Trip Report.

We woke up Saturday with a plan to make a day trip to Fort Rock, Green Mountain, and Crack in the Ground. We headed out of the Deschutes NF via NF-18 passing Cabin Lake Guard Station and made our first stop at the Fort Rock State Natural Area. This large semi-circle rock that now sits in Oregon’s high desert used to be an island in what was once a shallow sea. The oldest sandals dating back to 9,000-13,000 years old were discovered in this area. We hiked the short loop around the rock before moving on. We had to make an unexpected pit stop in Christmas Valley for gas and propane. For some reason our propane connection to our larger propane tank wasn’t working when we tried to make breakfast that morning. We had a half used disposable Coleman propane bottle that got the job done but it wouldn’t last us the remainder of the trip. We were relieved to find Christmas Valley was stocked with both despite one of the stores mentioning a supply shortage. Crisis averted. Just outside of Christmas Valley is a scenic byway aptly named Crack in the Ground Road that takes you directly to Green Mountain and Crack in the Ground. It is a rough and bumpy road but should be passable to most vehicles with caution. We drove past Crack in the Ground to Green Mountain Campground first. The small primitive campground is situated at the base of the lookout. From there it is only a few hundred feet up to the lookout. It was locked behind a barbed wire gate and still closed for the season. You still get a pretty good view from just the base. There were only a couple people camping in the campground, so we used one of the picnic tables for our lunch. On our way back out towards Christmas Valley we stopped at Crack in the Ground. This hike takes you through an old volcanic fissure that is roughly 2 miles long. We were running out of day again so we only went part way into the crack before heading back to camp.

History.

A fortress. A tower for a high-security prison. The tower that kept Rapunzel locked away. The current structure on Green Mountain hardly resembles what we would typically recognize as a fire lookout. The 50′ enclosed cinder block tower with observation cab was built in 2010. This lookout was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The recovery work consisted of demolishing the existing lookout, building the new lookout, and associated site work. The original 2-story lookout was built in 1963 with a 10′ concrete base and wooden live in cab.