At this point the ridge broadened and the brush was healthy seven to eight feet high. Once again the trail had no growth on it so it was still a matter of lots of pushing to get through it all. It was almost impossible to see where I was on the ridge and there was no obvious high point for a BM. I checked GPS and was right on the spot where it should be but no BM. I checked a couple of clearings just off the trail and still no luck. I decided to continue down the trail a little further and boom there it was right next to the trail in a rock. It was an odd spot for a BM as it was on a gradual declining slope with no view to speak of.
Townsend Peak & BM 2,658
I decided this Sunday to continue my exploration of the upper Canton Canyon trails. This time I decided to enter via the top of the canyon from Templin Highway. The trail starts very inauspiciously from the side of the 5 freeway. The fire road up to Townsend used to be driveable by car but now the route is quite eroded. The noise from the 5 is quite distracting but the higher you get the quieter it gets. Once you start to get around the peak it quiets down significantly. Canton Canyon drops dramatically in a way that you wouldn't expect from what it looks like near the 5.
The view is also dramatic to Whitaker Peak
As you curl around to the south side of the peak, the sounds from civilization disappears. As you make it to the ridge proper, you reverse direction to get up to the peak. The climb is a bit brushy but still easy. The top is pretty flat, there was a small rock outcropping that I hopped over to. I noticed an odd rock painted with a tiki carving put in the side of the rock, fortunately it was a smiling face. I left the painted rock there as I didn't want to get any bad juju from taking it. Hopefully I've not been hexed, will get back to you on that. The view facing Castaic Lake.
I continued along the ridge for a short while longer. There is a fire break that continues along the ridge but instead I turned down the south side of the ridge on an older looking fire road. About halfway down the ridge I found this:
I think it happened within the last ten years as the only write-up I could find of this area was from 2014 and it did not mention the vehicle. Someone had some fun spray painting the top of the vehicle. The fire road starts to turn in a more southwesterly direction, there are some small peaklets that you could hike if you would like. Overall the fire road is in good shape and only gets a bit brushy towards the end. At the end of the fire road there is a nice clearing with some great views and even a hitching post. Lots of bullet casing in the area and broken glass from parties of yesteryear. Here is the view across Devil's Canyon, there was a use trail that headed that way unsure if it takes you all the way down anymore. You can see a break heading down towards the canyon bottom from the other side.
From here the route was along a trail that dropped from the main ridge to a lower one. The trail was quite narrow and a bit brushy in this section but the tread, as all of the trail was, was in surprisingly good shape. Towards the bottom of this contour was the spot where the Canton Canyon trail had started. There was zero evidence of it from where it supposedly turned off. As I got further on the new ridge I did look back and thought I could see the faint outline of what might have been the tread. The lower ridge was quite narrow and it was here that the brush started to become a bit of a problem. Fortunately none of it grew directly on the trail so it was more a matter of pushing then going over it. At the end of this ridge there was a high point that I assumed was where BM 2,658 would be. I climbed up, this was the first section where I had to really break through brush, when I got to the top and checked GPS I was off by a 1/4 of a mile. As opposed to going back I stayed on the ridge crashing through brush until I reconnected to the trail.
At this point the ridge broadened and the brush was healthy seven to eight feet high. Once again the trail had no growth on it so it was still a matter of lots of pushing to get through it all. It was almost impossible to see where I was on the ridge and there was no obvious high point for a BM. I checked GPS and was right on the spot where it should be but no BM. I checked a couple of clearings just off the trail and still no luck. I decided to continue down the trail a little further and boom there it was right next to the trail in a rock. It was an odd spot for a BM as it was on a gradual declining slope with no view to speak of.
I had no more interest in this ridge and the continuing brushiness so turned around and made my way back up to the fire road where I took my first break. On the way back just before I got back to the Townsend ridge I heard some dirt bikes who apparently were riding the fire break over to the other side of Devil's Canyon. The elevation gain is gentle but the brush more then made up for it as far as effort. Fortunately the brush was not buckthorn or manzanita so I didn't really get scratched up despite it all. I may come back to hit some of the other peaklets off the fire road as the upper canyon is really spectacular looking.
The view is also dramatic to Whitaker Peak
As you curl around to the south side of the peak, the sounds from civilization disappears. As you make it to the ridge proper, you reverse direction to get up to the peak. The climb is a bit brushy but still easy. The top is pretty flat, there was a small rock outcropping that I hopped over to. I noticed an odd rock painted with a tiki carving put in the side of the rock, fortunately it was a smiling face. I left the painted rock there as I didn't want to get any bad juju from taking it. Hopefully I've not been hexed, will get back to you on that. The view facing Castaic Lake.
I continued along the ridge for a short while longer. There is a fire break that continues along the ridge but instead I turned down the south side of the ridge on an older looking fire road. About halfway down the ridge I found this:
I think it happened within the last ten years as the only write-up I could find of this area was from 2014 and it did not mention the vehicle. Someone had some fun spray painting the top of the vehicle. The fire road starts to turn in a more southwesterly direction, there are some small peaklets that you could hike if you would like. Overall the fire road is in good shape and only gets a bit brushy towards the end. At the end of the fire road there is a nice clearing with some great views and even a hitching post. Lots of bullet casing in the area and broken glass from parties of yesteryear. Here is the view across Devil's Canyon, there was a use trail that headed that way unsure if it takes you all the way down anymore. You can see a break heading down towards the canyon bottom from the other side.
From here the route was along a trail that dropped from the main ridge to a lower one. The trail was quite narrow and a bit brushy in this section but the tread, as all of the trail was, was in surprisingly good shape. Towards the bottom of this contour was the spot where the Canton Canyon trail had started. There was zero evidence of it from where it supposedly turned off. As I got further on the new ridge I did look back and thought I could see the faint outline of what might have been the tread. The lower ridge was quite narrow and it was here that the brush started to become a bit of a problem. Fortunately none of it grew directly on the trail so it was more a matter of pushing then going over it. At the end of this ridge there was a high point that I assumed was where BM 2,658 would be. I climbed up, this was the first section where I had to really break through brush, when I got to the top and checked GPS I was off by a 1/4 of a mile. As opposed to going back I stayed on the ridge crashing through brush until I reconnected to the trail.
At this point the ridge broadened and the brush was healthy seven to eight feet high. Once again the trail had no growth on it so it was still a matter of lots of pushing to get through it all. It was almost impossible to see where I was on the ridge and there was no obvious high point for a BM. I checked GPS and was right on the spot where it should be but no BM. I checked a couple of clearings just off the trail and still no luck. I decided to continue down the trail a little further and boom there it was right next to the trail in a rock. It was an odd spot for a BM as it was on a gradual declining slope with no view to speak of.
I had no more interest in this ridge and the continuing brushiness so turned around and made my way back up to the fire road where I took my first break. On the way back just before I got back to the Townsend ridge I heard some dirt bikes who apparently were riding the fire break over to the other side of Devil's Canyon. The elevation gain is gentle but the brush more then made up for it as far as effort. Fortunately the brush was not buckthorn or manzanita so I didn't really get scratched up despite it all. I may come back to hit some of the other peaklets off the fire road as the upper canyon is really spectacular looking.
