The hike started on a dirt road. We didn't know that we could have driven this road up to the gate, as a few cars passed us by including some normal sedans.
At the junction we headed left towards Forest Road 2E03. The cars that passed us went the opposite way, and I don't know where they were going. Anyways, it was a gradual ascent and less than three miles later we were at the turn off for Morton Peak lookout tower. However, we decided to tackle Cram Peak first.
We descended a steep firebreak towards Cram. This firebreak was quite a task. It had lots of deep pockets probably from a backhoe. It was very strange terrain and we were struggling to get around them and find different paths to avoid the dips.
There was evidence of a recent fire but lots of re-growth. I couldn't believe the abundance of wildflowers. (I won't post any and bore you dudes with those).
After a mile or so on this rough firebreak we reached a saddle, then there were a series of false bumps. We managed to bypass them and found a faint use trail.
Finally, we scrambled up about 30 feet to the summit. We found the register and a triangular marker.
The return was very un-eventful for me. I struggled up the steep firebreak back to the road. It was hot. I was exhausted and depleted of electrolytes. Luckily, my friend Dave had some extra and after that I was back to my old self.
We then continued on to Morton Lookout which was less than a mile on the road. I found two benchmarks so I was very pleased.
Sadly, someone broke into my friend's car and stole his ice chest from the trunk. We had been looking forward to drinking beer after the hike.
Stats: 12 miles, 2800' gain.
Ridge to Cram Peak. The firebreak is not shown. It starts higher up to the left.
Probably not the best shot, but the pockets of dirt were deep and this is just one section on the return.
Cram Peak summit.
Morton Peak Lookout Tower
1 of 2 BMs
