W6/CT-271 Burn Benchmark

 There are two Burn Benchmarks in this area of southern California, and this was the first that I did. Since I didn't have a car capable of serious off road driving, I looked for a route that was all on paved roads. I found a reasonable route starting from the Sierra Highway south of Sleepy Valley. There is a large pullout on the southbound side, just after you drive under some high voltage lines (34.48715, -118.38809). I parked here.

Looking up at the power lines.

From here it as a short but very steep climb up to the ridge, then a pleasant walk to the summit. My original plan was to go up the left side of the small canyon and follow the power line access road up to the summit, but that way appeared to have a lot of cliffs, so I went right.

On the ridge.

The first part of this climb was very steep. Very, very, very steep. I made it up though, and was glad to be on the ridge. I still thought I could go over to the road and take that, but the reentrant looked a bit steep and brushy, so I decided to just go straight up. As far as I can tell, the parking spot is on the border of the national forest land, and the entire hike is in the NF. Either way, there are no signs or fences.

Looking towards Palmdale.

The walk up the ridge was pleasant, with nice views. There is no difficult bushwhacking, any brush can simply be stepped over or around. The summit was clear, with a metal pole at the high point. I used this pole to hold up my fishing pole and antenna, and got on the air. There was excellent service on top. I made contacts on all four HF bands I had, but there were no takers on VHF.

QCXmini making contacts on 17m.

I packed up and took the same route down. The steep bit near the road was treacherous to get down, but I did it without falling. Definitely some class 2 slope there. Back at the car I found out my work for the evening had been cancelled, so I drove up the road a bit to the start for another summit.

Trailhead: Side of Sierra Highway (34.48715, -118.38809)
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Scramble up the steep slope on the right of the small canyon, then follow the ridge to the summit.
Red Tape: None. 
Video: ham_bitious YouTube