Angeles National Forest at Pyramid Lake

The next destination on my spring break trip is a bit of a conundrum because on the official California State Parks map that I have it is listed as a California State Recreation Area, but when you go to the parks department website, the area is not listed anywhere on the site. The lake is also included as part of the massive Angeles National Forest, which consists of 650,000 acres.

While driving through the grapevine, it was pretty easy to see Pyramid Lake from the freeway. Obviously, since I want to see as many wilderness areas of California as possible, I wanted to stop and check out this area. It did not take much to convince my travel partners to stop as well---I think the view from interstate five was making a persuasive argument. By the time that we arrived at the Vista del Lago Road Visitors Center (operated by the California Water Resource Center). Luckily for us, there was a dirt lot right in front of the fenced off area of the facility, which provided a parking spot. I was a little concerned about parking in the area for two reasons. The first was due to the fact that there was a no parking sign posted in the area, but there were about a half dozen cars already parked in the area--none of which had a ticket, so I thought it would probably be okay. The other reason was due to there being a California Highway Patrolman right across the street from the area, but luckily he was preoccupied with a Lamborghini he had pulled over (and it was a really nice looking car too).

Anyways, since the main facility's gate was already closed, and thus the road down to the lakeshore was blocked, we decided to look for an alternative. Once we crossed the street, we were able to take in a pretty spectacular view of Pyramid Lake from behind the guardrail. We were still a good distance up the steep hillsides of the lake at this point, and thus we were afforded a good view of the lake.

Pyramid Lake is simply a gorgeous lake. I think what makes it so nice to look at is due to the fact that it is nestled among a number of steep and golden hills. Furthermore, when the sunlight strikes the water just right, it makes the whole lake look like a giant mirror among the hills. It really is an interesting sight to behold. What I have found most striking about a number of the lakes that we have visited is the fact that such beauty could be found in what is essentially an artificial creation.

Pyramid Lake is one such lake. Pyramid Lake is part of the California Aqueduct System (and thus why it is under the Department of Water Resources rather than the Parks Department), which is part of the immense California Water State Water Project. Thus, Pyramid Lake exists for two primary reasons. The first reason is to store water for delivery to Southern California, Los Angeles in particular. The second reason, is that Pyramid Lake acts as the upper reservoir for the Warne and Castic hydroelectric power plants.

The Pyramid Dam's construction began in 1968 and was completed in 1973. Pyramid Dam is a fair-sized dam: 400 feet tall and just over one thousand feet long. Unfortunately I was not able to see the dam as it was on the opposite side of the lake. The lake itself is not too large; having a surface area 1,297 acres and a storage capacity of just over 170,000 acre feet. Pyramid Lake does have the distinction of being the deepest reservoir in the California Water Project, with a depth of 355 feet.

What I thought was also cool about Pyramid Lake is how it got its name. The origin of the name goes back to the early 1930s. During the early 1930s, construction of the Route 99 was underway--during which, Pyramid Cut had to have part of its mass shaved off, which not only reduced it in size, but ended up giving it the shape of a pyramid. Interestingly enough, with the construction of Pyramid Dam, the portion of highway 99 that ran through this area would end up being submerged under the lake.

From out vantage point on top of the hill it was quiet easy to see Pyramid Cut, which really does resemble pyramid; making it the areas most distinctive feature (at least in my humble opinion). While taking in the view for a few minutes, we eventually noticed that there was a dirt trail that started on the other side of the guardrail and meandered its way down the rugged brush covered hillside. Needless to say, it did not take us long before we were hiking down the trail, which took about ten minutes to complete.

Once we arrived at the bottom of the trail I was a bit surprised by just how empty the picnic and beach areas were. I guess the owners of the other parked vehicles had gone else were. The only other people in this area were two Sheiks, who were sitting on the beach facing the lake and looked to be meditating. I must say, the chose a pretty good place to meditate at as the area was very tranquil and serene.

The next thing that struck me about the lake was just how clear it was. You could easily see the lake bottom for a fair distance out. I also thought the gradation from a very light blue to a dark blue further out on the lake was very striking. The three of us spent a fair amount of time walking along the beach and enjoying the cool water on what turned out to be a pretty hot spring day. At the far end of the beach was another trail meandering off to the side. I decided to see where the trail was headed. Eventually the trail made its way to the top of a rocky outcropping that jutted its way about twenty feet into the lake. From atop of this very slippery, I swear I almost fell in a couple times, vantage point I was able to enjoy a nice view of the lake. I was able to not only get a nice view of Pyramid Cut, but I was also able to watch a constant cascade of dirt making its way off of the hillsides and into the water. Because the water of Pyramid Lake was so clear, I was able to watch as the dirt spread out along the bottom of the lake. This made for a very cool site and reminded me of an hourglass.

Pyramid Lake ended up being one of those hidden treasures in plain sight for me. Who would have thought that such a tranquil and serene place would exist right next to a major freeway?

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Part of trip: Spring Break 2009: Zipping Around California!

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