31 Jan 2026. The first time I hiked Occidental was pre-SOTA in 2021 before the ravages of the Eaton Fire. The trailhead and parking area for this route begins at a convenient large pullout just SE of the access road to the large red and white tower. The route is just under a mile each way. The hardest part of this trail for me is getting up off the road to the trail. Short steep access from the road. Once you are off the road, the use trail is fairly easy to follow. It skirts just blow and north of the tower fence enclosure. Once you pass the enclosure you will arrive a a large concrete pad. Here the trail is along the ridge for only a short distance, maybe 100 feet then it drops below the north into the unburned north facing slope. Do not try and stay on the ridge. It may look like there is a route but it is fire line that was cut during the Eaton Fire and it is more difficult to follow than the use trail that stays just below the ridge. You may at times have to stop and look for the route but it is generally easy to find. Once you arrive at Occidental Peak you are back into the burn, or at least part of it. It would be a challenging summit to set up a long wire due to all the burned snags on the formerly heavily vegetated summit. It was my second activation of the day after San Gabriel Peak and a late start. I was getting tired and did not want to hike the route back in the dark so I only activated with my HT on 2m FM.  Got seven contacts. Enough to get it done. The route was a bit easier to follow on the way back. Maps do show a shorter route down from the NW to the road below. I think I would like to try that route up before I try it down. It looks very steep and loose. This is also a Sierra Club Hundred Peaks Section peak. Enjoy!