To be at work and at play at the same time is to know inspiration. To labor with passionate commitment on something you believe in is to know fulfillment. But to simply awaken at 6521 feet to a dazzling sunrise is to experience the exalted treasure of one of Washington’s remaining fire lookouts. I became lookout chairman 14 years ago, …

  “After a week or more out here you begin to understand why coyote is always grinning.”                                           –  a bit of wisdom scribbled at the hot springs shack It is a predictable condition for Pacific North westerners. After months …

My relationship with winter is complicated. I want to delight in it, I want to feel its sting, I want to fear its ruthlessness, and ultimately I want to wish it on its way. Having played hard in New York’s frozen Adirondacks much of my early adult life, mild Bellingham winters leave me wanting. I discovered that renting lookout cabins …