Japacha Peak extra

Spend the night at the Paso Picacho campground to get a timely start. On a weekday the campgrounds were mostly empty, very nice. I took the Azalea Glenn route up to the peak like most of us. As I am training for a longer backpack trip I decided to add a bit of challenge on the way back by taking the Burned Pine Trail via Japacho peak. Very glad I did; a gorgeous trail with manzanita patches, wildflowers, wooded meadows, and much less rocky than the Conejo trail. At the end This did add an unwelcome 1.7 uphill miles of a fire road, and a (small) burn scar. But at almost 13 miles it was quite doable and I recommend it.