[TR] Winchester Lookout - The long way 1/3/2011

[G-spotter]

I've climbed on the lower east face of Tomyhoi in winter. Stemalot and I did a 3 pitch 150m WI3 there in around 2003, approaching on foot from the border swathe with a very low snowpack. We would have climbed a longer route but the supposed 2 hr approach took us 5 hrs due to unexpected bushes not covered by the low snowpack that year.

 

Sadly, approach from the Canadian side is currently very problematic due to Tamihi Cr road being fully destroyed by landslides at km 3.

 

There are definitely quite a few bigger potential routes to climb there, including a bunch of 300m vertical WI lines in the right conditions. The routes topping out on the summit plateau are primarily snow over low quality rock, though, rather than continuous ice.

[curtveld]

Nice! I figured it must have had some exploration at some point.

 

Seems the access from the Mt Baker Hwy wouldn't be too bad with skis.

[E-rock]

Thanks for linking back to this one in Dan's TR. Even better the second time around.

 

[sepultura]

Great pics Jason, I missed this trip report the first go around!

We will have to head back some day.....

[tvashtarkatena]

The abuse by the 4th season folks has been particularly difficult to remediate (fractured shutter supports due to propping during storm events, shitting on the snow around LO, filth/garbage left inside the structure). We are looking into ways of further securing structure against usage in winter months. Don't count on this being available for further winter exploits.

 

David Inscho; Mount Baker Club Winchester chairman

 

David,

 

We winter travelers greatly appreciate the efforts of our lookout stewards. Rather than keep us out, however, why not recruit our ample manpower for hut maintenance + improvement? Look at it this way: if a yahoo leaves a shutter off and nobody comes after them for 3 months (rather than 3 weeks) to rectify...how much more damage will be done? Everyone I know who visits these structures in winter leaves them in better shape than they found them re: garbage and such. What are some of the things we can do to improve the situation? That could include hauling supplies up when needed, etc. I would imagine we could create a sticky thread here to provide a list of volunteer jobs a lookout party might sign on to tackle before going up.

 

Some things I can think of off the top of my head:

 

Haul fuel, tools, building supplies, lantern mantles, extra candles, blue bags, signage (how to shit in the woods, etc) up.

 

Haul garbage and expired spare food down.

 

Set/reset mousetraps (if used)

 

 

Edited January 29, 2012 by tvashtarkatena

[cdmike112]

Has anyone been up to the lookout this season, is it still open in the winter, and what is the twin lakes road like up to the trailhead? Is it fairly easy to snowmobile up the road?

[Lowell_Skoog]

As an historian myself, I can certainly appreciate what's at stake. Not being familiar with your organization, I can only speculate vis-a-vis your stewardship and/or control over this public space...

 

A historian who's not familiar with the Mount Baker Club? Oops.

 

As a general rule, I think it's a bad idea to publicize winter use of Cascade fire lookouts. They're not built for it, and the management infrastructure isn't there. The people posting in this thread seem to be responsible, but there are plenty of yahoos out there.

 

I have a lot of sympathy for volunteers like Mr. Inscho. How do you get the word out about proper care of a lookout without making the problem worse by overexposure? I don't have the answer, but I think some behind-the-scenes outreach by both sides--responsible users and the volunteer maintenance organizations--might be a good start.

 

Jason? Pat?

 

[Tyson.g]

I consider myself one of the non yahoo users of these resources.

Well, I am a bit of a yahoo, but not an irresponsible one.

I am in agreement with a stewardship effort by those of us 4th season users.

I would be willing to offer my load hauling abilities which I think pat may be able to vouch for.

 

If one was to be heading out to one of these locations maybe there should be a custodial contact within whatever organization or group that could give ideas of what the location may need, aside from the obvious.

 

Another idea is to have a place for folks to post the needs of a location they have visited. This would offer more real time need information.

 

The problem I see with the latter is the publicity aspect.

Although with the newer information compiled and available out there I do not see that as the bigger issue.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2012 by Tyson.g

[JasonG]

Good points Lowell. I hadn't thought about overexposure as a result of my TR, as I thought most folks already were in the know as far as which ones were open and such. But, the internet has a way of popularizing things that otherwise wouldn't be and it probably is a good idea to keep 4th season use of these structures quieter. Pretty photos have a way of attracting a crowd.

 

I think behind the scenes conversation is probably the best, and I am sure all of the individuals and organizations that maintain the LOs would welcome all the help folks could muster. I encourage folks to seek out the volunteers and make contact with them. I know the SAC would welcome help with the Park Butte LO, which we maintain.

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Exposure works both ways: as an advertisement and as an example.

 

Lookouts are hard to get to in the winter. That will always keep most folks away.

 

To me, it's like polar bears. People care more about them because they've seen them in zoos or on TV.

 

If one has an 'education' rather than 'restriction' philosophy, as I do, posting TRs showing good stewardship (and making public the kinds of carelessness we'd like to avoid in the future) would seem to do more good than harm.

 

Restricted access may even lead to more damage if a party decides it wants in anyway. Fewer (or no) parties in winter means such damage would go undiscovered until spring...not good.

 

It would seem that outlining the problems so far and coming up with solutions for them (proper signage, supplies, locks on shutters where needed, etc) is a better approach that would improve every lookout visitors understanding of how best to take care of these rare and invaluable historic structures.

 

I sent Mr. Incho a PM, not realizing this TR was from last year. I don't think he logs on much here, though. Probably better to come up with a shared offer for volunteer help and then send it to his email via the Baker Club

Edited February 3, 2012 by tvashtarkatena

[JasonG]

Also a very reasonable position... and honestly how I tend to look at things also. Maybe I'm being optimistic.

 

I think each LO is a case by case basis for whether or not locking will lead to more or less problems. For example sled accessible areas like Park Butte and Winchester likely would see damage as there are just a lot more folks around them in the winter. On the other end of the spectrum, the NPS locks the Sourdough and Desolation LOs and doesn't seem to have folks breaking into them (though they are quite difficult (esp. Desolation) to access in the winter). Which kind of makes me wonder why they lock them in the first place, considering they are a public resource and aren't really used as fire LOs anymore.

[tvashtarkatena]

Well, if something's sled accessible, all bets are off. That's a hard crowd to teach manners to, given the fundamentally 'in your face, ears, and nose' nature of their recreational choices.

[Joe_Poulton]

The fourth photo is awesome!

[Lowell_Skoog]

Well, if something's sled accessible, all bets are off. That's a hard crowd to teach manners to, given the fundamentally 'in your face, ears, and nose' nature of their recreational choices.

 

Ayup. That's why I spoke up. Winchester lookout is sled country, as should be obvious from Jason's first photo in this thread!