Stay well, Bo!

Listened to some Buddy Holley earlier this evening!

As we will keep ya posted. Beautiful view and hope you stay safe

Especially in the wilderness.

It’s THE place to be.

And Happy 4th, Bo Zarts.

....part of my state.

👀
👀
👀
👀

What an incredibly beautiful place!

Glad you enjoy our company here on DU! Thank you for your important work.

I don't post as much as in the early years, but I watch and learn here. Thanks for your kind words, DD!

I'm a bit south of Portland.

Remote, too. Love the vista.

as here?

NCW Washington

Happy 4th! If you were over in these parts, like Idaho where you were, you'd be in the clouds half the time! There was even a snow warning up on the Beartooth Pass night before last! Only got up to 65F today and raining often. Like it used to be thirty years ago.

I hope your summer is a pleasant one!

I understand not revealing. Some crazy whack jobs up there.

I was a lookout on Stephenson Mountain one summer. Loved it but finally got a permanent ‘ologist job.

Enjoy the multiple fireworks from your location and calling in the multiple starts from the 4th activities.

someone else's job? Or yours? If yours, great! Was involved with northern US border post 9-11 so get the danger, only now it's our own . Keep up great work BZ!

I don’t know how anyone could work a fire lookout and NOT be a photographer. So much low hanging fruit! But I’ve also been a military pilot (Vietnam), a corporate pilot, and an airline pilot. And an aviation editor and writer. And a wilderness adventure writer.

of us have just had mundane lives in comparison.

Relax . There are thousands of miles on the northern border. Much 99% -inaccessible as you probably fully know

Hope what looks like wood is actually hardy board or something else resistant to fire.

Be safe up there.

(Hardy board)

Related: the RG and I took a city friend hiking with us in the woods. We hiked up the highest mountain in nj. Upon getting out of the car to start the hike, this friend looked around at the forest and exclaimed, “look at all these boards!”

so it will not burn.

Kind of a pain to cut and nail, you always have to wear some form of respiratory protection to avoid the silica dust. If you're going to live in a wildfire area it's a great product to use.

The forest thanks you. I speak for the trees.😎

Also, you think you have enough Chex Mix? 😂😂

Actually, I make my own trailmix.

Have a safe and uneventful summer -- except, of course, for fantastic vistas and sunsets, which are perfectly fine events to have.

==========

So good to hear from you. I always love your posts, and thank you for them.

Bo, your photos are pure joy... Thank you so much for sharing!!!




edit to add... nowhere near your level, however I do enjoy a hike up one of our many fire towers here in Vermont

And spending summer in a lookout tower would be the ideal job for me! hahahahahaha

And, not to blow my own horn too loudly, if you're on instagram you can follow me at @samgish3 for my B&W stuff, and @mfkaixfootsteps for some of pictures of Aix-en-Provence.

It's gratifying to this old Beat's soul to see you still up there, doing the Jack Kerouac thing!

A friend of mine, Mark Brown, used to do the same thing.

Hello from Vashon Island, WA!

This is a gorgeous view and an exhilarating perspective.
This month’s photo contest is Shadows. You might enter this picture, just saying.

Be safe and well. And many thanks for caring and for sharing.
🕊thatcrowwoman

but I'm a ground pounder, hand tool crew kinda guy. Since I'm sort of borderline OCD, my primary focus is mop up. The thought that a restart could happen on an incident we're dealing with makes my stomach cramp up and my head hurt. Glad you're up there keeping an eye on things.

Unlike some of the heavy equipment operators, DNR and Forest Service crews, we're a volunteer department and we don't get paid by the fire so I'm hoping you have a very uneventful summer and get to spend the next couple of months enjoying the beautiful view.

but the reality is much of the land on the east side of the Cascades depends on periodic fires to stay healthy. There has been too much suppression for too long and it's thrown things really out of balance. During the cold and wetter months specially trained crews engage in prescribed burns to thin fuel loads and clear out understory vegetation. During the season we work hard to suppress fires near population areas and try to do what we can to "steer" fires away from those sort of areas.

In a very real sense I guess we are trying to keep folks, wild creatures, and trees safer but we don't necessarily do it the way a lot of folks think it is done. The indigenous people of the region had figured a lot of this out centuries before settlers showed up. Their wisdom was ignored and a price has been, and continues to be paid for that decision. A number of the people on those prescribed burn crews are of the people and slowly their knowledge is being reintroduced into management practices.

Appreciate your kind thoughts.

I knew there were a couple of lightning starts up that way. There is nothing quite like being a hand tool kinda guy in Ed Pulaski's back yard .. eh? My hat's off to you, sir!

Bo

hopefully no out of control fires this season... BC & eastern Canada were scary enuf.

Especially when I zoom in on this map that shows so many fire locations:
https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

Stay safe out there!

Nice pic!

Cool job!