Enjoyed lookouts article
Thanks for the article about the lookouts in Idaho (Tribune, Dec. 29).
It brought back memories of my times in the northern Idaho woods. When I was a kid, my mother and I would spend time at our Priest Lake summer cabin. Every now and then, Mom and I would take hikes. A few times we would hike to what I know as Bear Creek Lookout.
Starting out, we would pass through a mature cedar grove that had a carpet of moss and kinnikinnick. The cedars made a wood cathedal as big as some Gothic churches. When we got to the top, we’d get up into the lookout and have lunch with a great view of the lake.
Later on, I was on a crew from the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association Camp at Elk River. We spent a few days checking and fixing the lookout phone line. That’s where I learned to climb trees with spurs. When we got to the lookout, there was still a small snowbank, which we used to cool off with snowballs.
Three summers later, I was working for the U.S. Forest Service out of Canyon Ranger Station. Occasionally several of us would head into Headquarters for some cheap beer and then visit Bertha Hill Lookout ... . I also knew a couple of guys who manned Black Mountain Lookout.
Anyway, thanks for reminding me of good times. Also ..., there is a nonprofit organization, Idaho Fire Lookouts, with a mission to chronicle Idaho lookouts.
Ged W. Randall
Lewiston
