………….

Location

About 15 miles south down Ross Lake from Desolation Peak is Sourdough Mountain.  It sits right above both Ross and Diablo Lakes and looks down on a section of the North Cascades Highway.  There is a fire lookout on top which is almost as famous as the one on Desolation.  I staffed Sourdough twice during two different summers.  Here is a map showing its location–

Here is a ( unfortunately fuzzy—taken from a rocking boat ) picture of the LO taken by the highest telephoto setting on my phone.  It can be seen with the naked eye from down on Ross Lake but just barely.   It appears as a small grey building —-the shutters are down so it is cabled up for the season.  And that gives it a cubical look.

Here is a much closer look also from the Ross Lake side and this is with it active and shutters up—

First Assignment 2001

In early August that year I heard from Andris Vezis, the fire boss for the North Cascades National Park, who asked me to give him a call.  So later that day I called and he told me that he first thought he was going to need me on Desolation but actually he now needed someone on Sourdough LO.  Would I be able to go ?  You bet I said and he gave me that day and the next to get ready and then meet him the following day at the Fire Office at Marblemount around 10 am.

That night I gathered gear and figured out the food for the week —  oatmeal for breakfast and bagels (they keep really well ) with peanut butter for lunch and mostly dehydrated suppers,.  I limited everything to a minimum not knowing how much fire gear would need to be carried.  As I was packing everything up — my wife mentioned that our son Adley would like to go.  Excellent idea !!  So the two of us added more gear and food and split it all into two backpacks.  It was wonderful to have him along.  We had already done several backpacking trips that summer including two hikes in the vicinity—4th of July Pass on Ruby Mountain just to the south of Sourdough and Copper Ridge up north. The next day we refined the gear and food some more — tossing out things that were not essential.  Unfortunately that means  fun stuff like books & games ( although it would turn out later that someone had left a checkerboard up there ).

Up early the next morning we headed up the Skagit Valley to meet Andris.  Unfortunately when we got there he was down in Sedro Woolley for a dental appointment.  So we reset the orientation / planning meeting for after lunch.  Suddenly idle — to kill time we drove back west about 10 miles to the Cascadian Farm Stand. ( unfortunately it closed during the 2020 pandemic and hasn’t reopened ) We knew from plenty of visits that they had the best milkshakes for miles around.  My favorite was their Expresso Chocolate mix and characteristic of all their shakes was that the straw would stand straight up in the cup without falling to the side —> they were that thick.

Later we met Andris at the Fire Office and he gave us a brief introduction to the Osborne Firefinger and the survey system of Range and Township from a map. Then he cautioned us not to call in ” water dogs ” as a fire & that the rain after a thunderstorm will often temporarily put out a “start” only to have it reemerge some days later.  ” Be on guard “. Waterdogs are rising mist over water like a stream and can look like a smoke plume but usually lack the bluish tint and tend to move around or dissipate. You don’t want to call in a water dog as a ” start ” causing the firefighters to chase it down for nothing.  You would then leave anyone within range of the radio skeptical of your subsequent reports. The fire gear he added wasn’t too bad —  log sheets, sling psychrometer, park radio ( the old heavy kind ) and batteries.  Binoculars were already up there…..  He told us to use the Ruby radio repeater was right across the valley from us and to check ” in service ” each morning and ” out of service ” each evening.

Off we headed to the trailhead in the upriver abandoned town of Diablo. It was 2 PM — a very late start for such a difficult trail.  The sign at the trailhead said it was a long steep ” merciless ” trail and you should turn around if you are having trouble. ” Understand your limits “.  Not exactly encouraging……….but little did we understand what lie ahead…….  The first half of the trail is relentlessly steep and it was a brutally hot day windless day. Being early August the flies and mosquitos were out in force and both were biting.  If you stopped for a moment — they were on you like a cloud—- biting any exposed flesh and sometimes right thru your shirt and pants.  This provoked itching spots all over which combined with the sweat and dust. Miserable.  It almost drove a person to madness.  After hours of this I could see no evidence of progress since we were surrounded by seemingly identical trees the whole way.  I was about to give up when two young hikers came down the trail saying we were over the worst of it.  Sure enough the boundary marker for the Park showed up minutes later and then the trail eased off.  So we ate snacks standing and walking around the marker trying to keep the flies off of us. Then we resumed the climb and breaking out of the trees finally—- we in a steep meadow with Sourdough creek running swiftly down the south side.   We intended to filter some water ( which was  ice cold  ) but unfortunately our filter was clogged from a backpack to Shi Shi Beach on the Olympic Pennisula two weeks before —- I had forgotten to flush it out when we got home. We took it apart but couldn’t get it to work.  !*&%!   So we had to either drink the unfiltered stream risking giarda or use up the about 1/2 bottle of remaining water hoping for some inside the LO or maybe some snow along the way.  After discussing it —we took option #2 and kept on with the little amount of water.  We worked the switchbacks up and up will we gained the ridge and could see the LO in the distance.  Working our way to the east we arrived at the lookout.  When we got there I was relieved that the key Andris had given me actually was the right one, worked the lock and we were ” in “.  I radioed that we had made it but then unknowingly created a breach of protocol.  Excited I waxed eloquently about the LO glowing in the evening light with its new coat of paint and the marmots whistling a welcome.

After checking out of service—we melted some nearby snow,  boiled it,  ate dinner and unpacked our gear.  I gave myself the bed and Adley got the rectangular toolbox top with a foam pad.  It seemed better than the floor— though not much.

But that time it was dark so we moved outside onto a large near flat rock warmed by the all day sun that lies at angle just on the north side of the LO. Luckily it happened to be a moonless night and with no artifical  lights anywhere–there were millions of stars.  This is an acrylic painting I did later —-of that night of exhaustion, wonder & gratitude. One of the most memorable nights of my life…..

16″ x 25 1/2 “

After a while we headed back up into the LO and crashed asleep.  The days then took on the familiar rhythm that I outlined in the Desolation Pages elsewhere on this website.   Besides scanning every 20 minutes for a fire —-sometimes it is just doing laundry, shaving, gathering snow for water……or even school work.

or do your homework:

Our only treat we had brought was a dehydrated packet that supposedly made chocolate mousse.   We were licking our lips one evening.  Well we made it and it taste awful, really awful — reminiscent of some sort of industrial chemical.  So even two guys who were craving chocolate gave it up.  I took it out and scraped it out of the pot onto a snowbank.  When I came back Adley asked me if I got it out ok ( it was like glue ) — yup I said…. but now it looks like someone murdered a chocolate Easter Bunny out there.

Our daily logbook had entries for various things including weather and lightning activity:

At the end of the week — we made the long trek down the mountain taking a quick break at the boundary marker again

At the bottom we loaded our gear and garbage  in the Subaru and drove back to the Fire Office at Marblemount.  That is when I was reprimanded by Andris about waxing poetically when we first arrived. This it turns out is a no-no.  Radio calls are supposedly be limited to just the necessary information. No embellishment.  Relay the facts and then get off the frequency in case someone is waiting to use it. Chastised I thought maybe I wouldn’t get anymore assignments. A sad thought — but in my defense on the way back out to the car I told Adley it was a ” crime of passion “….. : )

Fires

There was a fire burning at the time on Lake Chelan — the Rex Creek Fire.  We could see the plume at times to the southeast, especially where there was a blowup.  Here is a shot at sunset of what it looked like —

Interestingly –there is a fire burning in the same area on Lake Chelan right now in 2024 — the Pioneer Fire.

And last year in 2023 there was a large fire on Sourdough Mountain itself.  There was a huge effort both on the ground and in the air to keep the fire from spreading east of Sourdough Creek.  This would have threatened the LO structure which was wrapped in foil as a precaution.

Rebuilt

Sourdough is built on a large prominent rock at the top of the mountain.  The cab gets a substantial snow load each year.

Here is a photo taken by John Scurlock from his airplane of the Sourdough LO in the winter.  It just shows a little bit of the roof  to the left of center– so you can imagine the weight on the structure-

 In the 1990s a particularly heavy snowfall collapsed the building.  So the following summer a work crew rebuilt it.  I didn’t realize any of that until I happened to be hiking up there from the Ross side in July that year–I think it was 1998.  I was amazed to find the scaffolding.  Not a bad way to spend your summer with that wonderful view  !

Poetry

There are two poems written by Kerouac’s friends, fellow ” Beats ” about serving at Sourdough.  Both were there in the 1950s.  Synder also was a lookout on Crater Mountain
just a bit to the east ……and Phillip was also a lookout on Sauk Mountain which is to the west down the Skagit valley.

First—- the better known poem by Gary Synder

Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout

Down valley a smoke haze
Three days heat, after 5 days rain
Pitch glows on the fir-cones
Across rocks and meadows
Swarms of new flies

I cannot remember things I once read
A few friends, but they are in cities
Drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup
Looking down for miles
Through high still air

( 5 straight days of rain in August in the North Cascades would be unusual in my experience but maybe not back then…. )

The other poem is by Phillip Whalen— it is much longer so I will just quote a couple of the best paragraphs here–

Sourdough Mountain Lookout

Then I’m alone in a glass house on a ridge
encircled by chiming mountains
With one sun roaring through the house all day
& others crashing through the glass all night
Conscious even while sleeping

Second assignment 2004

A few years later I was fortunate to get another call from Andris needing someone to cover Sourdough for a little while—could  I go ?   You bet !!  And he mentioned a perk —knowing it is a difficult long hike — he may be able to get me a helicopter ride ( which is rarely done just to place a lookout in the North Cascades ).  However the firefinder had broken in the previous season — was brought down, welded back together and now needed to go back up.  Since it is steel and very heavy — it needed the heli delivery & I could ride along.  Although my son would still have to hike it, I would be spared the grind up.  Going down we could do together.  Yahoo !

So the next day and half were spent gathering gear and then sorting it down to the minimum.  Following that it was the drive up to Marblemount early so I could attend the day’s Fire Planning meeting @ 7:45 am.  When I walked into the meeting room — it was already full of the FMOs, pilots, firefighters, fire ecology, & assortment of folks I didn’t recognize.  My mission was explained along with everyone else’s for the day and then we broke up.  I remember one of the young firefighters pointing to me as I was leaving — saying to his friend next to him  ” How would you like that job ? ” and his friend said  ” What, sleep on a rock? ”  The heli guys scrambled to get me ready as I was the first mission of the day.  In the adjacent cache ( warehouse ), they assembled everything going, weighed me and gave me a flight suit and helmet with mic, and nomex gloves.

then it was out to the heli pad for takeoff

It specatular to see the landscape from above that I had always puzzled out horizontally.  Arriving over the LO — they circled it once and then settled down to an adjacent flat area to the north.  I got out and we unloaded the gear & firefinger box and they took off.  It was very noisy and then all of the sudden the helicopter faded from sight and it was very quiet with bright sunshine and birds singing downslope.  Ahhhh…… tired from the early start, relieved I survived the flight, and excited to be back.

I unlocked the LO and hauled everything inside.  Then I called fire dispatch with  ” in service ” .  This time I omitted any comments about the wonder of the place. : )  The immediate job was to get the shutters up.  Luckily my son had made good time hiking up and soon helped me hoist the ones I had not already got in place.

They are heavier than they look and braced with poles.  Now we could see out.  Next was assembling and mounting the Osborne on top of its central cabinet and getting it oriented to the compass.  Then a break, well deserved for Adley and we organized everything, putting outside a few things the trail crew had left inside.  Then dinner and later out on the rock to look at the sky.  Unfortunately it was a night with a moon which dulled out the starshow so well remembered from the first time.

Nothing much had changed though. There was a comforting familiarity.  The Pickett range is to the west, very rugged and imposing.  Amazingly you can at times hear the roar of a Azure Lakes waterfall miles away at the base of McMillian Spires.  Black swifts and nighthawks circled the LO.  An osprey worked the steep south side meadows for mice.  And one day, in the middle of the day, a bear ambled by-

A sliver of Diablo Lake is visible from inside the south side of the LO as well as a small section of the North Cascades Highway.  The shoe was a handy way to keep the window open for ventilation.

A friend of mine who hiked up to say hi stopped in at the Wilderness Office in Marblemount on his way back to Bellingham mentioning that we were having trouble with the radio.  This mistakenly got relayed to the Fire Office as us being out of batteries and so on the next patrol flight — they dropped off a case of AAs — 96 in all.

However batteries were not the problem — there was a broken connection between the battery box and the main transmitter.

The story is interesting — head over to the Chapter 13: Fathers and Sons in the Desolation part of this website which details the fortunate fix–

The  binoculars were the same old ones we remembered— very poor having been used heavily over the years and didn’t focus well.  I subsequently bought my own for future assignments.

We had various visitors over the week including a solo trail crew guy on his day off and a graduate geology student who inherited the office of a friend of mine —Chris Carlson Ph.d. at USC. She took some rock samples, then ate lunch with us in the LO ( a cooler spot ).  We also had a young man who had driven all the way from Lowell, Massacheuts which is the hometown of Jack Kerouac.  He only had one week off to drive over and back and thought he had hiked Desolation Peak.  Not wanting to disappoint him — I didn’t mention his true position till I couldn’t avoid it when he asked where Hozomeen was ?  He found it unbelievable after all these years of dreaming of hiking up Desolation — that he had climbed the wrong mountain.  We felt bad but told him to hike down and tomorrow hike in to Ross Lake Resort  and get a water taxi ride up to the Deso Trailhead.  He said that he didn’t have time — he had to get back home.  So I told him to call in sick but he declined.  So close from so far……

Here are some random shots —

At the end of the week, we headed back down.  Here we are all packed up including the week’s garbage in the white bag

As you make your way down the ridge, you get to a very sad spot — the last spot you can see the LO before you go over the ridgeline and down into the meadows:

However one of the most amazing views I have ever had hiking is the view as you leave the ridge on Sourdough and drop down the steep meadows to the Sourdough Creek.  Diablo Lake lies far below……

After a while you come to the National Recreation Boundary, by this time you have been in the trees for a half hour or so and will stay in the trees for hours all the way to the bottom

Finally you arrive at the car, pack up and go report in at the Fire office in Marblemount —turning in the instruments and the key : (

Everyone has extraordinary events in their lives — these two assignments were like that for me……