Administrative agency:
the lookout sits on the Ochoco NF and is staffed by the Burns
Interagency Zone
Staffing status:
paid position
Elevation: 6283ft
Structure: 1932 70ft steel tower with ground cabin
living quarters
Access: there are several ways to get to the lookout
area, coming from Burns past Bald Butte seems to require
the shortest amount of gravel road driving, perhaps around 11
miles, coming from Riley is also decent but will require more
gravel road driving, once in the area the roads are signed fairly
well with road numbers, and there are not many other roads that
could be taken by accident, the lookout is not visible until you
are close to it, about 1/3 of a mile from the lookout a gate is
present, the lookout was not staffed the day I visited and it was
locked, however it very well could be opened when it is staffed,
if it is not opened the walk is easy
Road conditions: the paved road from
Burns is in good condition, once on gravel the condition is pretty
good with some bumps and such for an overall fair condition,
coming from Riley it is paved a good amount of the way but then
becomes gravel which is rather wash boarded, either way the last
approximately 5 miles of access road will be the same and it is in
fair to good condition
Interior: the interior of the cabin likely contains
the necessary furnishings and appliances, the tower likely
contains the standard equipment and also appears to contain a
propane appliance, likely a heater
Other structures on summit: the cabin sits next to
the tower along with a permanently mounted propane tank, another
building sits near the tower, a radio repeater building and tower
sit near the other structures as well, a shower setup is located
on the side of the cabin, it contains a black tank which gravity
feeds to the somewhat enclosed shower area, a second water tank
gravity feeds to the sink
Electric power source: a photovoltaic array is
mounted on the roof of the radio repeater building which
apparently powers the repeater equipment only, several small solar
panels are mounted on the lookout apparently to power the lookout
radio only, closer observation will note at least one problems
with the setup, the panels are mounted in such a way that a shadow
is cast over part of them during part of the day, this results in
amps being needlessly lost
Other: it is great to see agency cooperation in this
area, resulting in a good number of lookouts being staffed, and
the other emergency lookouts still being cared for, an excellent
job by the Burns Interagency Zone (BIZ), the
view from the lookout is very expansive especially looking to the
south, Bald
Butte Lookout 10 miles to the east can be seen with
binoculars, the mountains of several other lookouts also seem to
be visible, and possibly the lookouts themselves as well, the summit is somewhat spacious and somewhat forested
but is also covered by dry grasses, visitors to this lookout will
enjoy the quiet as well as the expansive view
Visited: Dominic Luebbers September 2002 |
|
