Our Story

Hello.

About Us.

My name is Danielle and my partner is Garnet. We met through a dating app at the beginning of December 2018 and officially started dating by the New Year. We connected over our deep love for the outdoors. We like to spend most of our free time in nature,particularly backpacking and dispersed camping in the less visited corners of the Pacific Northwest. Though, more recently we’ve shifted our focus to fire lookouts.

I visited my first fire lookout in July 2017 and have since been enamored by them. I love the unique history they hold within their walls plus they typically come with a nice view. I had made a small effort to see a few prior to meeting my partner. Although Garnet had visited a handful in his younger years, he didn’t find them as interesting as I did when we first met. They were deemed to be too popular and fell on the back burner for places to visit. This was negligible since there are so many beautiful places to explore. We visited a couple here and there but it wasn’t until April 2021 that things changed for us. The catalyst in our story was our attempted journey to Illahee Rock. This was shortly followed by our successful, albeit slightly dangerous, attempt. There is something special and mystical about Illahee Rock that we both love. It sparked a desire in us to visit more. We now plan our trips around different fire lookouts or former fire lookout sites. This has helped to take us to portions of Oregon and other parts of the Pacific Northwest we would not have seen otherwise.

Don’t let the fear of doing something alone stop you from doing what you want.

About Danielle.

I have a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from WSU; Go Cougs! During the week, I work as a Project Manager in your standard 9-to-5 office for a small family owned business. When I’m not outside, I love taking care of my houseplants and reading.

I grew up camping in state parks, KOA cabins, and running around our neighborhood. My family did things moderately outside but the interest was lost to my teenage years. After graduating college, I had no real hobbies or interests. I wanted to get back into hiking but could never find anyone willing to commit. Inspired by REI’s Black Friday #OptOutside movement, I decided to go by myself in November 2016. It was like the lights had finally switched on in a very dark room and I was in love all over again. I realized there was nothing stopping me from doing this every weekend but myself. It’s not an impressive or extravagant story, but it’s mine.

Babes, the Civic.

She has the heart and soul of a Jeep Wrangler with the reliability of a Honda.

My Honda Civic is nicknamed Babes and has kept our adventures interesting. I purchased her on April 19, 2015 with only 40 miles. This was my first big adult purchase out of college. Before, I was driving a hand me down 1999 Honda Civic from my parents. In hindsight, I would’ve bought a higher-clearance vehicle if I had known where my interests were going to take me. But having a low-clearance vehicle doesn’t have to hinder your adventures.

Babes has traveled 125,000+ miles in the last 6 years. She has made road trips through Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada. And, most definitely, bumped down many Forest Service roads she had no business being on. This is my ode to 2WD adventurers in a world full of 4WD.

Babes is outfitted with a Thule Traverse roof rack kit and 58-inch load bars. They function mostly for aesthetics but it also helps to transport our canoe.

Forest Fire Lookout Association members, Oregon Chapter, since May 2022

Happy trails!