W6/ND-142 – Mount Perry + W6/ND-144 – Dante Benchmark

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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

Total distance: 9.32 mi
Max elevation: 5707 ft
Total climbing: 2493 ft
Download file: Perry.gpx

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

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
20:47WB6POT7MHzCWS57N R57N
20:48KN6DMO7MHzCWS57N R55N
20:49W6LEN7MHzCWS58N R599
20:50K6HPX7MHzCWS57N R54N
20:51K1CT7MHzCWS58N R52N
20:52AE7I7MHzCWS57N R57N
20:52W6TDX7MHzCWS55N R54N
20:54WB7ULD7MHzCWS57N R53N
21:05WW7D21MHzCWS58N R56N
21:05W0MNA21MHzCWS57N R57N
21:06W0ERI21MHzCWS57N R57N
21:08NU7A21MHzCWS55N R55N
21:08N7ITU21MHzCWS57N R57N
21:097N1FRE21MHzCWS55N R41N
21:10AK5SD21MHzCWS58N R55N
21:12WU7H21MHzCWS58N R55N
21:12W9UUM21MHzCWS57N R53N
21:14N4EX21MHzCWS55N R53N
Trailhead from parking area
Nice view of Mount Perry
A closer look at Mount Perry, you can kinda see the trail.
Some parts to scramble over
View from the top

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) 

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
23:35WW7D18MHzCWS599 R56N
23:35N4DSH18MHzCWS53N R44N
23:36W1UL18MHzCWS55N R55N
23:37WU7H18MHzCWS53N R53N
23:38W0MNA18MHzCWS57N R56N
23:38W0ERI18MHzCWS57N R57N
23:40JG0AWE18MHzCWS22N R22N
23:40NU7A18MHzCWS55N R33N
23:41W5GDW18MHzCWS56N R44N
Dante Benchmark

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