Benson Plateau Perimeter Trails/Campsite Friday, June 5

[Thomas M]

On Friday, June 5, I did the perimeter route around the Benson Plateau. Snow conditions are good making the hike quite doable without snowshoes. I would say about 80 percent of the perimeter trails are melted off. There is a little tricky route finding to be done on the southwest portion of the trail (a couple of hundred feet) and south side (1/4 mile) of the plateau. The PCT on the Benson has quite a bit of snow, especially on the south end of the plateau. Some areas under clear canopy are 4 to 5 feet deep. However, there is no problem following the trail on the PCT since it cuts a pretty obvious swath through the trees along the east perimeter.

SNACK BUDDY ON THE WESTERN PERIMETER TRAIL.

The interior of the plateau is another story. I wanted to check out the Benson Camp area on trail 405, near the middle of the plateau. The trail from the east perimeter is snow covered and I soon lost track of it. I'm a little familiar with the natural features so I made my way west to a pond near the trail, put an approximate (wrong) waypoint in the GPS and went for it. This led to a lot of wandering around trying to figure out where I was. Actually, this was the most pleasant part of the hike! A little lost is fun and, besides, its almost impossible to get lost on the Benson. Head east and you hit the PCT. And talk about melt-off! Water flowing everwhere! Swampy conditions for sure.

After a while, I spotted the little log bridge, with a broken back, over Ruckle Creek which is just east of the camp site. The water was so deep that it looked more like a dam!

The campsite area is still mostly under snow, but I figure a couple of weeks and it will be quite camp-able as it was early last year. I sat on a familiar log and ate a couple of slices of my home made vegan pizza. Wow! what a treat. I kept my eye over my shoulder just in case a curious carnivor, besides myself, should wander by. No such luck!

The following pictures are taken around the large stone firepit and the camping area just west of Ruckle Creek.....Benson Camp, I think.

I picked up and slowly GPS'ed my way back to the 405 junction and then to the trailhead.
Eckhard Tolle and Brian Swimme lectured to me on the way out. And, nary a drop of rain all day, despite the forecast!

[Grannyhiker]

Great report, Thomas, especially timely since there have been questions from folks anxious to get up there!

Would you object to putting a link to this report in the "Snow Level" thread?

[MarkInTheDark]

Hey Thomas M, great report on Benson Plateau. It is one of my favorite spots and I was just wondering what it might be like up there. I hiked up on June 12th a few years ago and found snow up to my waist! Still was able to locate Benson Camp, what a cool area of the Gorge.

[chameleon]

Thanks for this report! I've been considering some trips up Benson to explore some of the canyons dropping down from it (such as upper Sorenson and 4-mile creek), but have wanted to wait until all the snow is gone! You're report suggests to me I'd be wise to wait another month or so.

BTW -...it is possible to get lost on Benson (At least if you do some foolish things) On my first trip up Ruckel ridge, I got to the plateau at night, buried under snow, which I hadn't counted on (I guess I should have since it was January - but I was a newbie to the area). It took me a while to figure heads for tails and locate the Ruckel Creek trail. I hadn't counted on the plateau being quite that flat and uniform, and only found the buried trail by heading in the direction I thought it to be and eventually saw a cut stump rising from the snow, indicating I had found it (that's after wandering around a bit, not sure whether I'd overshot it). I then had to find my down the indent it made (which wasn't substantial) in the snow. It was probably the closest I've come to being accidentally "stuck" somewhere in the gorge at night.

Thanks for the report!
-Zach