There is a winding dirt road leading to the summit station that is usually cleared of snow between late June and September. Access is restricted to hikers only by a locked gate about 2 miles before Barcroft Station, but White Mountain Research Station usually opens this locked gate at once each year. Open gate days are typically held on a Sunday in the summer season. The round-trip hike from the gate to the summit is about with less than of vertical gain. However, there are two different dips in the trail of about 250 feet each, adding up to a total elevation gain during the roundtrip of over 3500 feet. The open gate shaves about and of gain off the round trip. This route is popular with
mountain bikers. While the peak is arguably California's easiest
fourteener via the jeep road, it features more strenuous climbs such as its western ridge, an climb out of
Owens Valley via a steep ridge from the end of a rough road. Another route from the East, up Wyman Canyon from the Deep Springs Valley, has a lot of water sources in the first 12 miles. It climbs 7,100 feet to the summit. The peak is rarely approached from the north where it is guarded by a narrow
arête or knife-edge ridge. A better nontechnical alternative to the jeep road would be to drive as far as possible up Leidy Canyon from Fish Lake Valley, then take a graded cattle trail up the broad ridge to Perry Aiken Flat. From the flats it is an easy traverse south into the cirque of the North Fork, North Branch of Perry Aiken Creek. A moderate scramble up the ridge between the North Branch and the larger cirque of the main North Fork leads to the easier upper slopes of the peak. While the peak does not require technical climbing skills, it still poses a serious challenge to hikers because of the high altitude. ==Climate==