Slate Mountain, 9302 ft., Prominence is 2142 ft.

Trip Report, September 2005 by Richard L. Carey

Slate Mountain is buried in the southern Sierra north of the small town of Johnsondale. It is a peak one might overlook except for its higher prominence ranking than some other nearby higher summits. There is a good trail most of the way to the top and the register shows a lot of ascents by locals. There is a benchmark disk, but no datasheet. The benchmark is dated 1954.

Driving Directions: From Kernville take highway 99 north along the Kern River to Johnsondale. Go west from there to a junction and turn right (north) on the Western Divide Highway, route 107. After about 13.5 miles look for a store and restaurant at Ponderosa on the right. After another mile north, at 14.6 miles, there is a sign on the left for the Quaker Meadows camp. Take this narrow paved road and drive for 0.8 miles and park on the right at a bend. The trailhead is about 200 ft. further on at a bend and there is no parking there.

Hike: Walk up the road to the signed trailhead on the left. The trail is called the Summit Trail 31E14. Follow this excellent trail south in the forest. It will turn west after a mile of easy going and make a couple of switchbacks gaining elevation. You'll go over a minor saddle past point P8269 ft. and then go west. The summit is now visible to the west. At about four miles there is a junction on a high ridge. There isn't much evidence of the trail that goes north shown on the map. Go south for maybe 0.2 mile and then turn left up the slopes off trail to the top. This avoids some talus slopes north of the summit area. The route is 9 miles round-trip with a gain of 2400 ft. Allow about three hours up and 2 ½ hours to return. 9/05 RLC

Maps: Sentinel Peak, 1:24,000 scale topo.

Sequoia National Forest map, also Tulare County AAA road map.

Waypoints: All in Zone 11S with NAD 27 datum

Road Junction - 361516E, 3997184N

Trailhead - 360523E, 3997476N

Trail Junction - 357730E, 3994436N

Summit - 358152E, 3994148N