A late report - I've been out of town and too busy, but here it is -
Ever since hearing about lookout point (from Robinson’s book “Sierra Madre’s Old Mount Wilson Trail”) and seeing it on maps (you’ll see it marked on old maps and even google maps) near Orchard camp on the Mt. Wilson Trail, I’ve always been interested in it and wondered what it was like.
Over the last couple of years, I have made several attempts to find a way up there, but always ended up stuck in “bushwhack central”. I recorded GPS tracks and transferred them to a map to help guide me on the next attempt.
Finally. On Saturday 1/10, I made it to Lookout Point. It took about 4 ½ hours from the trailhead.
Not far from the trailhead, there was a group of 4 deer having a great time running around and raising dust just above Sierra Madre Canyon (see pix).
Once beyond Orchard camp, it was just a lot of slow bushwhacking, backtracking and that sort of thing.
I spent a good half-hour only about 50 feet below the summit trying to thread a way through the bushes before I finally found a way.
When I got there, it was obvious that I had found the spot. A rusty old tin that probably used to have a register, in the middle of a 15 foot diameter clearing. The old trail was easily identified from there too.
Lookout Point is so overgrown with brush that you can only see things above you. You can’t look down on the valley or the trail. You’d need a step ladder.
From there, I tried to follow the old trail down as far as I could. It was pretty heavily overgrown in spots and in other spots, the trail disappeared for several yards. I didn’t have time to follow it all the way back so I went straight down a few slopes to the canyon bottom and worked my way back over to Orchard camp.
I did get a GPS track returning from Lookout Point, about 2/3 of the way back to Orchard. Not sure why, but the last 1/3 didn’t record – probably a bad signal.
Anyway, that’s my little report. Pix here:
Anybody else been up there recently?
Lookout Point
Cool, good job. Always looked like pure bushwhack to me - guess I was right! I think I read of someone else a few years ago saying the same thing - I think it was someone who placed a geocache up there.
Always thought that it might be easier to drop down to Lookout Point from the Winter Creek Trail up on Manzanita ridge, but on satellite it looks worse than getting there from Orchard Camp.
Great pics of the deer. Unusual.
As you probably know, and if you have the inclination, you can import your gps track into google earth to show the route. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/
Always thought that it might be easier to drop down to Lookout Point from the Winter Creek Trail up on Manzanita ridge, but on satellite it looks worse than getting there from Orchard Camp.
Great pics of the deer. Unusual.
As you probably know, and if you have the inclination, you can import your gps track into google earth to show the route. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/