There are a lot of errors on this route description, and unfortunately, I ended up burning a couple hours going in the wrong direction and circling before ultimately giving up (due to lack of water and the afternoon getting late) only a mile or less from the summit.
First thing to note -- it's a minor correction, but the cabin is 5.7 miles from the trailhead, not 5.
Here is the major problem with this route description: "Directly behind the cabin, there is another fork in the canyon. I’m told that either one will take you where you want to go. We took the right one."
This is not true. I took the right fork and, after 20 minutes or so, ended up at a massive class 3 rockslide where the canyon narrows. After walking around seeing if there was an alternate route I missed, I went back. This is because this is where Deadman Canyon dead ends, hitting "the crest of the Sheep Range" as described on birdandhike.com.
To the left of the cabin (if you are facing it) is a side canyon. This is not the proper way to go either, as it meanders eastward through the woods. If you did indeed follow this for a mile and a half or so (and given the amount of small canyons that branch off, it's hard to follow) you would likely find the canyon that leads up to Hayford. But it would take you far out of the way.
The proper way to to go is to head up to Wiregrass Spring, which is less than 10 minutes walking up an obvious use trail from the cabin. If you are facing the cabin, it's off to the left and goes straight up the hill. Once at the spring, you can follow vague use trails that meander up on to the ridge. The ridge is pretty rough at times, but by angling to the northwest (hiker's left) of the steep cliffs you encounter, you can get to the peak without much trouble.
I discovered this too late in the day to make up lost time and water. Unless this page has been updated, the best and most thorough route guide to follow is from birdandhike.com:
jtellis - Apr 30, 2012 10:08 pm - Hasn't voted
Many corrections to make on this routeThere are a lot of errors on this route description, and unfortunately, I ended up burning a couple hours going in the wrong direction and circling before ultimately giving up (due to lack of water and the afternoon getting late) only a mile or less from the summit.
First thing to note -- it's a minor correction, but the cabin is 5.7 miles from the trailhead, not 5.
Here is the major problem with this route description: "Directly behind the cabin, there is another fork in the canyon. I’m told that either one will take you where you want to go. We took the right one."
This is not true. I took the right fork and, after 20 minutes or so, ended up at a massive class 3 rockslide where the canyon narrows. After walking around seeing if there was an alternate route I missed, I went back. This is because this is where Deadman Canyon dead ends, hitting "the crest of the Sheep Range" as described on birdandhike.com.
To the left of the cabin (if you are facing it) is a side canyon. This is not the proper way to go either, as it meanders eastward through the woods. If you did indeed follow this for a mile and a half or so (and given the amount of small canyons that branch off, it's hard to follow) you would likely find the canyon that leads up to Hayford. But it would take you far out of the way.
The proper way to to go is to head up to Wiregrass Spring, which is less than 10 minutes walking up an obvious use trail from the cabin. If you are facing the cabin, it's off to the left and goes straight up the hill. Once at the spring, you can follow vague use trails that meander up on to the ridge. The ridge is pretty rough at times, but by angling to the northwest (hiker's left) of the steep cliffs you encounter, you can get to the peak without much trouble.
I discovered this too late in the day to make up lost time and water. Unless this page has been updated, the best and most thorough route guide to follow is from birdandhike.com:
http://www.birdandhike.com/Hike/DNWR/Hayford_Pk/_Hayford.htm
Though a little too concisely written, the localhikes.com page on Hayford confirms this route:
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Hayford_Peak_4120.asp