That 120 foot long manuscript of On the Road by Jack was recently sold auction  for $ 12,135,00 to a singer --- Zach Bryan.  It sounds as if he plans to create a museum in Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts which would be wonderful.  If you go to the Resources chapter in this very [...]

ON May 23,2026--just a couple of weeks ago--the New York Times published a remembrance of Jack Kerouac by a girlfriend -- Joyce Johnson. The essay is titled: " What Gets Kept ".  It is several pages long and I found it interesting though not much new.......you might want to check it out. [...]

Hi all, its been a rough last couple of months for me with a knee replacement in early April and then the complication of a leg fracture associated with the prosthesis. Argggh.  So it weight bearing on the R leg for weeks now, confined to my house -- actually only a small part of [...]

I was not aware of this book until last week.  It is a compilation of short stories and observations by Jack. I will be looking it over to see if there are any references to Desolation.....

I got an email from Jim, the lookout on Deso the last 10 years or so. He will be there again this summer.  Yea !!  I am glad the NPS continues to fund that position.  If things are quiet I believe he will be on the usual 10 days on and 4 days off [...]

Jim, the current Desolation LO, has many talents.  One of them is that he is professional artist and taught drawing at Western Washington University here in Bellingham. He sends me a cool Christmas card each year featuring a painting of his.  And each year there is a lookout somewhere in the scene.  Also typically [...]

Excellent article today on Jim, the Deso Lookout and the wildfire scene.  Wonderful photographs including a night shot with the Milky Way above the lookout. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/on-a-wa-mountain-peak-a-wildfire-lookout-spots-an-uneasy-future bruce

Here are two photos of the Perry Fire this summer taken by Jim Henterly, the  Desolation Lookout.  Both shots are from early on, the second one is of the blowup on the 3d day -- filling the skies about the Lookout.  Luckily the fire was across the lake on the west side but Jim [...]

Today the Seattle Times ran an article on the Western spruce budworm infestation  of the North Cascades. Accompanying this was an aerial shot looking north of the east side mountains of Ross Lake  You can see the twin spires of Hozomeen and in the center left -- you will see the hump at the [...]

Jim ( the current Deso Lookout in his 10th year ) is quick to reply to my emails.  However, I have not heard from him in over a week. I would guess he is already up on Desolation.  A staffing scheme in the past has been 10 days on and 4 days off.  Though if [...]