W6/SC-077 Joaquin Ridge

 After a full day of OHV driving and peakbagging, we woke up at our campsite near Wright Mountain. It was warmer than we were expecting, but no one complained. After a quick breakfast we continued our drive down the road to the end to get Joaquin Ridge. 

Sunrise over Coalinga.

There is a parking area and picnic table at the end. It would make a nice place for camping. The gate is locked and no vehicles allowed, but the road had obviously been graded recently. It was a pleasant walk in the early morning sun.

End of the road.

The road drops down to a col, then climbs up towards the peak. A short distance below it, it turns right and goes across the face, below the cliffs. We took the road to the place where it started to turn. 

High point is the top of the cliff.

Here we stepped off the road and immediately found a use trail running up the ridge. Since it was going in the right direction we decided to follow it. Only the last hundred vertical feet or so are covered in dense brush and vegetation, so even if it hadn't been there it would have been easy to get up most of the way. 

Off trail, admiring the summit.

Lucky for us, however, the trail continued into the brush and all the way to the summit. There were a few switchbacks on the climb in the trees. Parts of it seemed like it was an abandoned trail.

Almost there. 

There is a large clearing just below the high point. We stopped here to set up the antenna. I went first on 20m. I had to go way up the band, nearly to the phone portion because of the contest traffic. Eventually I found a clear spot and started calling CQ. It was a constant battle keeping my frequency from the contesters. 

First outing for my FT-817 and MX-P50m.

Once I had gotten everyone, Rex sat down to use it. While he was operating I went over to the high point to see if I could get anyone on VHF. I didn't, but the views were excellent. 

Looking down at the operating clearing. 

Rex had a deadline to be out of there by, so we didn't linger on the summit. We retraced our route back to the car, and started driving out. We decided we had enough time for a quick activation of Santa Rita Peak on the way out, so we ran up for a quick one. Luckily, crazy motorcycle guy didn't show up.

The Diablo range is beautiful.

The drive out was not as difficult as the way in, although we did make a wrong turn at the bottom of the hill. Back at the campground we pumped up the tires and started the long drive back to San Jose.

Trailhead: End of the road, past Wright Mountain.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the road to where it turns below the summit, then bushwhack up the rest of the way.
Red Tape: Each person needs a day use permit to enter the ACEC zone, and each vehicle needs a separate permit to drive into the trail system (and get the gate code).