Magic Mountain Wilderness-Peak 3897

[David R]

I've been doing some exploratory hikes over the past couple of weeks and they have been quite enjoyable. I have been looking at the MM Wilderness area for a while with its modest peaks that no one seems to go to. After the fire a year or so ago I knew this area should be open for business as brush would be the biggest issue. I was looking at route finding and found out that Burd had already thought of hiking this area and had hit up all the peaks I was interested in. One of the interesting items on the write up was that a register had been left on Peak 3897 over ten years ago and until Burd no one had been there in over ten years. Peak registers automatically make a point on a topo map legit so I decided I had to haul ass ASAP to that peak.

I parked at the turnout where the drainage comes down to Soledad Canyon, it is a quite large turnout and is an actual signed turnout for the road. From there, an obvious wash begins that goes north and immediately splits. Stay to the left which is the main canyon. There are two ridges that'll get you to the peak with the one further along being more direct. I however left the canyon much sooner at the second spot where there is rock covering the canyon floor. This route climbs steeply through grass and connects to a subsidiary ridge where you make a left. I also left a small duck here. From here you follow a narrow ridge line and then climb steeply to the main ridge coming up from the road. Make another left (duck left) and you're on the main ridge. From here I hit the high point of the ridge and found an old circle of rocks and a rusty can that fell apart in my hands when I picked it up. At this point you drop to a saddle and start the steep climb towards the peak. This section used to have brush and would've been quite difficult without the fire. The gradient reduces and you have a final steep climb to the peak. Head to the left to avoid the brush that didn't burn. Finally you're at the top and I noted only one party had been there since Burd a year before.

The views were OK and it was quite windy. The person who had left the can had left his phone number and e-mail wanting to know if any lunatics had climbed the peak. Then the next hiker mentioned his e-mail address and it looked like we were going to have a What's App group for Pk. 3897 hikers. The route to Peak 4054 looked easy but had a depressing drop to a saddle so I decided to hold that one off for another day and probably do it with the other peaks to the east.

On my route down I decided to take the more direct ridge which was nice and wide and pretty moderate descent. At one point there was a lot of brush so I dropped to the side of a subsidiary ridge and saw an easy way down to a gully that would eventually connect to the main drainage. I decided to give it a shot as it looked open and nice and sandy. The first section was easy but then I hit a waterfall that was easily bypassed to the left but then a more problematic drop appeared of 20 feet with no easy way around it. Pissed off I looked for an exit and found one to the right that would take me back to the subsidiary ridge. It was steep and brushy but soon I was back on it and climbed all the way out and back to the main ridge. I continued down this ridge for quite a ways until I was right across from the ridge I had climbed. The ridge was getting narrow and required an upclimb and I was so close to the gully floor that I decided let's give it another chance I'm almost all the way down. The gully worked out well and connected with another gully and I was only one more fork from connecting to the man one when I hit major air. A 40 foot drop down and no easy way to climb down. More cursing followed and I decided to exit this time to the left which would take me back to the ridge that I had originally climbed. Once again a steep upclimb through the grass got me back onto my main ridge. From here I could see that if I had just stayed on the damn ridge the whole way it would've dropped me off exactly at the junction between the gully I had been screwing with and its east fork. Anyway it was a bit of an adventure but now I stuck faithfully to my original ridge and got down o\in no time.

The hike was quite a lot of fun with some steep climbing and route finding to an accessible but rarely visited peak.

[headsizeburrito]

Peak registers automatically make a point on a topo map legit

Very true!

Never been in that area before, did you take any pictures?

[citroenguy]

Your in my hood! Mad props, that hike sucks and you made it! I’ve tried climbing to the top of Magic Mountain a couple times. I started at the old mining road across the river off Capra rd. Way to much up hill for me! I stick to the canyons and river beds...#lazyhiker
But I’m kinda lost as to where you started and what canyon you hit the big fall?

[David R]

No pics, not a one, not the most scenic area especially after the fire.

I have hiked Magic Mtn from the route you mentioned. My start off point was further down Soledad after it crosses the tracks. The most obvious landmark is an old broken down RV that has been left in the pull out. Following my initial route up the wash continue upwards until you get to a fork in the wash. Go to the right and assuming there are no more obstacles downstream, you would hit the dry waterfall I mentioned.