Lead mountain is a bit east of Barstow, CA. I first became aware of this mine form the Mineralogical society of Southern California when they hosted a field trip to the area. I didn’t make the trip, but I’ve been curious about visiting since. Additionally, I worked two SOTA stations from the summit above the mines for So.Cal Winter Field Day, so activating this would make it a complete. Getting there was pretty easy. I found a few interesting rocks while hiking up which appeared to host interesting minerals, but honestly I didn’t know what I was looking for. At the top I setup a 40M EFHW antenna and connected it to my MTR3bv2 and worked several stations on 40M and 20M. No DX or S2S unfortunately. Overall, this is an easy one to activate but it’s a bit far off road. I wouldn’t drive a sedan there. The total hike was less than a mile and 400′ of elevation gain.
“The Lead Mountain mine area is known for excellent baryte crystals and beautiful hemimorphite sprays. Micromineral enthusiast can find coronadite, plattnerite, and other lead and manganese minerals.”
https://sotl.as/summits/W6/SD-497
Total climbing: 374 ft

Date:10/10/2025 | Summit:W6/SD-497 (Lead Mountain)
Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:55 | W6LOR | 7MHz | CW | S58N R56N |
20:58 | W6DT | 7MHz | CW | S57N R58N |
20:58 | K6STR | 7MHz | CW | S58N R56N |
20:59 | WB6POT | 7MHz | CW | S58N R57N |
21:00 | K6KMH | 7MHz | CW | S58N R57N |
21:00 | K1CT | 7MHz | CW | S52N R55N |
21:02 | K6HPX | 7MHz | CW | S53N R53N |
21:03 | N6JZT | 7MHz | CW | S56N R55N |
21:04 | KE7F | 7MHz | CW | S44N R53N |
21:09 | K7SO | 14MHz | CW | S57N R56N |
21:10 | WW7D | 14MHz | CW | S55N R55N |
21:11 | NU7A | 14MHz | CW | S44N R599 |
21:12 | N7BYD | 14MHz | CW | S57N R55N |
21:12 | KI7QCF | 14MHz | CW | S599 R599 |
21:13 | N7BBQ | 14MHz | CW | S33N R54N |
21:14 | AC7P | 14MHz | CW | S44N R44N |
21:16 | N7QD | 14MHz | CW | S55N R57N |
21:17 | W2WC | 14MHz | CW | S44N R55N |
21:17 | WB7ULD | 14MHz | CW | S57N R52N |
21:19 | NU6E | 14MHz | CW | S52N R55N |





