W6/CT-163 Yerba Buena Ridge

 Yerba Buena Ridge is in Angeles National Forest, on the LA side. The trailhead is pretty easy to get to, on road 3N41 off of Little Tujunga Canyon Road. There is a parking lot with what looked like a toilet, but it was behind a locked gate. So I drove just up the road where there is a large pull out across from the trailhead. 

Trailhead parking was plentiful.

There are a number of switchbacks to climb up the steep part out of the canyon, then the trail starts a constant climb up to the ridge. It was a cool morning, and the hiking was quite pleasant. There seems to be some sort of private ranch below the trail. The Oak Spring Trail eventually reaches what is probably Oak Spring, where it drops a short distance into a forested area before resuming the climb.

Summit views.

Eventually you get to the ridge road, 3N30. There are some metal posts to keep vehicles off the single track trail. Turn left here and follow the road for about two miles up to the high point. There is a small cairn at the high point just off the road. I backtracked a little to a clearing with a covered cistern to set up.

MTR on the summit.

There are some bushes here to stick your pole in, but they're low enough you still have great views over to the rest of the San Gabriel mountains. I had enough cell service to send out some spots, so I sent one for SOTA and POTA. I was hoping I'd get a lot of contacts like on Bare Mountain, but since it was a weekday there just weren't as many chasers out. It was still a good activation.

Once I was done, I retraced my steps back to the car. It was a bit faster going down, as you'd expect. 

Trailhead: Road 3N41, just past the parking lot.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route:  Take the Oak Spring Trail up to the ridge road, then turn left and take it to the summit.
Red Tape: None. 
Video: ham_bitious YouTube