W6/CT-132 – Granite Benchmark

Granite Benchmark is a summit I’ve wanted to visit for awhile but couldn’t get to with my tiny commuter car as the trail head is down a long fire road. Sadly, the clutch in the car was going out and the replacement cost exceeded the value of the vehicle. In addition to the clutch, it needed a bunch of other work so it made sense to sell the car and buy something else. I ended up with a 1st gen Toyota Tacoma 4×4, manual everything. So far, it’s a rad truck.

From Bouquet Canyon road, I turned on the forbidden Leona Divide fire road and headed to the trailhead, where there was a large clearing and plenty of room to park and not get in anyone’s way. The hike it’s self it pretty easy; It follows a power transmission line service road around a mile and a half one way, and maybe 700~800′ of elevation gain. Close to the summit, you cross under the lines and follow a short use trail to the top. On this particular day , it was extremely windy. I had a difficult time getting my wire antenna up. In addition, my mast broke twice. Worked 40M, 30M, and 20M CW. No S2S from this peak. After packing up and heading back to the truck, I continued my way down Leona Divide to activate Burn Benchmark, one I’ve previously activated before via mountain bike. You can read about that here.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-132

Total distance: 2.49 mi
Max elevation: 4621 ft
Total climbing: 957 ft
Total time: 02:23:34
Download file: W6_ct_132.gpx

Date:06/04/2023 |  Summit:W6/CT-132 (Granite Benchmark)

TimeCallsignBandModeNotes
19:13KF6HI7MHzCWS52N R52N
19:15KN6RDC7MHzCWS55N R599
19:17NT6E7MHzCWS58N R53N
19:17KN6OMN7MHzCWS57N R55N
19:19AI6XG7MHzCWS56N R44N
19:22WU7H7MHzCWS22N R22N
19:23K6HPX7MHzCWS33N R51N
19:35W6TDX10MHzCWS44N R44N
19:37K5DEZ10MHzCWS42N R42N
19:40N9KW10MHzCWS22N R339
19:47N7EDK14MHzCWS33N R33N
19:47WW7D14MHzCWS52N R53N
19:49W6STR14MHzCWS51N R57N
19:52W0JSR14MHzCWS45N R31N
19:53W5BOS14MHzCWS45N R33N
19:55KG5ES14MHzCWS42N R55N
19:56NW7E14MHzCWS33N R55N
19:59N7BYD14MHzCWS44N R44N
20:00W5ODS14MHzCWS45N R55N