Last September I visited Flag Point for the first time with Greg. It was still fire season and the lookout was staffed. The friendly guy in the tower invited us up but the views were marred by smoke from wildfires to the south. We’ve been having some beautiful clear fall weather recently so we decided to return.
The road is still in terrible shape, even worse than I remember. Last year since the lookout was staffed when we visited, the gate just before Flag Point was open. This time it was closed and we had to walk the last 0.4mi.
On November 1 the rental season will begin and apparently this is a very popular lookout to rent, even though it’s an 11-mile trek through the snow to get here from your car.
We climbed the steep stairs up the tower. There is a gate blocking access to the catwalk; renters are given the combination for unlocking it. But we were able to take pictures from the landing just below. Spectacular!
We could see mountains that we hadn’t been able to see very well (or at all) last year due to the smoke. Here is Mt. Jefferson:
And Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams:
Looking to the east:
What a gorgeous fall day!