Umpqua NF

Garwood Butte L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Umpqua National Forest

Status.

Abandoned; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

4-1/2 hours

Date visited.

July 30, 2022

Elevation.

7,017

National Historic Lookout Register.

Yes

Trip Report.

Oregon has been in a heat advisory for the last week with temperatures ranging in the mid to high 90s. It even briefly jump up into the low 100s a couple of those days. A haze was expected to settle over all of Oregon for the weekend due to a new wildfire in northern California. Is it too soon to say I miss the rain? Anyway, what better time to head into the forest than when you’re sweltering at home? It turns out it’s pretty hot out there too. But, my partner and I headed on as we always do. This weekend we set our sights on Garwood Butte. We figured we could do The Watchman or Mount Stella while in the area too. Yes, both were also an option. It’s a bit of a drive for a one-night trip, but we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re a bit crazy. Garwood Butte has been on our minds for a while. Mostly, because my partner’s name is Garnet and he goes by Gar on occasion. I couldn’t possibly visit Garwood without him. For this reason alone, we felt a connection to the Fire Lookout. It’s also just a really cute L-4 perched on top of a rocky outcropping with views towards Mount Bailey and the Crater Lake rim. What’s not to love about that? We had originally thought about adding it to our road trip itinerary, but were worried about the potential for snow. After our visit to Pig Iron, we could see it was snow free and that it would be accessible for a future visit to the area this year.

Start of the NF-370 spur
Parking Spot
First glimpse of Garwood

Our alarms were set for 6AM and we were on the road as early as possible. We headed down the I-5 corridor once more, but this time cut over on HWY-58 to meet up with HWY-97. We gave a quick wave to Odell Butte L.O. and Walker Mountain L.O. as we drove past their marked highway turn offs. After a quick refuel in our now frequented stop in Chemult, we turned on to HWY-138 towards Crater and Diamond Lake. We passed the north entrance to Crater Lake NP and stayed on HWY-138 until we reached the turn for HWY-230 off to the left. I have been through this area a few times now on various different trips through out the years. We were also familiar with the route due to an unsuccessful attempt of Garwood during our visit to Cinnamon Butte last December. From HWY-230, we turned right at the access for Three Lakes Sno-Park. We continued straight to stay on NF-3703 until we reached the turn off for NF-370 spur. There were minimal potholes and ruts to avoid along the NF-3703 road. We didn’t even have to attempt a drive up the NF-370 spur to see it wasn’t a drive-able road. There were large ruts and rocks embedded in it that were not low-clearance compatible. The road is marked but the sign is sun-bleached and indecipherable. It is best identified by its terrible condition and a ski post marked with the number 36. We parked in a pull out just past the road. It was already noon by the time we got there, so we decided to have lunch in the comforts of our air conditioned car instead of the summit. While we were hiding out in the car, an ATV came brapping by and waited at the NF-370 junction. At first, we were confused on what they were doing or thought maybe they stopped because they were confused by what we were doing. But then, another ATV followed which triggered the first one to head up the road. When the second ATV reached the junction it proceeded to wait as well. The same thing continued to repeat itself until 8 ATVs had turned up the NF-370 spur. We weren’t too keen on starting a road walk that we knew would end in us being dusted up and decided to wait. The road eventually just dead ends and they would have to come back down. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long and their brapping continued on to somewhere else.

Start of Connector Trail
Where the Connector Trail meets the road again
Beginning of Main Trail

It was hot and dusty when we started our hike up the road. We knew it was roughly two miles to the Fire Lookout from the junction, if you stayed on the road and didn’t use the connector trail. As we walked along, the road conditions continued to deteriorate with larger embedded rocks, downed trees, and wash out. There was a point in the road where the ATVs even turned around. A large tree had come down across it and there wasn’t enough room on either side for them to get around. Ah, that’s why they didn’t take long. It would have required a chain saw to remove it. We both agreed, this was officially the worse road we’ve been on so far. I took some pictures of the road, but it never quite captures the true conditions. We eventually reached a more open area with a view of Garwood Butte. There was a defined trail off to the left that we assumed was the connector trail. A peakbagger report had mentioned this trail was no longer here in 2012, but from what we could see it was now. If you take this trail you can cut off a half of a mile of road walking. It meets back up with the road where the official trail #1471 to Garwood Butte begins. There is no official trail sign, but it was a well defined junction. If you have trouble finding it, always look for the cut logs first. As we headed up the trail, it appeared to have been brushed out more recently. It was clear to us that someone had been taking care of this route somewhat regularly despite the road conditions. It was a hot and slightly humid slog to the summit. The trail switched backed through an interestingly mixed forest until it opened up to an exposed slope. The trail was in great condition besides a few loose sections that made finding my footing more difficult.

My partner reached the summit before me and was already making his rounds on the catwalk as I tried not to completely wilt away in the sun. I always seem to struggle more than him, specifically on steeper trails and in the heat. Partially, because I’m not in as good of shape but there are various other reasons as well. Garwood has a really nice summit on the edge of a rock that dropped off to views of the drainage below. The lookout structure was looking a bit worse for wear on the catwalk. Some of the stairs had broken and one corner was being supported by two boards. There was a sign posted on the cab mentioning the ongoing restoration, but I’m not sure if that is still active. Please use caution if you decide to climb the catwalk. We headed down after taking in the hazed over views and debated our next step. We had already found some decent dispersed camp spots and could have easily set up camp early to relax. But, there was also just enough time left in the day to move on to Mount Stella. We were both torn between wanting to maximize our short trip and just taking it easy for once. Who were we really kidding though? Of course, we headed on to Mount Stella.

History.

Formerly known as Bear Butte, it was renamed to Garwood Butte in 1946 to commemorate Leroy E. Garwood. Leroy was a former Forest Service District Ranger that died in March 1944. He was known as an old-timer on the forest and was the first to develop the lookout station atop the butte. The renaming also helped to eliminate another “bear” named feature within the forest. At the time the following features included the name bear; 6 Bear Creeks, 2 Bear Buttes, 2 Bear Camps, 1 Bear Bluff, 1 Bear Bones, 1 Bear Gulch, 1 Bear Lake, 1 Bear Wallows, 1 Bear Trap Mountain, and 2 Bear Mountains. The structure on Garwood Butte was built in 1942 as a 14’x14′ L-4 ground cab. It was last staffed in 1973 and has since been abandoned. In 2012, the lookout was threatened by a near by fire and had to be wrapped by fire fighters in Structure Protection Wrap. I believe it was the Butte Fire, but there were a few other larger fires during that year that could have caused this to be wrapped. There has been ongoing restoration work in more recent years, but it still needs a lot of work.

Pig Iron L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Umpqua National Forest

Status.

Active; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

4-1/2 hours

Date visited.

July 2, 2022

Elevation.

4,881′

National Historic Lookout Register.

Yes

Trip Report.

Day 8/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

Seasonal gate from Mowich Loop Road
Gate from NF-100 to Pig Iron
Interesting hairy forest
Where the trail meets up with NF-100

We somberly headed back out to NF-100 after our unfortunate discovery on Watson Butte. Instead of heading back to Mowich Loop Road, we turned right to head to the other side of the ridge. We stayed on NF-100, which was a fairly well maintained gravel road, until we reached the gate. As described in my post about Watson Butte, access is from Mowich Loop Road off of HWY-138 near Stump Lake and milepost 67. Take a right at the junction with the road to Clearwater Forebay. You will pass through a seasonal gate to stay on Mowich Loop Road. Take a left at the unmarked T-junction to turn onto NF-100. From the gate, it is a mile road walk to the Fire Lookout. You can also access the Fire Lookout from Pig Iron Trail #1438, but I’ve read that it is overgrown and steep. It was a fairly pleasant and flat road walk. Based on information I read online, I had thought Pig Iron was only staffed on a volunteer basis. We weren’t sure if we’d meet anyone during our visit though. Once we had a view of the lookout we could see a car parked and hoped they were friendly. We didn’t have to wait long before the lookout decided to come out and greet us. She introduced herself as Lisa and asked if we had come up the road or trail. We mentioned we had come from the road. She said her gate had been cut by vandals at some point during the beginning of the season and it was kind of scary not knowing who could drive up. Luckily, it seemed one of the Forest Service crews had recently fixed this issue. When we had walked around the gate there had been a new chain added and it was safely locked. She didn’t leave her post often, so she was relieved to hear that. We talked for a while about the surrounding area, Illahee Rock, the FFLA, and the importance of volunteers and advocacy within the community. We didn’t get invited up on the catwalk or in the cab, but the views were the same from the base. We mentioned our trip up to Watson Butte and she said she didn’t even realize it had still been up there. She thought it had been removed a while back, possible due to misinformation on the Former Fire Lookout Site. We didn’t stay for too long since it was already fairly late in the afternoon and we still had to drive back to our base camp. We made sure to thank Lisa for her time and information before heading back to the car.

Lookout Lisa

Lisa is the current lookout attendant on Pig Iron and is employed through the Forest Service. She is accompanied by her cat. She has staffed this lookout since 2017 and was the last person to staff Illahee Rock in 2016. She has worked on many different lookouts including, but not limited to, the Watchman, Mt Scott, Mt Harkness, & Pickett Butte. She started her work with the Forest Service in Air Quality which lead her to Fire Lookouts. She has worked as a Ranger for Crater Lake and the North Cascades National Parks. I believe she said she worked at Crater Lake NP for 15 seasons. She mentioned she used to do wilderness snowshoe trips for kids in the park. Pig Iron had recently had some work done on the catwalk, stairs, and windows due to damage during the 2021/2022 winter season.

History.

In 1950, the site on Pig Iron had been established with a fire camp. The lookout used a tent for living quarters and had a Fire Finder situated outside. There was a cover for when the Fire Finder was not in use and a small shed nearby for storage. A lookout structure was built during the same year. It is described as a 14’x14′ hip-roofed cab (the NHLR describes it as 10’x10′) with a 10′ wooden tower. It has 3’x3′ solid pane windows. It’s a similar structure to a standard L-4 design but not quite the same. It is situated below the actual summit for a better view.

Watson Butte L.O.

Former Lookouts

Location.

Umpqua National Forest

Status.

Collapsed during the winter season 2021/2022

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

4-1/2 hours

Date visited.

July 2, 2022

Elevation.

5,687′

National Historic Lookout Register.

No

Trip Report.

Day 8/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

We headed out from camp towards HWY-138 once more. Today we were backtracking to Watson Butte and Pig Iron. They are located on opposite ends of the same ridgeline. This made it an easy day for driving since they were both along the same route. From HWY-138 heading east, we turned left on to Mowich Loop Road. The road does as it describes and loops back around to HWY-138. That means there are two opportunities to turn onto this road. If you are coming from Diamond Lake, you will want to take the second turn off to the right that is across from Stump Lake near milepost 67. Technically, both will get you to where you want to go but it’s shorter from this route. We bumped down a pothole filled road until we came to a junction. If you continue straight, it will take you to the Clearwater Forebay. You will want to turn right to stay on Mowich Loop Road. There is a gate here that is seasonally closed to winter traffic. The road improved after the gate but still had a few potholes to avoid. Eventually, you will come to an unmarked T-junction. Mowich Loop Road continues to the right and NF-100 is to the left. We turned left on to NF-100. If you stay on this road it will take you all the way to the gate for Pig Iron L.O. We decided to visit Watson Butte first.

NF-170 sign
Looking at Watson Saddle junction from NF-170

From NF-100, we turned on the first road off to the right. This is the NF-150 spur and does have a sign. We were slightly worried about the roads after seeing the condition of the Mowich Loop Road. The rest of the route was along three number spurs and we hoped we would be able to get close enough to make the hike. We were pleasantly surprised to find the three number roads were in better condition. The only road hazards we met along NF-150 were downed trees. Some of the trees were already cleared by tree cutters, but some were not. We had a buck saw with us and decided to do some road maintenance for the Forest Service. And by we, I mean my partner. I helped clear the area once the trees had been cut though. NF-150 eventually leads to a odd 5-way junction at the Watson Saddle. On the topo map, the road we wanted was labeled NF-164. Based on the directions from the Forest Service, you should take the road farthest to the right. Most of the roads at the junction are not marked though. We were able to find an NF-170 road marker on the road farthest to the right. This was confusing to us since it didn’t match the road numbers on the map and NF-170 should be off to the left. But, It did look like the road most traveled and was farthest off to the right as the Forest Service had recommended. We headed up NF-170 to the right until we were met with a section that started to get brushy. This made us second guess our decision and we headed back to the odd junction. We walked around the junction looking for any confirmation that NF-170 was the correct road. Eventually, we gave up and drove back up NF-170 to the brushy section. We parked in a pull out on the exposed portion of the road just past the brush and decided to start walking.

Where the old road bed starts
Where the trail starts
trail conditions
can you spot the trail?

The Manzanita and Ceanothus were encroaching on the road in some portions and there were a couple down trees, but otherwise it wasn’t in terrible shape. There was a point in the road where it opened up to a view of what we assumed to be Watson Butte. I could see signs of a structure, but it was hard to tell exactly what I was looking at from that distance. I thought it looked collapsed, but I was hopeful my view was just obstructed. We walked for about a mile until we came to the trailhead. There is still a sign noting where the Watson Butte Trail #1443 starts. There was even enough room for a couple cars to park. It is obvious that this trail doesn’t see much use. From the trailhead, it is another 1.1 miles to the summit gaining around 600′ in elevation. We started out by following an old decommissioned road bed until it met with the base of the butte. The trail started to gain more elevation once we left the road. The trail continues faintly through a mostly shaded forest. It was especially faint among the switchbacks. We were able to stay on track by looking for the trail bench in the more overgrown sections. The final push is steep, but eventually opens up to an exposed summit. My partner had made it to the summit before me and I called out to ask if it was still there. He was oddly quiet in response. Eventually, I rounded the corner and saw why. We were too late. We had known Watson Butte L.O. was in bad shape and had been for years, which is why it was on our priority list to visit. There were posts of it standing the year before and we thought we had time. But, we were still too late. Watson Butte L.O. was nothing more than a pile of boards.

I’m not sure if we were the first to discover this or even hike the trail this year, but we were the first to report on it. Nothing can prepare you for coming upon a fire lookout you thought would be standing only to find it destroyed. My partner was in disbelief and even speculated that maybe someone vandalized it. But, to me, it looked like it had succumbed to the elements and time. We had a moment of silence for the lookout that once was before heading back down. It was a sad reminder that we are not going to be able to see them all standing. Some will burn in our ever present fire season, some will be removed by the Forest Service, and others will simply waste away in time. But for now, up a confusing network of poorly marked roads to an overgrown and fading trail you can still hike to what remains of Watson Butte L.O.

History.

Umpqua National Forest Archive – Sept 1942

Normally, I only like to post pictures I’ve taken myself of the Fire Lookouts but I decided to make an exception for Watson Butte. This lookout was built in the 1930s as an L-4 ground cabin. The Forest Service notes this as being built in 1934, but other sources claim it was built in 1937. Either way it had been standing for at least the last 84 years. Before the lookout structure was built, it was established as a camp and a telephone line was extended to the summit in 1920. It hasn’t been actively staffed since the 1960s. At one point there was talk of salvaging it for the rental program, but this never happened. According to Facebook, the last person to have record of it standing was on May 24, 2021. It most likely collapsed under the snow during the winter of 2021/2022.

Illahee Rock L.O. (Revisited)

Oregon Lookouts

Please reference the original post on Illahee Rock L.O. for information on the history of the lookout, status, our initial site visit, and directions.

Date Revisited: July 1, 2022

Trip Report.

Day 7/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

Ever since our not so graceful redemption visit to Illahee Rock, we have wanted to revisit during more ideal conditions. It wasn’t a high priority since there are so many other fire lookouts to see and only a short window to see them. But, Illahee Rock holds a special place in our hearts. It was the catalyst that triggered our pursuit to visit as many standing fire lookouts as possible. We had this as a potential add on to our road trip if conditions were favorable and we had extra time while in the area. Thanks to a recent post by the Wandering Yuncks we knew it’d be snow free this time too.

This was essentially a rest day for us from the go-go of the trip. We were already situated close to the access road for Illahee Rock and it was our only plan for the remainder of the day. We had a leisurely breakfast at camp before packing a lunch and heading out to HWY-138. The access road is fittingly named Illahee Road, which is also NF-4760. It is located just past the Umpqua’s Last Resort. You will wind up this decent gravel road for 7-1/2 miles to the junction with NF-100. Make sure to watch for fallen rocks on the road. We decided to park at this junction and walk since I recalled NF-100 having some larger potholes. After further inspection, all the potholes would have been passable to the Civic with caution. We stayed on NF-100 for about a mile before we reached the NF-104 spur off to the left. This will take you to the trailhead. The NF-104 spur is pretty overgrown and rocky. I wouldn’t attempt driving it in a low-clearance vehicle. From the trailhead, it is a short hike to the summit. It was really nice to see everything snow free for a change. The trail is still in great shape, even after the fires, with only a few downed trees to navigate. The wildflowers were in bloom too and we had commanding views in every direction. There is a hole in the catwalk that someone had cut just big enough for access. It was here during our last visit as well, but I didn’t have the energy to climb through it then. Also, in case it needs to be said, please do not cut holes in the catwalks of fire lookouts. But, since it was already there, I decided to get a better look. We had the trail and summit to ourselves aside from a kettle of Turkey Vultures that checked us out. I knew I didn’t smell great, but it must have been much worse than I thought to attract the Vultures. They eventually realized we weren’t road kill and moved on to something else. We enjoyed our lunch on the catwalk and soaked in the sunshine before heading back to the car.

The next day we were able to get a bit more clarification on the status of Illahee Rock from the lookout attendant we met on Pig Iron. She was the last lookout to staff Illahee Rock in 2016. She didn’t go into details on why they stopped staffing it or if they planned to staff it again. We could tell she was very passionate about Illahee Rock and would’ve preferred to be stationed there instead. The Forest Service had moved her to Pig Iron as an alternative. Any friend of Illahee Rock is a friend to her.