Hiking Washington's Fire Lookouts

by Amber Casali

Overview

This new guide to hiking the fire lookouts of Washington’s Cascades and Olympics is the quintessential Northwest guide and will appeal to a wide range of hikers. Features of Hiking Washington’s Fire Lookouts include:

• 44 fire lookouts—those that feature access by trail
• All lookouts are accessible during the typical summer season
• Only lookouts that are still standing—no hiking up to a barren mound of broken concrete!
• Routes are not technical—hikers just need boots, trekking poles, and, probably, lunch
• Lookout history, anecdotes, and full-color photos throughout

Each lookout description features the year it was constructed; access details, including overnight stays and winter access; location and land manager; roundtrip distance on trail; trail elevation gain; lookout’s elevation; map info; trailhead GPS coordinates; information about any permits or fees; and driving directions to the trailhead. Introductory chapters provide an overview of Washington State’s lookouts, as well as information about their upkeep, lookout architectural types, and general hiking tips, while an appendix provides an overview to a handful of additional lookouts in the state that are not hikable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781680510607
Publisher:	Mountaineers Books, The
Publication date:	04/16/2018
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Amber Casali was born in Seattle, Washington. She discovered backpacking in college on a wilderness extension program in Northern California, spending two weeks at a time on the trail and living out of bear canisters. A flurry of travel after college inspired her to jump on the blogging bandwagon. She wrote about eating tapas in Spain, hiking to temples in Thailand, volunteering on farms in Italy, teaching English in South Korea, and soaking in hot springs in Bolivia.

After living overseas for a year in a place with only small mountains, Amber missed the big peaks and wild backcountry of the Pacific Northwest and moved back to Seattle in 2012. Since then, she’s become an avid hiker and novice mountaineer. When not outside, she works as a writer and editor at a tech marketing agency.

Table of Contents

Lookouts at a Glance 7

Introduction 9

Overview Map 10

A Brief History of Washington's Fire Lookouts 13

General Hiking Considerations 25

How to Visit Lookouts 29

How to Use This Guide 35

Map Legend 37

North

1 Mount Constitution 40

2 Winchester Mountain 45

3 Copper Ridge 49

4 Park Butte 53

5 Lookout Mountain (Cascade River Road) 58

6 Hidden Lake 62

7 Sourdough Mountain 68

8 Desolation Peak 73

9 North Mountain 79

10 Green Mountain 83

11 Miners Ridge 88

12 Mount Pilchuck 93

13 Three Fingers 97

14 Monument 83 104

15 Slate Peak 109

16 Goat Peak 113

17 North Twentymile 117

18 Lookout Mountain [Methow Valley) 121

19 Mount Leecher 125

20 Buck Mountain 129

21 Funk Mountain 133

22 Mount Bonaparte 136

Central

23 Hey brook Mountain 142

24 Evergreen Mountain 146

25 Alpine Lookout 150

26 Sugarloaf Peak 155

27 Tyee Mountain 159

28 Granite Mountain 164

29 Thorp Mountain 168

30 Red Top Mountain 172

South

31 Kelly Butte 178

32 Sun Top 181

33 Tolmie Peak 185

34 Mount Fremont 190

35 Gobblers Knob 194

36 Shriner Peak 198

37 High Rock 202

38 Burley Mountain 206

39 Jump Off Mountain 211

40 Red Mountain 215

Olympics

41 Kloshe Nanitch and North Point 222

42 Pyramid Mountain 225

43 Dodger Point 229

44 Ned Hill 235

Bonus Lookouts 239

Lookouts Checklist 241

Appendix: Other Lookouts in Washington 243

Resources 247

Acknowledgments 249

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

Amber Casali has put together the ultimate guidebook of 42 of the Washington’s lookouts that are still standing, all accessible by trail.

National Parks Traveler - Patrick Cone

History buffs will appreciate Casali's stories about the lookouts and the lives of the people who staffed them. Each of the hikes has a detailed description, as well as information on if and how the lookout is accessible during the day or overnight.

Washington Trails Magazine - Jessi Loerch

[Hiking Washington's Fire Lookouts is] a how-to and a history, with information about exploring (and even camping inside of) vintage and modern fire lookouts around the Evergreen State; also lushly illustrated with maps and Casali's terrific photographs.

Columbia Conversations, a product of COLUMBIA Magazine - Feliks Banel

I like the photography in there, I like the maps that are present, I like the trail descriptions and just the summaries you have for each entry. Really good job, I think people are going to get a lot out of this.... It’s a great book, great guide to our iconic fire lookouts in the Evergreen State.

Northwestern Outdoors Radio - John Kruse

If you're looking for something different in your outdoor experience this summer, Hiking Washington's Fire Lookouts by Amber Casali offers inviting alternatives.

OutdoorsNW - John Rezell

All of [Amber Casali’s] diligence produced a book you can rely upon for good trail descriptions, fascinating background information, and armchair hiking destinations (also called the hiking off season.

Hiking For Her - Diane Spicer

Casali’s spirited writing makes clear that she loves the hikes as much as she enjoys sharing them with us—she is a gift to our understanding of our great outdoors. This is a very cool book!

High on Adventure - Steve Giordana

[A] splendid new book

The Seattle Times - Terry Wood

In Amber Casali’s book titled, Hiking Washington’s Fire Lookouts, you’ll get the scoop on 44 of these buildings that were essential in the early detection of fires in forested areas, as well as a brief history of these structures.... Hiking Washington’s Fire Lookouts is a great reference book.

TrailblazerGirl