"As one nears the summit of Electric Peak via the southeast ridge, it does look intimidating. When the "trail" ends, the temptation is to turn left (as Irvine did) and descend a terrible couloir to the talus, hence traveling northwest until due west of the summit, then turning up and negotiating fearsome talus to the summit.
"Trail" leading up southeast ridge of Electric Peak toward intimidating summit block
But if one stays right on the crest of the ridge where the trail ends, what looks to be fearsome turns out to be easy climbing up an ingenious little route that is readily done without need of a rope. To be sure, the unwary could fall off the mountain here, but good scramblers who are not intimidated by some exposure, will find that the route works well ascending and descending. I would not, however, recommend it for altogether inexperienced folks.
Scrambling down on the Class 3 section of the southeast ridge
Ted climbed the peak fifty(!) years ago this summer when he was a new high school graduate working for the YP Co. in Mammoth. And, coincidentally, Wayne and I climbed the peak (from the north) twenty-five years ago during the years that I was director of the Yellowstone Institute. I'm not sure how much longer this sort of thing can go on!
Best,
Rick Reese