Type: 35′ steel tower with L-4 cab
Status: Abandoned
Elevation: 7,083′
Visited: June 21, 2024
The 3.7 miles of Road 9402 to the summit had received fresh gravel in the not-too-distant past, so it was an easy drive to the summit:
As soon as I got out of the car, though, I was swarmed my mosquitoes. It was the end of the day and I had considered camping up here, but I quickly abandoned that plan. I hurried around the summit taking pictures and shaking off the blood-suckers.
The tower hasn’t been staffed in quite some time and is in rough shape:
The bottom stairs have been removed and chained to the base of the tower:
The old garage is still standing:
The old cabin is definitely worse for wear. At some point after its original construction the cabin was wired for electricity, and a porch and concrete floor were added:
Old water tank:
The outhouse seemed to be in better shape:
I swatted at mosquitoes while taking in the views. Diamond Peak to the northwest:
Looking southwest at Mt. Scott, Llao Rock, and Mt. Thielsen:
Mt Scott at center with Mt. McLoughlin just to the left in the distance; Mt. Shasta barely visible on the left, 130 miles away:
Looking east at Bald Mountain and Yamsay Mountain:
Looking southeast at distant Yamsay Mountain, and Sugarpine Mountain (in shadow):
There’s a whole bunch of communications equipment up here, which is why the road is not in worse shape:
More information
Forest Lookouts
Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page
National Historic Lookout Register
Peakbagger
Panorama Photos
Geocache
History
Walker Mountain was used as a patrol point as early as 1907. Around 1913 a crow’s nest was established. A stone and wood cabin was built in 1915 for living quarters:
In 1919 a 25′ pole tower was constructed:
In 1932 a road was built to the summit and a 35-foot steel tower with a wooden 14×14′ L-4 cab was constructed:
1942
1967
According to a report written in 1991, in the 1980s the wooden stairs on the exterior of the tower were replaced with metal ones that were placed on the interior of the tower. A new hatch was cut through the floor of the cabin to accommodate those stairs. The catwalk was replaced in 1986. At some point the woodstove was replaced with a propane stove. The lookout was wired for electricity and contained a refrigerator since a line had been run up the road for the communication towers. At the time of that report the lookout was no longer staffed full-time, only in times of high fire danger. The tower is no longer staffed in any capacity.
In 1998 this was the site of a Passport in Time volunteer project. Work included replacing the collapsed toilet with another toilet that was relocated here from elsewhere, replacing the roof of the cabin, cleaning the cabin chimney, removing many packrat nests, and repainting the cabin and the garage. Unfortunately it looks like nothing has been done since them.
The site has transitioned from a lookout site to a communication tower site. In 2009 the Forest Service approved the construction of a 140′ tower and a 600 square foot building by the Bonneville Power Administration.