{"id":1829,"date":"2024-07-04T16:01:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T23:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2025-02-02T14:55:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T21:55:02","slug":"lookout-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/2024\/07\/04\/lookout-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Lookout Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Type: 20′ tower with R-6 cabin
\nStatus: Abandoned
\nElevation: 6,508 feet
\nVisited: July 4, 2024<\/p>\n

After visiting Morgan Butte I made the long drive west to visit Lookout Rock.<\/p>\n

Knowing that this area had been affected by the 2021 Bootleg Fire, I had called the Bly Ranger Station the week before to find out the status Road 012 to the Lookout Rock Trailhead. They said it was in the process of undergoing repairs and was therefore closed. I figured that chances were very low any work be happening today on the 4th of July, and even if I was wrong they would be finished before my late afternoon arrival when the heat was worst.<\/p>\n

Turns out the road was not closed and it was not undergoing repairs. There was no sign of any equipment anywhere. Hazard tree removal had happened on one stretch of road at some point since the fire. The road has some ruts and ditches that do need fixing, so maybe they\u2019re planning to do that at some point this summer, but they certainly haven\u2019t started yet.<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The trailhead at the end of the road:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Scorched sign:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The trail that starts here heads into to the burned Gearhart Mountain Wilderness. I turned right to follow the last bit of closed road. The gate that once blocked vehicles from going further is now on the ground:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

I followed the old road up through the burnt trees:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The lookout came into view:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Some class 2 scrambling is required to get up onto the rocks and reach the base of the lookout:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The stairs were intact and most of the shutters were gone, so I went up and took a peek inside through the windows:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The views are a bit sad due to all the burnt trees. Looking northeast:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Looking east at distant Morgan Butte (where I was earlier in the day<\/a>) and Round Mountain:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Looking southeast with Round Mountain at far left behind the burnt trees, and unburned Coleman Point left of center:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Looking south at Grizzly Peak and Blue Mountain on the left, and Fishhole Mountain on the right:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Looking southwest:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Looking northwest in the direction of Gearhart Mountain, which is hidden behind this rock formation known as The Dome:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

Although the tower miraculously survived the wildfire, it was not unscathed. The fire scorched the timber beams in several spots:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

The future of this lookout is uncertain. It needs a lot of work.<\/p>\n

More information<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forest Lookouts<\/a>
\nRex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page<\/a>
\nNational Historic Lookout Register<\/a>
\nPeakbagger<\/a>
\nPanorama Photos<\/a>
\nGeocache<\/a><\/p>\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Developed in the 1920’s with a crow’s nest tree platform, seen here in this 1933 panorama photo that was taken from the new lookout:<\/p>\n

\"Lookout<\/p>\n

That new lookout was a 20′ L-4 tower that had been built the prior year in 1932. It was replaced with a 20′ timber tower with a 14×14′ R-6 cab in 1962. Materials were trucked to the base of the rock, then transported up to the tower site via a high line that had been rigged up.<\/p>\n

By the end of the 1960s it was no longer regularly staffed. The 2021 Bootleg Fire burned through here, but the lookout somehow did not burn down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Type: 20′ tower with R-6 cabin Status: Abandoned Elevation: 6,508 feet Visited: July 4, 2024 After visiting Morgan Butte I<\/p>\n

Continue readingLookout Rock<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fremont-winema-national-forest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1829"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1851,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions\/1851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}