A 5-day Altai Hok ski trip to historic guard stations in the gorgeous Blue Mountains of southeast Washington provided solitude, wildlife, and the perfect kind of quiet year-end reflection.
Sometimes the most memorable adventures are the biggest disasters, aren't they? The story of kayak camping in a Mad Max-like apocalypse of wildfire smoke...
A look back at some of my biggest outdoor adventures of 2018, mostly to remote Washington State fire lookouts, and some funny fire lookout bagging stats along the way. What were your big 2018 accomplishments?
This year, the beautifully restored D-6 cupola fire lookout at the summit of North Twentymile is celebrating a centennial and a dedicated group of volunteers is committed to maintaining trail access.
Two dozen or more of our remaining historical lookouts in Washington State are still staffed by during fire season. Here is a list of staffed lookouts as well as some etiquette tips for visiting a lookout on active duty.
It's a pretty great thing when you can spend a few days celebrating your dad's 70th birthday with tamales, apple pie, and fire lookout adventures!
A great ridge traverse of the Golden Stairway trail from Starvation Mountain to the Old Baldy lookout site with some of the most amazing views of the North Cascades I've ever seen!
A 2017 16 mile loop through the Goat Rocks Wilderness to enjoy high alpine flowers and visit two former lookout sites.
A wonderful 3 days spent backpacking the White Pass/Pilot Ridge loop in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. This one has it all: wildflowers, green meadows, alpine lakes, old-growth forests, and mountains for miles.
It's not every day a visit to a fire lookout could be considered subject matter for a horror movie, but thanks to an abandoned hearse at the summit, Lookout Point earned a spot on my top 20 fire lookout adventures simply because it was so weird and creepy!
The Thrapp Mountain fire lookout site may not be the most photogenic summit but lookout footings still remain and it's a worthy objective for peakbaggers and lookout enthusiasts.
A return visit to First Butte to check on the condition of the lookout and see the rapid deterioration of the once photogenic ground house.