Don't Trust Snakes: High Rock Lookout

Monday, July 18, 2005

High Rock Lookout

Yesterday I made the fairly short, fairly steep hike (1.5 miles, 1400-foot gain) to High Rock Lookout near Mt. Rainier, one of the last manned fire lookouts in the Pacific Northwest. The lookout keeper, Bud, was unexpectedly absent, which took away some of the fun. The first time I hiked up there, I camped out to watch a meteor shower, and spent a few hours sitting in the dark lookout chatting with Bud, who had many great stories from his 17 summers staffing the lookout (also some great expressions, like "steep as a cat's face.") After that I made him a 20x30 print of my best photo of the lookout, and he planned to frame it with wood from the old shutters from the lookout, which are in the storage area up there. A few weeks ago he said I should "come up and get some" to frame my print, so that was one incentive for the hike and the reason I carried my serious backpack with very little in it. I'll think about making a return trip this summer, because Bud may not be up there for too many more seasons.

Here are a few shots from the trip (click individual photos for a larger view). The weather was perfect, and there were all sorts of wildflowers near their peak along the trail. Interestingly, I barely noticed these on the way up (as I said, it was steep). In the first photo below, taken from near the trailhead, you can just make out the lookout at the highest point.