Slide Mountain Lookout

 12/17/23

The wind ripped through the canyon. A few folks were mingling around the gate, mostly fishermen. A few stumbled onwards towards the campgrounds at Frenchman's Flat. All were dressed in large jackets or windbreakers. It wasn't that cold, but the wind always makes things feel worse. We got out of the car, donned the packs, and set off on our journey to Slide Mountain Lookout.

This is one that I probably should have done years ago. I've always seen it from the I-5, nestled on top of a nice looking mountain behind the never empty Pyramid Lake. Swear that thing is always full no matter how dry the weather gets. And the lookout tower just sits there, willy-nilly, overlooking it all. Never thought to explore it. Never even crossed my mind. But I figured it would offer some neat views of Cobblestone Mountain and Cobblestone Mountain is something that's been on my mind recently so I figured I'd give it a go before the year's end.

The Road Walk

A 1.7 mile road walk is required to reach the turnoff for the route to the lookout tower. It's smooth as can be, nearly devoid of potholes. Very easy walking. Grace and I walked head-on into the wind, the canyon acting as a funnel that sucked it in from the north. We saw nobody. Next time it would be wise to bring a bike because for whatever reason time seemed to drag during this part. Though easy, this road walk was incredibly boring, and something that I was not really looking forward to on the way back.

The turnoff

We reached the turnoff and began the slow ascent. The beginning of the route was an old dirt road that appeared to have been graded a few months ago. Eventually this road turned into a well maintained single track. The wind died down as we progressed upwards. Toyan, black sage, and laurel sumac dotted the hillsides, offering a dry and crispy smell to the atmosphere. Much of the toyan was full of bright red berries, which is usual for this time of year. The skies were grey but gave no hint of any coming rain, and the weather was cool and gave no inclination that it would get any cooler. The higher we climbed, the more I thought about bringing a bike for next time. Would be much easier on the way down. Just straight cruisin'. 

The single track led to a ridge where we got our first view of Cobblestone Mountain and Piru Creek. Cobblestone looked cold and distant, despite it having no snow and only being about 5.5 miles away as the crow flies. Piru Creek looked wild and desolate, sharply meandering its way through rugged country all the way to the glistening teardrop of Lake Piru. I'd considered exploring this creek from Frenchman's Flat to Lake Piru as a day hike, but after looking at it from the ridge I've got second thoughts. An overnighter would definitely make things less painful should I ever decide to embark on such an excursion. 

After taking in these views, we continued onward, running into the first people we'd seen on the trail all day. They were two dudes dressed in nylon jackets, wearing baggy pants and carrying two trekking poles each. Both of them seemed to be in their mid 50's and were in good spirits. They warned us that they heard rustling near the summit and thought that it could be a mountain lion. We said we'd keep our eyes open and wished them happy trails. 

Cobblestone Mountain center

Piru Creek

From the ridge, the trail curves east, offering great views of Pyramid Lake. It was here where the wind started to pick up again. From there we curved along the south and then north, ascending the western side. As soon as we hit the western side of the mountain we were back in the full brunt of the wind. With hats fastened and hoods synched, we continued along, the lookout now in sight. 

The summit was empty when we arrived. We walked up to the base of the tower where there was a little metal stand which contained a summit register. We were the 3rd group to summit that day. Strange, since we only saw one other group on the trail. The first group must have done it super early. Morning people. Strange breed those are. 

Slide Mountain Lookout is still in use by volunteers and is therefore in excellent shape. Unlike the rusted skeletal corpse of the Nordhoff Tower or the dilapidated and decomposing Thorn Point, Slide Mountain is fully furnished and weather proof, offering a glimpse of what the towers of yore used to look like. The bottom door was open and swinging in the wind. Inside were a bunch of tools, two big tanks and a festive wreath. After looking in there we closed the door and headed upstairs.

Upstairs nobody was home, but the door was unlocked so we took a peak inside. The anemometer on the wall read a windspeed of 23mph. The digital clock in the corner was 2 hours ahead. The bed was folded nicely and a Smokey Bear hand puppet was hanging on the wall, along with a Condor plushie. The oven was full of old dusty boots. On one of the shelves sat a number of binders and booklets and what have you, each of them serving a specific purpose for the tower. I found a binder full of lookout reports and took a gander at a few of them, interested to see what it was like to volunteer at such a place. Seems like it's windy, according to most reports. Other than that it doesn't seem like all that much goes on up there. In one of the reports, though, a volunteer claimed to have found a perfectly rolled joint beneath the tower. They "got rid of it," never explaining exactly how, but clarified that they did not smoke it. Har, har har...

After taking our little looksie we locked the door and spent a few minutes walking around the outside of the tower. I spent most of them looking to the west at Cobblestone and Dome Mountain, wondering if either of the two could be reached from this location. Cobblestone is likely 100% out of the question but Dome seems feasible. To the southeast could be seen civilization; everywhere else seemed to be desolate, dreary, desaturated and destitute, the I-5 being the only line of connection between one point of society to another somewhere out of sight. Winter lighting provided a calm quietude to the surrounding country that could still be felt despite the ever present sound of rushing wind.  It was relaxing, in a strange wintery kind of way. After having our fill of the views we said our goodbyes to this neat little tower and made our way back down the trail. 

Northwest

Pyramid Lake as viewed from the tower

We zoomed down the trail, I for one wishing that I was on a bike the whole time. On our way down we passed one other hiker and his dog. We hit the dirt road, and soon enough we were back on the asphalt which meant it was time for that darling road walk back to Frenchman's Flat. That road walk went by surprisingly fast but seemed to add a few extra hours to our legs. I don't know if that makes any sense but Grace would know what I mean. Back at the car we talked to a couple of elderly fisherman who asked us where we had gone. After we told them of our travels, they said they had no desire to EVER go up there, no matter how nice it is. And nice it was. With excellent weather, decent mileage, and not much traffic, the hike to Slide Mountain lookout proved to be a good one.