Frazier Mountain on snowhoes

Los Padres National Forest


Click for map.

Frazier Mountain is the second mountain on the Hundred Peaks Section's list of peaks that I have been up, but only in a car. Since I don't feel like counting drive-ups, I need a plan to hike it. I've had one to go in from the east side at the edge of Hungry Valley, but with all the snow on the ground, a 20 mile hike is probably too much for the short days. From the north, I can get up and down by two routes in 7 or 7.5 miles. That's still almost 15 miles and the trip up Tecuya showed the snow can start very early, and that was the south side of the mountain. How long can one go on snowshoes in a day? They certainly aren't as fast nor as easy walking as hiking on dirt. Hopefully I'll have the good sense to quit if it gets to be too much, not that I have a good record of that. With the memory of the frigid wind at the top of Tecuya, I have my puffy mittens and a few other things to be sure I'm warm enough.

gate on West Frazier Mountain Road
The gate on West Frazier Mountain Road. This road is rated easy, but there seems to be some certainty among users that it should be higher.

My plan is to go up the West Frazier Mine Road and some others that wander over to the fire lookout at the very top, then come down Frazier Mountain Road. Both are closed for the season at this start point, so there should be no traffic. The big snow was right around Christmas and there is still some snow around the lot. People have been coming out for snow play and what is left is full of footprints while some slopes have become crushed down to ice. The snow on the road has been pressed down into a hard ice too, so I have to be careful when I encounter it. Mostly I have dirt to walk on and a few mud puddles to avoid.

dirt road with a little snow
A lot of dirt and a little snow along West Frazier Mine Road. This really is an easy bit.

The road at first seems to just wander up and down in an overall level way across the side of the mountains. It is getting to the old road that comes off Lockwood Valley Road a bit to the west. That section is now blocked off and unmarked. There's still a few certain they want to take it, so it is still visible on this side. There's a bit more climbing once the road meets the old route. There's only a few footprints through the snow sections now. After a mile, it's down to one and 1.5 miles leaves none but the animals.

big lump of dirt and rock trust up by the San Andres Fault, with trees all over
Mount Pinos, the county high point, has quite a bit of snow all over it, too.

Tecuya Mountain and Ridge
Tecuya Mountain isn't showing much snow, but it's all in the hidden places.


Frazier Mounain
Frazier Mountain has snow, but it is spotty and one might be able to choose a way up without so much underfoot.

snow across the road with no footprints
Lots of animal tracks, but no footprints following the road through the snow.

At first, I just trudge through the snow. The sections aren't long nor deep and the footing is secure enough. I did neglect to bring my gaiters. I meant to have the nice, long ones on. I'm going to regret this eventually. The snow is deep enough to get into the tops of my shoes. Right around 3 miles in, I think I'm ready to try it with the snowshoes instead. It looks like it is getting pretty determined to be covered in snow.

much snow on the road
Looking like it might just be snowed over now.

snow shoe prints in the snow
And now with snow shoe prints across it.

It doesn't last, of course. Around the next corner, there is dirt. The snowshoes come off to go back on to come back off to go back on... This spotty snow is quite annoying. Eventually the spots are short and I just step carefully through the 20 feet or so of dirt before the next section of snow.

peaks south of Cuddy Valley
Lockwood Peak and San Guillermo Mountain, or thereabouts, at the south end of Lockwood Valley. Higher peaks behind include Thorn Point (and more of Pine Mountain) and San Rafael Peak.

The junction is under snow, but the signs are clear. Actually, there's still not enough snow to make the roads difficult to make out. Now it really gets to climbing with a couple segments that look like they've been redone because they were a little too steep.

signed junction
At the junction, the road climbing is intermediate and the road going back down is still supposed to be easy.

Lockwood Valley
Now there's a lot more of Lockwood Valley to see.

It all levels off again for a bunch of miles of gentle climbing. The wind hasn't been bad, but now I want my windbreaker. I can hear more wind high in the trees. The snow is still not so deep that I can't see where the road is. In fact, the trees have managed to clear a space around themselves. Still, a space in the snow under a sheltering ledge of a rock shows the ground is two feet below there.

three roads in a wood
The road coming up to a junction. The one on the left is nominally passenger car friendly, but don't count on it really being so. The right goes to a motorcycle trail.

The junctions are no problem with the incomplete visibility of the road as they are well signed. Some signs are a little harder to find than others, but every route has one. Once I'm close, it's easier to see because someone was up here. Skis or a snowmobile, I couldn't say. It's very old track. I think it's snowmobile, but expect it shouldn't be. Whatever, there are two and they stay so perfectly distanced so much of the time that sometimes I think it must have been some four wheeled vehicle. Also, the track is now a hard, icy ledge in the middle of the snow that makes unpleasant tilted footing.

some mountains to the south
Out south, the big mountain is the one on the right which is Alamo Mountain. Isolated in the back is Cobblestone Mountain.

Sespe Wilderness
Peaks of the Sespe Wilderness. Look closely enough and there is another former fire lookout out there.

The road hangs toward the south side of the mountain, giving me views I didn't have before. Once in a while through the trees, anyway. There's the bulk of Alamo Mountain and the ripples of the many peaks through the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. I keep going to the next junction, where the icy track makers go the other way. I no longer have to pay much attention to how I place my feet. Just don't step on one snowshoe with the other. A further and I start to get eastern views instead.

a little more hill to climb
Just a little more hill to climb to the top.

ridges and a high peak
Coming back around toward some of the original views north.

much lower badlands
The primary view had I come up from the east side would have been of Hungry Valley.

Around another corner, there's the electronics at the top. The fire lookout is rather dwarfed by it all. It must be chilly because the camera is getting misty. As dry as it is, I can tuck it into my windbreaker to warm it for a little improvement.

microwaves everywhere
Lots and lots of microwave equipment at the top of Frazier Mountain with the old fire lookout.

The fire lookout is the old wooden structure painted brown that I remember. Well, it might have been less rickety in 1995 when I last saw it up close. I didn't look at it much then. I'd seen it before. Now the steps require a bit of extra care and the cab lets in everything.

looking at the fire lookout
There it is, in all its decay.

sign and snow
At the top with some peaks of Angeles National Forest in view. Warm Springs is the lookout over there.

I decide to make the climb. Very very carefully. There is still view from the top to all directions, but sometimes a bit obscured by trees and electronics.

taller mountain
Mount Pinos is still taller.

snowy sierra peaks
Some more snowy peaks are out there. Those are the south end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

It got a little late as I was coming up, but I wasn't going to turn away just for that. I got to the mid point by an okay time. I grab some food, then get moving. But not entirely. My search for the benchmark was as disappointing as expected. Only reference 1 remains. However, there are two azimuth marks. I didn't want to go down the snowy and steep hill for the second, but I'll have a go at finding the first. Er. Not a very good go because although there is a rock outcrop where there should be, there's no mark visible either there or on the much more likely rock a little further. So much for finding the original azimuth. Then I head down. The icy tracks are along the main road, so they will continue until the end. There's more junctions along the way, but none are likely to be the source of the tracks.

trough built for a spring
A spring along the way has melted a path across the road. There's a tiny bit of open water and dribbling flow.

a little bit of ridge through the trees
Not much view at the top along this road.

The road has a good layer of snow a long way down. Not much view at first, but I could see it from Tecuya, so I can see Tecuya from it once I'm low enough. It had looked to have a lot of snow and it does. People have walked further up this one than the other one in the snow. It actually looks like one person post holed all the way to the top one day. Many people have gotten about 4 miles up. I only see one snowshoe mark, but maybe those melt to obscurity more quickly. The snow shouldn't be as compacted under them.

snowy road
Lower down, lots of views on this snowy road. Many footprints show others have been coming up to enjoy them.

Lockwood and Cuddy
Lockwood Valley and Cuddy Valley around Mount Pinos. It's mostly in shade now.

Tecuya Mountain
Tecuya Mountain is across the way.

The road doesn't have deep snow, but I keep the snowshoes on for the built in crampons. There are breaks in the snow, but I keep as much on the snow and step carefully otherwise. It's still two miles when I take them off. That's about 10 miles of hiking with them on. Then they get back on and off and on. I finally decide to just pack them away. Everyone else has been walking it. I should have got out the spikes. It is mostly ice where the snow remains once it is getting dark. I slip a little on a few spots where the melted water is freezing over again. I really should have got out those spikes. There's one last long section of frozen stuff where a bend is down a deep little valley and it is very stomped down. Really, really should have got out the spikes. After that, I can stay on dry old pavement and don't need the spikes after all.

Ten miles on snowshoes. I guess one can go a far distance on those things. I didn't regret not having my gaiters too much, but I suspect that's because the snow often wasn't all that deep. Still too deep to go post holing all the way.




©2020 Valerie Norton
Written 1 Feb 2020

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