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.
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 beautiful hike to an old lookout site above Bridge Creek near Twisp. Not much history is known about this one.
Driveway Butte is a fantastic former fire lookout site just west of Mazama. The route is notoriously dry and hot and will test your legs but reward you with gorgeous views of the North Cascades, Pasayten, and spectacular Goat Wall.
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 old lookout site atop War Creek Ridge west of Twisp River Road is a steep cross country outing through thick brush and ticks but the spectacular views are worth the type 2 fun!
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 visit to the spectacular broad summit of Cooper Mountain high atop Chelan Ridge, the location of several old fire lookout structures.
Doe Mountain in the Okanogan Range is a former fire lookout site that makes for a sublime ridge line cross country outing. Neighboring Ike Mountain is an easy bonus.
A trip report from a 3 day solo backpack of the Devil's Dome loop in the Pasayten. Devilishly steep? Absolutely, but full of heavenly ridgetop camps, North Cascades vistas, and surprising solitude.
A day spent at the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center working on the Badger Mountain fire lookout and learning valuable skills in the art of lookout restoration, especially window glazing!
Triple digit temps, thunderstorms, fires, and horseflies.... the reason I oftentimes have a Plan E when heading out for a weekend lookout bagging adventure!