W6/SC-025 Junipero Serra Peak

Junipero Serra Peak is the highest point in the Santa Lucia Mountains and Monterey County, and was the goal of todays hike. I left home at 6 to beat the traffic, and got to the trailhead shortly before 9. I had called the day before, and found the gates on Del Venturi Road were closed, so I took the longer dirt option around. The road was in great shape, no trouble for my little sedan. As others have reported, the Del Venturi-Milpital road junction is very poorly signed, and I missed it and nearly drove onto the base.

Gate at the trailhead.

It was a beautiful day, and great weather for hiking. The first part of the trail was very wet. The nice open meadows were waterlogged, and I mostly kept my feet dry. As the trail begins ascending the canyon, there were a few stream crossings, some of which took some balance to get across.

Some of the rocks near the start.

The trail was in good condition, if wet. The brush was trimmed back, and there were no major blow downs blocking the trail. I passed the abandoned tractor, and started climbing. As the trail started climbing it got much drier. After a set of switchbacks I reached the junction with the Santa Lucia Peak Trail. This is where the adventure began.

Trail sign defaced with some warnings from previous hikers.

Above the junction the trail was more overgrown, but nothing to impede my progress. I did get my first view of the summit with the tower too.

JSP summit.

Looking north at the rest of the Santa Lucia Mountains.

The trail was in decent condition until it crossed to the north side of the ridge. Here it got extremely overgrown. There were sections I just pushed through, barely able to see the ground. Somehow I managed to stay on the trail. There were some small patches of snow still on the ground too.

Snow along the trail.

By the time I got to the final climb up to the summit, around 5600 feet, I completely lost the trail. I was close enough that I decided to just bushwhack to the top. After some terrible fighting with the brush, I got to the tower. I climbed up for a look around, but since there is no floor, I didn't stay.

It would be so nice if there was a floor.

The high point is on the other know, so I headed over. There is a small ruin at the top, and a marker in the rock. I had some lunch, then got setup. I had some service on top, so I was able to spot myself. I was in no hurry to leave, knowing I had a bad bushwhack back to the trail.

Cone Peak on the left.

The walk back to the trail was worse than the way up. The bushwhacking was made even harder with the snow on the ground, never knowing if my foot would slip. Scratched up, but no worse for the wear I made it back to the nice trail on the south side of the ridge.

This is the highest point in Monterey County.

The hike down was uneventful. I made good time, and when I got back to the car I was surprised to see so many other cars in the lot. This must be a popular area this time of year.

Pinyon Peak to the north east. I'd like to go there, but from the reports I've read it is an impossible bushwhack.

There were still a few hours of daylight left, and I didn't want to get back to the Bay Area at commute time, so I headed over to Peak 2577 instead.

Trailhead: Just before Santa Lucia Memorial Park is the turnoff for the TH. The park has pit toilets if you need them. The dirt road was very rough, but with some careful driving I made it.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the Santa Lucia Trail up to the Santa Lucia Peak Trail. Near the summit the trail becomes very overgrown, then disappears. For the most up to date trail conditions and accurate gpx of the trails, check out http://bigsurtrailmap.net/
Red Tape: None. The road to the TH does go through Fort Hunter Liggett, but it seems like there are no longer any gates.

On the way up.