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!
Over the Memorial Day holiday I had an unplanned summit of Muckamuck Mountain, the site of a former D-6 cupola lookout. I also had a chance encounter with a fan club of sorts in the middle of nowhere!
A trip report from a few days of fall fire lookout bagging in the beautiful Okanogan County, including a visit to one of my favorite Washington State fire lookouts.
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.
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.
My experience as a first-season Fire Lookout at Goat Peak in the Methow Valley during the midst of an active fire season.
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.
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 wonderful ridgeline traverse to McClure Mountain, not only a prominent high point in Twisp but also a former fire lookout location.
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 return visit to First Butte to check on the condition of the lookout and see the rapid deterioration of the once photogenic ground house.
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?