The story of the lookout begins in 1965. When all hope was lost for this lookout, a dream was born to save it and it’s new life began in 2013.
After the devastation of wildfires of 1910, known as The Blow Up, burning 3,000,000 acres of timber lands spanning Washington, Idaho and Montana, a new approach to safeguard these lands was being examined, this will be the beginning of the Forest Service fire lookouts, a legacy that would last for generations and a love affair for many.
The first fire lookout in northwest Washington, was built in 1915, just east of Darrington, Washington, on Gold Mountain. It will also change the history for fire lookouts. Lookout post, Roland Atchson, detected smoke off in the distance, a place that will be forever known as Fire Creek since this event. Crews were quickly at the scene working to starve the fire of fuel before it’s voracious appetite would turn it wild and unstoppable. Though many acres of timber land were lost, early detection saved countless acres. With seeing the success of the Fire Creek Fire, the forest service commissioned the ongoing building of fire lookouts.
For decades fire lookouts were being built on the high mountain peaks and lower elevations to see under cloud cover. One could see the distant lamp lights at night far off in the distance as the solitary lookout kept watch day and night, with far reaching views that seldom are seen by others.
North Mountain Lookout was a later lookout built in 1965, on the summit at 3,824 feet, perched on a 41 foot tower. Each window offers spectacular views in all directions. Both volcanoes, Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak can be seen of in the distance. Looking down are the river valleys below. To the south is the beautiful Whitehorse and Jumbo mountains, with further reaching views of Three Fingers, Liberty Bell and the Monte Cristos. Eastwardly is Prairie and Pilchuck mountains. To the west is Mount Higgins which cradles the last glimpse of the sunset at twilight. For years those that staffed the lookout cherished these views as the sun cast colors in the morning and painted the sky at night. In the 1990s the lookout was abandoned then sat alone on its mountain.
Over the years the lookout fell prey to vandalism as the structure slowly failed with lack of maintenance. A tough decision had to be made about a lookout that was no longer needed and posing liability issues. In 2009, discussions were being made about tearing down the lookout. Due to the lack of funding, the tear down never happened and the lookout remained abandoned on its mountain. At one time there were 656 lookouts in the State of Washington, now only 93 remain. Most of these lookouts, once abandoned collapsed, burned or were torn down. It seemed there was no hope for the North Mountain Lookout and it would join these sad statistics.
Just when it seemed the North Mountain Lookout had run out of time, everything changed on May 30th, 2013, when two guest speakers were asked to attend a Darrington Strong meeting to discuss the plight of North Mountain Lookout. A dream was born that evening to restore the lookout. There was no road map set in place yet, but with a powerful dream and vision anything is possible. A group was formed, Friends of North Mountain, and they were just about to embark on an eight year journey to restore a lookout. It has been a rocky road at times, like replacing the peirs in the 41 foot tower, harnessing up and restoring the floor and roof of the cab, but the dream was bigger than facing what sometimes seemed like pending defeat. More than two dozen organizations and close to one hundred volunteers joined in this dream to restore this lookout.
News traveled far and wide about this project, one to take notice was Richard Albright, North Mountain’s first lookout. With his enthusiasm, he shared his stories and photographs. It was as if the lookout was alive again. It was more than a lookout atop its mountain, it became the story of what can happen when people catch a dream to make something wonderful happen.
Today, North Mountain Lookout remains atop its mountain, easy driving distance from the town of Darrington. It has been fully restored to its original condition, with the exception of adding the more comfortable queen size bed. It still offers those same amazing 360 degree views that first lookout man saw back in 1965. As you stand there gazing out, you can feel the dream that made this happen as you travel back in time through the legacy lookouts left behind, sentinels on their mountains, safeguarding the timber lands.
See the North Mountain Lookout Gallery