About 9.5 miles and 3500ft of gain on this north ridge approach of Mt Tipton.

The standard DPS route leaves from the same trailhead, but angles south and ascends the west ridge.
I hadn't done my homework and ended up winging it- making this day longer and sloggier than it needed to be.

The trailhead for the Mt Tipton wilderness, which had parking space for a half dozen cars and a signboard and signin registry.

You can continue on the road for another half mile past this spot- but there's not a whole lot of benefit and the road is quite rocky.

End of the (legal) 4wd road- 1.4 miles from the cattle gate and about a half mile from the trailhead. The old jeep road continued into the wilderness where it supposedly eventually leads to Indian Spring.

Old corral. There was reasonably fresh signs of cattle, so I'm assuming some amount of grazing still happens.

Teddy Bear Cholla on the slope leading up from the corral.

The road continued for about a mile or so past the corral. Tipton visible on the horizon about 3 miles distant. (Summit itself is hidden behind the ridge)

Wilderness boundary markers. There's a blooming prickly pear down there on the left- these were common down in the wash but weren't blooming higher up.

The road turned north and this cairn marked (what I assume was) the beginnings of the DPS route. At some point I should have veered south (right) but ended up on the left ridge.

The hedgehog cacti were in bloom on all of today's route.