What’s a Re-Located Lookout?
Many fire lookouts that were no longer considered useful in fire detection were destroyed in place. Others, the Re-Located Lookouts, were moved to a new location where they were used for other purposes. Some of these, the Type 1 Re-Located LOs, were given or sold to towns or public museums to be displayed to the public. Others, the Type 2 Re-Located LOs, were sold to private lookout fans who moved them to their private property. Another few, the Type 3 Re-Located LOs, were moved to a second location where they continued to be used in fire detection. There were plans to move several others, but these moves failed. I called these failures the Type 4 Re-Locations. Each re-location involves two sites; 1) the Origin Site where it was used in fire detection and 2) the Re-Location Site it was moved to. In some cases the re-located LO was later destroyed.
December 29, 2023: I published a rewritten Slide Ridge Lookout Post to include out 10/8/2023 trip report.
December 14, 2023: I published a “draft version” of a Post about moving the Leecher #2 Lookout’s steel tower to the North Cascades Smokejumper Base (NCSB) as well as Smokejumper Reading List.
October 2 – 9, 2023:
Peggy and I visited Winthrop for a week in early October. We used Winthrop as our base to visit four lookout sites ~ Little Buck, Thrapp Mountain, Bridge Creek (also called Fenceline Peak) and Slide Ridge. These sites were reached by short, but sometimes steep hikes on old roads and off-trail routes. On our way home we also visited a 5th site, the drive-up Big Hill Lookout Site which we reached via the Shady Pass Road (NF-5900). This 30+ mile drive between Lake Chelan’s Lakeshore Road and the Entiat River Road was scenic, but at times awesomely steep and narrow.
We also added two Re-Located LOs Sites to our visit list ~ Slide Ridge and the North Cascades Smokejumper Base (NCSB). Slide Ridge is the Origin Site for a Re-Located LO. The steel tower lookout from Leecher Mountain had been moved to the North Cascades Smokejumper Base (NCSB) near Winthrop in 1954 to be used in constructing a jump training tower. We enjoyed the private tour at NCSB and shared photos and base history with several smokejumpers at the base. The highlight of the trip was meeting Bill Moody who was at the NCSB as a Smokejumper from 1957-1989 and was the Base Manager from 1970-1989. Bill and I shared old photos and Bill filled in some of the gaps in the history of the Re-Located Leecher Mountain Lookout’s steel tower.
Sept 18,2023: I wrote and published two short posts about lookouts that are reported to have been sold and moved. No further information identifying the buyer or the location and the purpose of the move has been found.
Sept 5, 2023: I added the trip report covering our 5/23/2023 visit to the Higley Peak Lookout Site to an introduction to the mystery concerning the planned move of the Higley Peak lookout in 1973 (or 1972). The different references do not agree where it was to be moved to, or its new use or if the move was successful or a failure. More research is ongoing.
Sept 1, 2023: I published the completed Skull and Crossbones Lookout Moved to Horseshoe Basin Post. This includes the lookout’s background history and tall tales as well as trip reports of our three-day, 2-night backpack trip on July 14-16 to visit the lookout’s Re-Location Site in the Pasayten Wilderness’s Horseshoe Basin and the July 12 dayhike visit to the Origin Site on the Skull and Crossbones Ridge.
July 12-16 ~ Peggy and I made a short visit to the Omak area where we visited two lookout sites and the site of a re-located lookout. We visited the Corral Butte and the Skull and Crossbones LO sites as day trips out of Omak. We then took a short 3-day, 2-night Backpack hike into the Pasayten Wilderness’s Horseshoe Basin to search for any remains of the Skull and Crossbones LO that had been moved there by helicopter in 1953.
June 18, 2023 ~ I published a preliminary draft covering the “history” portion of the Skull and Crossbones Lookout moved to Horseshoe Basin Post. This will be updated and the reports of our planned July visits to the Skull and Crossbones Lookout Site and the Re-Located Lookout Site in Horseshoe Basin added after our visits. I also published a Post covering Grazing in the Pasayten which also covers the long history of the struggle for the establishing of the North Cascades National Park and the Pasayten Wilderness.
May 22-26 ~ Peggy and I made a short visit to Lake Quinault and visited five lookout sites that are included in Leslie Romer’s “LOST FIRE LOOKOUTS HIKES AND HISTORIES.
May 22 ~ Mobray LO Site ~ Our 292nd standing and abandoned LO Site visit.
May 23 ~ Higley Peak LO Site ~ Our 293rd standing and abandoned LO Site visit. This is the Origin Site for a Re-Located LO. The re-location may have been a failure. Research continues.
May 24 ~ Geodesic Hill LO Site ~ Our 294th standing and abandoned LO Site visit.
May 25 ~ Weatherwax LO Site ~ Our 295th standing and abandoned LO Site visit. Very little evidence of the lookout remains.
May 26 ~ Humptulips Auxiliary LO Site ~ Our 296th standing and abandoned LO Site visit.
4/10/2023 ~ Updated the Dymond Gap Ground House Post to include several photos and renovation progress reports by the owner as well as corrected information about the Trout Lake Ground House.
2/17/2023 ~ Finished and published a Post about our visits to Goat Peak and the Re-Located Lookout on private property in the Teanaway River Valley. It includes a section about its uncertain fate written cooperatively by Keith Argow and I.
2/2/2023 ~ Finished and published two Post about previous visits. Both of the re-located lookouts were moved twice and both are still existing on its 2nd new location. The first is about our visit to Dave’s Lookout which Dave Kresek moved from Long Mountain in Idaho to his property near Spokane. We have not visited either of the two Origin Sites in Idaho.
The second Post was a complete re-write and re-publishing of the two moves of the Smoothing Iron Ridge Emergency Lookout. The Post now includes our October,2022 visits to the Origin Site on the Smoothing Iron Ridge and to the first re-location site at the nearby Smoothing Iron Ranch.
1/18/2023 ~ Finished and published a Post about the move of the Rainier Tower Lookout from JBLM to Bainbridge Island to become IslandWood’s Canopy Tower. We visited the Canopy tower on 8/8/2021, but have not visited the original Rainier Tower Site yet.
1/7/2023 ~ I have continued in my efforts to write Posts covering our site visits that have not been previously written up. I recently Published Draft Posts covering; 1) the move of the Lorena Butte LO to its nearby current location; 2) the move of the Mica Peak LO to Lookout Point; and 3) Ray Kresek’s Fire Lookout Museum Lookout and the 7 lookouts that it was made from. In addition I published a revision to the Post about the move of the First Thought LO to Orient Park to include additional information and images that Rex Kamstra provided.
12/15/2022 ~ I wrote and published a Post covering our 10/18/2019 visit to Signal Peak. This standing lookout is in the restricted area of the Yakama Indian Nation. A small group of lookout fans were driven to visit both Signal Peak and the standing Satus Peak Lookout. We could see Panther Creek Butte, the origin site for the re-located Signal Peak Lookout from Signal Peak. We could not visit the Panther Creek Lookout Site as it is also in the Yakama’s restricted zone
12/10/2022 ~ I finished and published another Post for an earlier visit. This Post is for the 6/17/2022 visit to the Dymond Gap LO site and LO’s Re-Located ground house living quarters. We also visited another cabin nearby that was almost identical to the Dymond Gap ground house.
11/29/2022 ~ There are a number of sites that Peggy and I have visited already that I have not written or published the Posts for. I am working on reducing the list of these unpublished reports. Today, I finished and published the Post reporting on our visit to the Re-Located Lorena Butte Lookout.
11/5/2022 ~ I published a Post today about the visits that Peggy and I made to Hoodoo and Lookout Mtn LOs in 2021 and 2022. I had staffed these two LOs in 1957 and 1958.
5/8/2022 ~ Finished and published three new LO Posts.
5/5/2022 ~ Revised the North Baldy to Big Meadow Lake Post to include a picture of the 1938 40′ pole L-4 lookout along with the steel Gap-Filler Radar tower.
4/11/2022 ~ Posted Chiliwist Butte #1 LO moved to Jackass Butte on the website and added it to the Index List.
4/7/2022 ~ Updated my earlier Grisdale Hill to Denny Ahl Post to include information provided by Leslie Romer which questioned whether the planned move of the Grisdale Hill Lookout to Denny Ahl Hill ever happened. The mystery darkens.
4/6/2022 ~ Posted North Baldy LO moved to Big Meadow Lake today & announced on Fire Lookouts of Washington.
3/17/2022 ~ Visited the Forks Timber Museum which has re-opened. It was closed due to Covid our previous visit. Had a good visit with Byron Monohon, the current museum Director. We were able to visit the catwalk of their re-located lookout and take photos of the fully equipped interior of the lookout cab, 3/27/2022 ~I updated the Post for this re-location and published the updated version. Check out the updated version by clicking the button below,
1/1/2022 ~ Finished and published the Powderhorn (Davis) Lookout Planned Move to Clark College Post today. We had visited the Powderhorn LO site on 10/8/2021.
12/29/2021 ~ finished and published the Post Smoothing Iron Ridge Emergency Lookout’s two moves today. Also wrote a short Face Book Post announcing this publication. Also the Post about the move of the First Thought LO was recently finished and published.
12/11/2021 ~ Finished and published the Post Flagstaff Mountain Lookout Moved to Northport Boat Launch Park.
12/2/2021 ~ The three Posts covering the re-locations of Stranger Mountain Lookouts #2 to Ray’s Lookout, #3 to Crystal Ridge Airbnb and #4 to the NE WA Fairgrounds are now done and published. Check them out by Clicking the buttons below.
11/14/2021 ~ The Opening Page has been extensively re-written. A HOME Page has been added and the method for navigating through the sections of the web site have been changed.