CHS 1 Hike - Red Mountain Lookout

Spend the day hiking up a volcanic mountain to the site of the first fire lookout in Western Washington! We'll be spending most of our time climbing through dense forest until we reach the exposed summit covered in red pumice rocks. The trail we plan to take will likely be wet and muddy, so hiking poles are strongly encouraged if you have them. Spring and summer trip reports also heavily feature bugs, and while May is likely too early for mosquitos it is still a good idea to have bug spray with you just in case. The lookout is locked, but the catwalk is accessible and offers panoramic views of Mount Adams, Rainier, St. Helens, Hood, and Jefferson. 

Amber Casali details some of the history of Red Mountain Lookout in her book, Hiking Washington's Fire Lookouts:

"This is the fourth lookout structure on this site, whose history started very early for Washington fire lookouts: there was an eight-by-eight-foot wooden cabin here way back in 1910. Sometime after 1919 a cupola cab was constructed, and in 1935, during the CCC era, an L-4 can was built, along with a garage.

In 1942 and 1943, Red Mountain was staffed twenty-four hours a day as an Aircraft Warning Service station during World War II, before the days of widespread radar use in the United States. At the time, the garage was used to store firewood, and a small sleeping room was added to one side as AWS staff living quarters, to accommodate the person during off-duty hours. 

In 1959, the lookout you see today was buit, and is typical of the designs that replaced the L-4 lookouts. In 2006m a winter windstorm blew the roof completely off the lookout, and it was repaired by the US Forest Service. The lookout is no longer staffed. Today at the summit the garage is still standing, now used for storage."

Plan to be ready to hike with boots on at the trailhead at 8AM. For those of us staying in the area for the campout weekend, carpooling information from the Cascade Locks motel will be included in the Hello Hiker email.