W6/NC-254 Junior Benchmark

The hike up to Junior Benchmark was interesting. I came here after climbing Peak 1972, a few miles north. I started from a pullout along CA 128, just before it makes a U-turn around the end of Wragg Ridge. From here it was a short walk to the start of the ranch road. The road climbs over a small hill, then descends at a gentle grade through a picturesque valley.

Top of the valley. Mt Diablo to the left of the tree.

 The road was quite muddy after the recent rains, and the proximity to a stream did not help. There were a number of cows, but they ran of as I approached. I continued down the road until I found a ridge that looked like it would offer good access to the summit.

Walking through the muddy valley.

I started up the ridge. It was a pleasant walk, through open forest with lots of green grass. Partway up I found what looked like a very faint ranch road, and started to follow it. It turns out, there is an abandoned road that runs all the way up to the col north of the summit.

Abandoned ranch road.

In a few places I did see signs that it had been driven recently, but I didn't see or hear any other humans while I was out. The road continued up, past some small ponds that seemed to be man-made. Shortly after the last pond, the road crossed a fence on a ridge coming down from the summit. Here I turned and started to follow the fence up the hill. Eventually I found the road again on the other side of the fence.

It is hard to capture how unpleasantly steep this part was.

This was also the start of the steep section. The road went straight up the hill. From the contour lines, I could see that this was the least steep part of the summit cone, but it was still steep. It was the sort of climb that makes you question why you are out doing this. It does, however, get to the summit eventually.

Panorama, near the summit. Mt Vaca in the center. Summit on the right. The trail comes up the center.

I found a convenient tree to put my antenna in, and got on the air. There was good cell coverage on the top part of the mountain. Like usual, 30 meters got the most contacts. They were coming in fast enough that I had trouble keeping up at points. Twenty and 40 meters were not as busy. After I had finished operating, I packed up and went up to the highest point to take a look around. The views were even better up there.

Looking south to Mt Diablo. I believe that is Marsh BM to the left.

The hike down was much quicker. The rains had softened the ground enough that the footing on the steep sections was very secure. It had gotten very overcast on the way down, and I was concerned it might rain, but a quick check of the weather said there was a 0% chance, so back at the road I continued up to Wragg Ridge.

Trailhead: Pullout on CA 128.
Website: SOTA Site
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map
Route: Follow the road down to the ridge, then follow the old ranch road and go cross country up to the summit. Road is not visible in satellite imagery.

Forest near the top.