Lakeview Point to Crafts Peak

TRs for ranges in California.
Post Reply
User avatar
Sean
Cucamonga
Posts: 4052
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:32 pm

Post by Sean »

Cecelia and I took a drive to Big Bear without any particular plan other than finding something to hike. While heading up the 18 highway, she spotted a tower on the mountain and just had to check it out. So we parked at Lakeview Point and walked up the service road.

DSC02851-001.JPG


DSC02853.JPG


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.

20181017_085516.jpg

(Photo by Cecelia)

DSC02861.JPG


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.

DSC02864.JPG


Through an opening in the canopy a peak came into view across the way.

DSC02865.JPG


The terrain map on my GPS app indicated that it might be Crafts Peak. So we decided to keep going.

DSC02867.JPG


DSC02871.JPG


Cecelia hunted down every tree with leaves changing color for autumn.

20181017_083849.jpg

(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.

Crafts Peak Track.jpg


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.

DSC02880.JPG


Soon we were at the final climb to the peak.

DSC02881.JPG


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.

DSC02885.JPG


Here the view westward opened up, showing us Lake Arrowhead and Baldy in the distance.

DSC02887.JPG


The top contained a register and a plain USGS mark.

DSC02895.JPG


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.

DSC02894.JPG


20181017_113438.jpg


To the east we could see Butler Peak and Big Bear Lake.

DSC02890.JPG


We wondered if there was a route between Crafts and Butler, but it looked sort of choked with brush.

DSC02889.JPG


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.

DSC02917.JPG
User avatar
Girl Hiker
Posts: 1403
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am
Contact:

Post by Girl Hiker »

This was a pretty cool peak. Hopefully, I can finish the remaining four of the 7 summits of Big Bear.
"Never limit yourself to what you can do!"
--Bart Yasso, my hero
Instagram My Blog
Post Reply