As a fan of history, photography, and the great outdoors, it was only a matter of time before I fell head over heels for fire lookouts. From the moment I set foot in my first one, I was hooked—not just on the towers themselves, but on the stories of the men and women who built, maintained, and lived in them.
These days, most weekends are spent chasing those stories: hiking, backpacking, or bouncing down some forgotten forest road. If there’s a lookout involved, I’m in.
ARRGGGHHHH MATEY Okay, I know this website and lookouts in general have nothing at all to do with pirates, BUT I am going to talk about Scurvy Mountain. And in my brain, the second I hear the word “scurvy,” I think of pirates and great wooden sailing ships crossing the oceans in search of riches and spices. So before I tell you about our Scurvy Mountain trip...
Abandoned - Cabin burned in forest fire, Aermotor remains.
In the fall of 2021, the Idaho Fire Lookouts team hiked to Diablo Mountain to meet and interview lookout Nate Raff. Nate has been kind enough to share a ton of information and knowledge about lookouts, stories about his time on a Helitac crew, and as a volunteer manning and rebuilding lookouts.
A weekend at Arid Peak where we spot our first smoke!
We did not found a single remnant of this tower.
Accidentally burnt down and not rebuilt.
Removed cabin and Aeromotor Tower.
Destroyed by wildfire in 1967
Destroyed 1950's.
Destroyed in the 60's.