First Light in a Fire Tower
Plus, a hiking premiere, extended deadline for climber comments, new year resolution hikes, snow's late arrival, a cat count, and DELIGHT!
a note before we begin:
I’m trying out a new subscription feature with this issue. Paid subscribers will receive new issues of the newsletter as they are published, while free subscribers will receive a preview of the current issue and an unlocked version at the end of the following week. As I’ve stated before, paid subscribers still make up less than 1% of my total readers. If you’ve enjoyed this publication, please consider upgrading to keep it going!
howdy
Hello and happy new year everyone!
I hope you all had a peaceful and restful few weeks, ideally spending lots of time outside and no (or very little) time looking at messages in your inbox.
I, myself, had a bit of a whirlwind holiday—busy, but all good stuff. We spent Christmas near Mount Hood, flew back down to Los Angeles for a wedding (and some trail time, naturally), and then back to Portland for New Year’s. If I’m being honest, I still sort of feel like it’s the holidays and have very, very little motivation to do anything other than continue lounging around reading books. Maybe you can relate?
A few nights before Christmas, my husband and I hiked through the snow up to the Clear Lake Butte Lookout just south of Mount Hood. It’s a functional fire lookout during the dry months and a campsite during the cold, wet ones—as long as you can elbow your way into a reservation six months in advance.
Although I’d been in a number of fire lookouts before, I’d never had the chance to spend the night in one—and as we hiked / slid on the hike up to the base in freshly fallen snow, climbed the steep and narrow staircase to the tower, and had to use more than a bit of elbow grease to get a cantankerous trap door to open up, we knew it was going to be a very special experience.
As you might expect, there were not a lot of creature comforts here—we hiked in with our own water, bedding, and lighting. We used a pulley system to bring firewood up from a nearby woodshed, but there was a small propane hookup for a stovetop that was a welcome surprise.
We arrived right around sunset so didn’t get to do much exploring, but as the stars began appearing across the night sky, we had a spectacularly clear view of Mount Hood and the lights of the Timberline Lodge. We kept the fire stoked all night, sipped the finest Trader Joe’s boxed wine, and watched as the clouds slowly rolled in around us.
When morning came, it rolled in with a thin blaze of sunrise beneath thick winter cloud cover. It was still bright enough to summon us to the windows for a series of smartphone photos that would never truly be able to capture the grandeur … but still, pics or it didn’t happen, right?
With the light of day, we could explore more of the artifacts hidden around the interior of the tower, like old maps, Smokey Bear posters, and of course the logbook, which was filled with great stories of previous guests—as well as some decidedly Oregonian passive-aggressive notes directed at people who would never, ever see them. ‘Cause that’s how we do it here.
Related: Yes, I’ve played Firewatch. It’s very good! You should play it, too—even if you’re not really into video games. It’s much more of an interactive story / mystery, and the artwork is truly beautiful.
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
I’ll admit—I’m absolutely still shaking off some of those holiday work-ethic cobwebs, so it’s been a bit slow, but I did add some new stuff to the Modern Hiker website recently. Andrew Shults brought us to the Getty View Trail just off the 405, and honestly this time of year is the best time to check out this somehow not very crowded route. Not only will you enjoy some nice, milder temperatures, but you’ll also likely benefit from some exceptionally clear skies, too!
I also pinned my Best New Year’s Resolution Hikes to the main page in honor of January. There are some terrific west coast bucket list goals in there, as well as just some general hiking goals you might want to set your sights on, if you’re one of those people who are motivated by those kinds of things.
Your Parks
Your Places
Lost LA Hiking Trailblazers Debuts Jan 16
Last year, I once again joined PBS SoCal’s Nathan Masters to shoot a segment for a new season of the Emmy award winning show Lost LA. The show dives into the wide-ranging and influential cultural and natural history of Southern California, and this time we talked about LA’s impact on the modern idea of hiking … while getting drenched by an atmospheric river in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Hiking Trailblazers episode premieres on Tuesday, January 16th at 7:30PM on PBS SoCal and can also be streamed via the PBS Passport. Check out a preview right here! Let me know how my hair holds up, OK?
You can also watch the episode on YouTube here on January 16th at 7:30PM Pacific.
And hey, while you’re at it, why not check out the Griffith Park episode, too?
More Time to Chime in on Climbing
Last year, I told you about a potential change in National Park Service policy that might put backcountry wilderness climbing and other sports at risk. The new policy would regulate bolts and anchors in national parks and wilderness areas, which might not change anything but also might change everything about the way climbing routes are created and maintained.
GearJunkie reports that the policy comment period has been extended another 14 days to January 30. You can register your comments via the Park Service and Forest Service, and see some suggested language from the Access Fund as well.
Winter is Finally Coming?
It’s an El Niño year, which means the southwest is more likely to be wet while the northwest is more likely to be warm. So far, the northwest has had more than its share of wet weather, but very little snow. For the past few years, we’ve had a tradition of going skiing on Christmas Eve, but this year there really weren’t enough runs open to justify the price of a lift ticket.
Thankfully, that all now seems to be changing, with a much colder pattern setting up over the next few days. Mount Hood already has a nice base of snow, and at the time of this writing, Portland has two days in the next week where we might get a few inches of snow—which means ADULT SNOW DAY because this city is absolutely not equipped to deal with snow of any kind! Skis in the streets! Sleds in the parks! A great excuse to run away from all those piled up emails!
I’ll let you know how the snow shakes out in town, but for right now the ski resorts in the Mountain West and Northwest are very much welcoming this change in weather patterns—Washington’s Mount Baker has received 25 inches already. Next week looks a little up in the air, but most models predict good snow for the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. Yay, winter!
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
California Cat Count
For many years, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife had estimated about 6,000 mountain lions lived in the Golden State, but it turns out they were really just ballparking that number with not really any data to justify it. Recently, though, an actual survey using GPS collar data and scat sample genetic information has determined a significantly lower number: between 3,200 and 4,500.
In case you were wondering, the greatest density of mountain lions in California is in the coastal forests of northern California, while the lowest is in the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada. Large portions of the Mojave Desert and Central Valley have no mountain lions. And, sadly, there is still a 1 in 4 chance that mountain lions will become extinct in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana Mountains of Southern California within the next 50 years. Via Los Angeles Times.
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
I had a few options to tack on to the end of this newsletter, but I think this little guest essay on paying attention to moments of delight in the New York Times (unlocked for you!) is perfect for the start of a new year. If, on your next hike, you happen to pass someone who looks at you askew as you raise an index finger in the air and say “delight!” out loud, feel free to share this info with them.
Until next time,
Happy Trails.
The fire tower night sounds and looks like a dream!