At a junction we kept to the right, because that was the direction of the tower. I'm still not sure where the left branch goes. Possibly it connects with 2N13A near Little Green Valley.
After 1.5 miles we reached the tower and a decent view of Big Bear Lake off to the east.
(Photo by Cecelia)
Cecelia looped around the tower looking for a benchmark or something, but she reported nothing found. On the return, a worker had parked his truck at the site. Signs on his truck and the control room read "Frontier." So I'm calling the location Frontier Tower.
At the end of the service road we noticed a well-used trail following the ridge. Curious, and wanting to reach some sort of summit, we continued on the path. The route appeared to be an old firebreak.
Through an opening in the canopy a peak came into view across the way.
The terrain map on my GPS app indicated that it might be Crafts Peak. So we decided to keep going.
Cecelia hunted down every tree with leaves changing color for autumn.
(Photo by Cecelia)
Our route ended up being some odd combination of road, firebreak, and singletrack. Not being familiar with the trail, we made a couple wrong turns but eventually got it right.
Coming down off the second bump along the ridge, we missed a left turn onto an old road and instead went straight up the ridge, finding the road atop the third bump. Our oversight became evident during the return, and the track follows the better route along the road.
Soon we were at the final climb to the peak.
The road climbed steeply and wrapped around to the north slope, where it ended, and a rough path then took us through the brush and rocks to the highpoint.
Here the view westward opened up, showing us Lake Arrowhead and Baldy in the distance.
The top contained a register and a plain USGS mark.
We ate snacks while sitting on the boulders. The cold wind blew steadily across the sunlit summit, making perfect weather for a sweater or tank top.
To the east we could see Butler Peak and Big Bear Lake.
We wondered if there was a route between Crafts and Butler, but it looked sort of choked with brush.
Our route ended up being 7.2 miles round-trip with about 1650' gain total, which includes some rollercoaster action on the ridgeline.
Afterward we attempted Gold Mountain (site of a famous mining operation), but we ran out of time and had to turn around midway. Part of the route burned and is now home to fresh poodle dog bushes. On the positive side, we did see these interesting ruins along the way.
