Distance: 6.1 miles round trip on dirt road
Summit Elevation: 9120'
Elevation Gain: 750'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.6
Round trip time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 40 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Pipes Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy
From Highway 38, I turned onto Pipes Canyon Road and parked. There was plenty of parking available outside the locked gate. I suspect it is always locked due to private towers on Onyx Peak (HPS #29). The PCT also passes through here. I started up the smooth dirt road that makes a long U-shape to reach Onyx. I noticed more cedars than pines and the forest was sparse. At the turn, I left the road and headed for an unofficial peakbagger-only peak named North Onyx Point. It was a quarter mile from the road and I thought maybe unlocked some great views, but it didn't. I wandered around trying to find the high point before heading back to the road. I met one large jack rabbit, the kind I usually see at much lower elevations. It was the only wild life encounter of the day. The summit had several towers, some seismic equipment, and open boxes with communcation equipment. Pieces of an unassembled tower were laying on the ground. It looked like an active construction site, but no one was working that day. I found the benchmark and a reference mark, but no register. A small painted sign was propped up next to the benchmark. Views on the flat summit were hampered by trees. On the way back, I decided to take a shortcut down a drainage where the distance to the road below was at a minimum. Fortunately, the forest had plenty of open spaces to walk around the trees. 400' feet down, I crossed a trail. 500' down was the road. It was a surprisingly easy and useful shortcut, and could be used on the way up.
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