Heaven's Peak Lookout

Today, September 17, 2009 Gary and I hiked up to Heaven's Peak Lookout. Yes... you heard right. Most people don't even know there is a lookout there, even though you can (kind of) see it from The Loop on the Sun Road (if you look closely).

In the photo below that I took from The Loop before we began the hike, the "X" in the photo below marks the location of the lookout. Heaven's Peak itself is the mountain on the left side. We started the hike at Packer's Roost, which can't be seen in this photo but is located near the lower left corner of the photo.

The following photo was taken on McDonald Creek.  The green, unburned area in the center of the preceding photo can be seen on the following photo.

(Click on the photos to see a larger image.)

We made it, though it was a major challenge. There used to be a trail up to the lookout but the Park let the trail go and we saw no signs of it. We had to bushwhack for about half the distance and 3000 ft up (and down!) the mountain until we got above the treeline. At times the brush was heavy.

It was a long day (11 hours and 20 minutes from start to finish) and I'm a bit tired. My legs are cut up and sore from all the bushwhacking. In hindsight long pants would have been better to wear.

It was an awesome hike. An adventure. The views from the lookout were incredible

The lookout was originally built was built in 1945 by conscientious objectors in the Civilian Public Service (CPS) and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The lookout was in operation from its construction in 1945 through the 1953 fire season when it was abandoned in favor of aerial detection.

The lookout now is in sad shape. Hopefully the Park restores and protects this historic lookout some day.