Randomly one night sitting with some friends I remembered about old fire lookout towers and that some were available to rent out to stay in. I jumped on my phone to see if the closest one was available for any days I would be in town in the coming weeks. So happened that there was a two night in a row availability and I could make it, so I booked it with out hesitation. The days leading up some plans changed and looked like I would be heading up there with me, myself and my dog Jax. Not to worry tho, some alone time in the hills with him is always fun and I’ve been meaning to get some quality reading time. The drive up there was not an easy one, it was recommended to have a high clearance, possibly 4×4 , and my van was neither of those. Only one section gave me trouble but I pushed through it cause I wasn’t going to let a little steep dirt road get in my way of the tower. It was quite the site to drive up to the tower and an experience getting up the 40 super steep stairs. First evening was super clear and crisp so we went some time getting aquatinted with the area and scrambling on some rocks. We had some visitors that wanted to check out the sunset and eat dinner up on the tower so I let them do so while I cooked. The 360 degree view was incredible from up top. Not to long after sunset the moon rose from behind the hills and lightened up the night. The wind kept howling all night and you could feel all the old windows shaking a bit. It is impossible to sleep through a sunrise there and totally worth getting up to see it lighten up the valley. After getting up and heading down to use the outhouse set back on the edge of the hill I came out to see Jax had gotten into a cow patty and made a huge mess…Now I knew I had to go down to the river to get him cleaned up. After some swim time in the river I grabbed some lunch in town and headed for some hot springs I saw were fairly close. Upon arrival it was relatively empty besides the standard naked guy. It was a great set up along the Kern River and felt good to get in a little soak. We took off as soon as it got crowded and headed back to the tower for the evening. It was much windier today and the clouds rolled in to obscure the sunset but it was still very enjoyable. With the fast moving clouds it made for a really nice sunrise. After a little cleaning up it was time to hit the dusty road to head back home. It is pretty awesome people are able to stay in something like this. I am very stoked to have been able to spend two nights there and would like to go back. Warning…a lot of dog photos ahead!
