Trip report
Jan 26, 2019 — These two easily-accesed scrambles were a huge amount of fun. Since they had no approach, I decided to go along both ridgelines to see how intense the scrambling would get, rather than choosing the more direct and easier approaches (see descents on map for easiest access to the high points).
Park along the wash and head up Knife Peak first – it's more of a warm-up than Slabs Peak. I decided to bag the minor peak to the east of the true summit of Knife Peak, and the ridgeline, though totally unnecessary and avoidable, was an incredibly fun Class 3 scramble due to the massive solid limestone blocks. The views of the narrow Slabs Peak behind you are really cool. From the top of the false summit of Knife Peak, continue along the ridge to the high point, keeping along the ridge crest for the easy Class 3 scramble to the summit. Just below the summit, a slope leads down to the desert floor to get back more quickly.
Slabs Peak was a massively cool surprise. I had no idea I'd be greeted with a knife edge! Head up the northern side of the west ridge of Slabs Peak and get to the ridgeline as quickly as you can for maximum scramble time. The ridgeline might be Class 4, but I don't know how to properly classify knife edges. There aren't any hard moves, but definitely don't fall. The high point was somewhere along my route and multiple sources gave different locations for the true high point. It doesn't really matter. Just scramble unitl you get sick of it – I found a weakess (Class 3) to get down off the summit and down to the desert.