Waldo Mountain Fire Lookout

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Waldo Mountain fire lookout tower, Willamette National Forest Waldo01.JPG
Waldo Mountain fire lookout tower, Willamette National Forest

The Waldo Mountain fire lookout is located atop Waldo Mountain, in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon.

Waldo Mountain mountain in Oregon, United States of America

Waldo Mountain is a summit in Lane County, Oregon, in the United States. with an elevation of 6,361 feet (1,939 m). It is in the Waldo Lake Wilderness and the Willamette National Forest.

Willamette National Forest United States national forest in Oregon

The Willamette National Forest is a National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon. It comprises 1,678,031 acres (6,790.75 km2). Over 380,000 acres are designated wilderness which include seven major mountain peaks. There are also several National Wild and Scenic Rivers within the forest. The forest is named for the Willamette River, which has its headwaters in the forest. The forest headquarters are located in the city of Springfield. There are local ranger district offices in McKenzie Bridge, Detroit, Sweet Home, and Westfir.

Oregon U.S. state in the United States

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region on the West Coast of the United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. The parallel 42° north delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada.

The original fire lookout tower was built on this site in 1926 and was a small cabin. In 1929 a cupola style lookout replaced the cabin. The current flat top lookout was built in 1956. [1] The lookout is staffed part-time during fire season. [2]

Fire lookout tower Building to house a person who watches for wildfires

A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. The fire lookout tower is a small building, usually located on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point, in order to maximize the viewing distance and range, known as view shed. From this vantage point the fire lookout can see smoke that may develop, determine the location by using a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder, and call fire suppression personnel to the fire. Lookouts also report weather changes and plot the location of lightning strikes during storms. The location of the strike is monitored for a period of days after in case of ignition.

This is hike #90 in William Sullivan's 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades. [3] Sullivan describes the hike as a difficult 7.9 miles (12.7 km) loop with a 2,000' elevation gain.

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William L. Sullivan (author)

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References

  1. Kresek, Ray. Fire Lookouts of the Northwest Fairfield, Washington: Ye Galleon Press, 1998
  2. "Waldo Mountain Lookout". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  3. Sullivan, William. 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades Eugene, Oregon: Navillus Press 2007

Coordinates: 43°45′55″N122°05′56″W / 43.7653°N 122.0990°W / 43.7653; -122.0990

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.