasers I packed up and headed back to Dante Benchmark.

https://sotl.as/summitRidges/W6/ND-142

Download file: Perry.gpx

Date:20/02/2025 |  Summit:W6/ND-142 (Mount Perry) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
20:47	WB6POT	7MHz	CW	S57N R57N
20:48	KN6DMO	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
20:49	W6LEN	7MHz	CW	S58N R599
20:50	K6HPX	7MHz	CW	S57N R54N
20:51	K1CT	7MHz	CW	S58N R52N
20:52	AE7I	7MHz	CW	S57N R57N
20:52	W6TDX	7MHz	CW	S55N R54N
20:54	WB7ULD	7MHz	CW	S57N R53N
21:05	WW7D	21MHz	CW	S58N R56N
21:05	W0MNA	21MHz	CW	S57N R57N
21:06	W0ERI	21MHz	CW	S57N R57N
21:08	NU7A	21MHz	CW	S55N R55N
21:08	N7ITU	21MHz	CW	S57N R57N
21:09	7N1FRE	21MHz	CW	S55N R41N
21:10	AK5SD	21MHz	CW	S58N R55N
21:12	WU7H	21MHz	CW	S58N R55N
21:12	W9UUM	21MHz	CW	S57N R53N
21:14	N4EX	21MHz	CW	S55N R53N

I made it back to Dante Benchmark 30-ish minutes before UTC turnover and was feeling pretty scorched from wind and sun exposure. I was also pretty hungry. Not wanting to setup a full sized antenna, I found a nice rock near the top to sit on, and used a KH1 with the internal whip to make contacts on 17M CW. By the time I was getting back to the truck the sun was setting and the cold desert temperatures were creeping in.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-144

Date:20/02/2025 |  Summit:W6/ND-144 (Dante Benchmark) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
23:35	WW7D	18MHz	CW	S599 R56N
23:35	N4DSH	18MHz	CW	S53N R44N
23:36	W1UL	18MHz	CW	S55N R55N
23:37	WU7H	18MHz	CW	S53N R53N
23:38	W0MNA	18MHz	CW	S57N R56N
23:38	W0ERI	18MHz	CW	S57N R57N
23:40	JG0AWE	18MHz	CW	S22N R22N
23:40	NU7A	18MHz	CW	S55N R33N
23:41	W5GDW	18MHz	CW	S56N R44N

The trailhead for Salt Benchmark was right off CA-127 on the way to Death Valley National Park. Once there I was surprised to find a wetland area named Salt Creek, complete with a bit of flowing water. Additionally, there is a nice trail leading to some mining ruins, complete with information signs along the way describing the history of the area. This is honestly worth doing even if you don’t hike up to the summit. After checking out an old stamp mill, I started my way up to the summit on a narrow use trail. This is where most if the elevation gain starts. About half way up, it gets even steeper, and the rocks are razor sharp. I never considered hiking with gloves, but they would be very useful here. You you slip here, you will bleed. I got to the top just after 00:0 UTC and setup an end fed half wave connected to my new MTR 3B V4. Worked 15 and 20M, signed the register, and headed down because I was loosing daylight. By the time I got back to the truck it was dark. I ate a snack and headed to my camping spot in DVNP, Hole in the Wall, where it was extremely windy.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-376

Download file: Salt_Benchmark.gpx

Date:20/02/2025 |  Summit:W6/ND-376 (Salt Benchmark) 

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
00:16	JG0AWE	21MHz	CW	S22N R32N
00:16	WU7H	21MHz	CW	S57N R53N
00:19	JH1MXV	21MHz	CW	S21N R31N
00:28	K2LT	14MHz	CW	S55N R42N
00:30	KY4TWO	14MHz	CW	S57N R57N
00:31	K2MO	14MHz	CW	S57N R55N
00:31	K7SO	14MHz	CW	S58N R56N
00:32	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW	S58N R54N
00:33	WW7D	14MHz	CW	S57N R54N