Fire Lookouts

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:22 am

At one time they were scattered all over the Cascades summer high peaks for fire spotting. Now only a few remain, replaced by auto and aircraft spotting. Of course the trails and remains are still out there, twisted old nails and melted glass from the burned out wrecks in the 1960s.
This is an interesting link with a bit of photos and history for the former lookouts:
http://www.firelookout.com/orhood.html

Ritter · Post by **Ritter** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:44 am

I got to go up a fire lookout in Lake County, CA. It was on Mount Konocti. Apparently you can see all the way to Mt. Lassen on a clear day. I got some serious vertigo on it though. The bottom of the walking platform surrounding the room up top was made out of steel mesh. It was a bit too much like walking on air for my tastes.

It would have been a cool way to spend a summer or two though.

RussellK · Post by **RussellK** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:08 pm

We have some scattered around in Mark Twain Forest. Theyr'e closed but you can climb the steps to the platform. I'm with Ritter on the vertigo. When I was a kid I thought that had to be the coolest job in the world sitting up there with binoculars and walkie talkies.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:23 pm

Chairs had glass insulators, and you'd stand on one during a lightning storm. What a freaky way to spend a summer.

dhoch14 · Post by **dhoch14** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:36 pm

I've been to several fire lookouts in OR and WA and they are blast. A thing to know is that they are booked rather quickly. You can reserve online.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:53 pm

Made me think of this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OshsyGF00og

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:48 pm

Man, you guys got trees. We got standing water. I'm jealous.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:25 pm

Life takes ya where it will.

deschutestrout · Post by **deschutestrout** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:57 pm

hambone wrote:

Chairs had glass insulators, and you'd stand on one during a lightning storm. What a freaky way to spend a summer.

Schucks, if the guy in the top photo was wearing cutoff jean shorts and a white tank top.......

It would be way fun to hike into a fire lookout someday...even spend the night there...FS does that ya know.

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:34 pm

hambone wrote:Life takes ya where it will.

Someday.

justgimmecoffee · Post by **justgimmecoffee** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:43 pm

in 1984, a buddy and I went to one down in California. He had a Landcruiser with 4wd and there was a sort of service road. Started out pretty tame but it got steep and narrow real quick. The doors were off and I looked down.. and couldn't see the road we were on. I had to stop looking, I couldn't take it.
We parked where the road ended and it got REAL steep. The lookout was surrounded by gravel (for fire defense) and it was a real chore to get up there.
We climbed up the ladder and walked around the catwalk. The place was closed; the season hadn't started yet, but we were treated to a sight. Inside was a museum display. It had been erected in the 50s and everything... the spotting turntable, the radios, furniture were preserved as if they were just put there last week. The woodwork inside was handmade was just beautiful. It was built by craftsmen who were proud of their work and it showed. An amazing time capsule.
That was one of the biggest reasons I started carrying a camera with me all the time.

tristessa · Post by **tristessa** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:06 pm

justgimmecoffee wrote:in 1984, a buddy and I went to one down in California.

Any idea which one? Not that it matters much. When I was a kid I got the "grand tour" of the one on Hayfork Bally in Trinity County, CA a couple of times .. it was really neat.

Neat stuff inside, great view when the weather's clear (unlike in the picture!), and teh people manning the lookout always seemed to enjoy having some company for a little while. My dad was in the Trinity County Amateur Radio Club, and the local hams have a repeater (146.73 -600/85.4Hz) in the reddish building in the background .. they'd go up to repair and maintain the gear at least once a summer.

More pics .. apparently there was a forest fire last summer that got right up near the lookout, eek!
http://picasaweb.google.com/frandances/ ... 6121026194

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:46 am

My brother in law is a Forest Ranger in Alabama, and used to get my wife up in the towers where the entrance was a trapdoor in the floor, jump on that huh? I still see a few, oh here is a FireTower web page:

http://www.firelookout.org/about.htm

This is what they look like down South, ya'll.

And here is where Auburn University made use of an old one.

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/2007 ... s-eye-view

tristessa · Post by **tristessa** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:05 am

Sylvester wrote:This is what they look like down South, ya'll.

If'n y'all had some *mountains* down South, you wouldn't need such tall towers for your fire lookouts.

Hayfork Bally is around 6300 feet in elevation, but it's a bit off the ground. Nearby (50 miles as the crow flies) is Bonanza King at 6957 feet .. and no tower at all.

yondermtn · Post by **yondermtn** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:57 pm

I stumbled upon a site called www.oddinns.com you can spend the night in firetowers. Site isn't working for me today, however.

One summer my family rented the neighbors summer cabin in Wisconsin for a week. From their cabin we could see a firetower near by thru the trees. My brother and I found our way to it after a long search on our bikes. It had been abandoned for quite some time and wasn't in good shape. We climbed up most of the way, but eventually chickened out. It had a hatch in the floor. I still kind of wish we made it inside.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Fire Lookouts

Fire Lookouts