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.
The Blue Mountains of southeast Washington span 4,000 square miles of land and contain open ridges, big mesas, deep canyons, natural springs, loads of wildlife and surprising solitude. This wilderness is one of Washington’s best surprises!
Okanogan County in Washington State has incredible history and the highest concentration of remaining Washington State Lookouts, which makes it a spectacular destination for geeks like me! Here's a trip report from a recent October larches and lookouts road trip.
Recently I was able to visit the Yakama Indian Reservation as part of a fire lookout work party. I met some incredible people and saw a gorgeous land that few are privileged to see.
My experience as a first-season Fire Lookout at Goat Peak in the Methow Valley during the midst of an active fire season.
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.
An incredible 30+ mile ultralight overnight to Miner's Ridge Lookout, deep in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. This was lookout #46 for me and I enjoyed not only surprising solitude, but one of the most fantastic mountain sunrises I've ever seen!
A beautiful hike to an old lookout site above Bridge Creek near Twisp. Not much history is known about this one.
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.
A 2017 16 mile loop through the Goat Rocks Wilderness to enjoy high alpine flowers and visit two former lookout sites.
Triple digit temps, thunderstorms, fires, and horseflies.... the reason I oftentimes have a Plan E when heading out for a weekend lookout bagging adventure!
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.