Saturday, March 22, 2025

Micro Benchmark

Hiked: 3/18/2025
Distance: 3.5 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 3772'
Elevation Gain: 1555'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.2
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Chuckwalla Peak Road
Difficulty: Easy

After Palo Verde, Ben and I met up again for Micro Benchmark. This was another desert peak south of I-10 in the Chuckwalla Wilderness. Ben drove in on a bumpy, but decent dirt road and parked below the gate. We saw a couple of service trucks on the road. The road was pretty steep from the gate to the towers. We wandered around the tower area a little, then set off the very slightly higher peak about a quarter mile away. This was open desert and easy to navigate. We had nice views of the local mountains and long, straight stripe of I-10 stretching to the horizon in both directions. Ben spotted a register in the summit rocks. When we started down, it had warmed up quite a bit. We were in the waning weeks of desert season.

Looking up from the start

Service truck at the towers

The slightly higher summit in the distance

Summit rocks

Looking back at the towers


Solar lakes

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