Since all of the trails start from the camp which is off-limits, you need to find another access point to get to them. There is a small canyon just to the west of the camp. Most of the canyon is fortunately brush free on the bottom. You have a small dry cascade to clamber up at the start. You can then either take the first draw you hit on the left or the preferable route is the second one which is a little less of a clamber and an easier use trail to exit on to the ridge. From here you are on a massive fire break. I was surprised to see that the fire break system in the area has been significantly increased. Of the most interest was I noticed that only a little further up this westerly canyon a fire break had been cut to the bottom and up the N/S ridge that led to 4,054. It looked very steep but also looked like it would get me very close if not all the way to the summit.
I altered my plan and decided to cross over and follow the fire break to the other side of the canyon. The constructors have named their trails, the one that cuts off to the right that takes you down into the canyon is called Cyclone and the one that climbs up the ridge is called No Fear and the final route along the western ridge is called Lay In. Cyclone drops you down to the creek which was still flowing which was nice to see but lots of bugs were enjoying the water as well. No Fear is really steep with lots of loose dirt and rock. The incline does not minimize much once you're on Lay In and I could see clearly that the fire break should take me to the top. There was still lots of flowering plants with tons of bees but they didn't bother me much. I did not realize how warm it was going to get and with no shade the final climb in the mid-80s was kinda unpleasant and I was tired. Finally I made it to the top and it was a commanding view of the area even though the south ridge was higher. There was a cairn there and they had cleared out a section of the top. With the heat and the bugs I didn't spend much time on the top and started the steep descent pretty soon after getting up there. The final climb out of the canyon while short was really unpleasant with the heat but before I knew it, I was back to the car, happy to have wrapped up the peaks in the area. The hiking time was 3:45 for about 5 miles with about 2,500 feet elevation gain.
Some pics from the top.
