Mother of all fire lookout jobs just posted: 14-mile pack in with mule team. Nez Perce NF, Idaho.

[DemoTex]

Idaho - Nez Perce National Forest
Posted - 1/27/2010

It does look like we'll have Gardiner Peak available this summer and will be looking to fill it sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.. This is our most remote lookout, about a 14 mile hike from the trailhead, which is at Paradise on the headwaters of the Selway. The employee typically gets packed in with stock at the beginning and packed out at the end, but no support during the summer, which is about 3 months, so the logistsics of planning for this is quite extensive. If you're interested, please give me a call at the number below.

Doug Graves
AFMO - Moose Creek R.D.
Nez Perce N.F.
208.926.8953
[e-mail]

Only for the hearty. My guess is it pays GS-4 with lots of overtime. Makes Kerouac's "Desolation Peak" pack in look like a walk in the garden.


Hozomeen, Hozomeen!

[NYC_SKP]

1. I suppose the job is yours if you want it...

but do you want it? :P

[DemoTex]

4. I'm locked in to my same lookout from last year in Oregon.

It's an old-man special .. drive up!

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Perfect job for a very fit loner. eom

[niyad]

3. thank you for this info--have a friend who would most definitely be interested

[DemoTex]

6. If you friend wants more info on lookout life ..

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/DemoTex

Or PM me and we can link up and I'll answer questions.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Should I post the obligatory Ranger Gord pic, or has that played out? LOL

[DemoTex]

7. Gord never plays out!

This video always reminds me of Ranger Gord:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FireLookoutOregon#p/a/f/2/tIUKxipY-TA

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. LOL

[thunder rising]

8. Is there a propane tank up there? Damn, I'd love to, but if I leave the house they will take it away

[DemoTex]

11. My lookout in Oregon has a big propane tank.

But my guess is that this lookout in the Nez Perce NF has a wood stove, and all the firewood is packed in on the mule train. The lookout is probably on a big bald with no firewood around. Water is probably from the latent snow. That's the way Kerouac did it.

[thunder rising]

18. This would so be an adventure! In better times ... good luck.

[TCJ70]

9. That looks amazing

If only I could...

[MercutioATC]

10. You never told me you were the bastard child of Ernest Hemingway and Sean Connery...

Damn! I'd love to do something like this, and the location looks perfect for me.

If only I wasn't so tied to where I am...

[DemoTex]

12. Bwaa haa haa haa! Maybe somewhat true!

September 2009

[MercutioATC]

24. PM me if you want me to ship you that O'Brian series.

I'm lousy at keeping track of threads.

[Canuckistanian]

13. You're hardcore, dude

Get help. Seriously.

:D

[DemoTex]

16. Help is on the way ..

Fire lookout season starts 5/23 (in the Deschutes NF). I'll be back in the lookout on 5/22 or earlier. It's like a fix. I'm jonesing for the wilderness!

[TCJ70]

17. How long are you out there for?

I was just going through your slideshows and it looks like a blast!

[DemoTex]

19. The 2010 season in the Deschutes NF (Oregon) is defined as May 23 through October 9.

It is one of the longest fire seasons for lookout staffing in the country. And, yes, it is a blast.

[Canuckistanian]

20. I know. I'm secretly jealous.

If I didn't need the gig I've got, I'd be out there doing what you do.

So you're going back to Deschutes? To the same station?

[DemoTex]

22. Yep. Go with what you know.

I'm already outfitting for the trip.

[stevedeshazer]

15. Wow.

That's delicious. The Selway country is really something special.

Sounds like the mountain version of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire.

[TexasObserver]

21. recommend

[DemoTex]

23. BTW: Watch and rec my YouTube videos from the 2009 fire season.

Slideshow #1 - Fire season 2009 in the Deschutes National Forest from a fire lookout's perspective. Music: Carl Orff's "Schulwerk."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HfAYVnAHew

Slideshow #2 - Photos and videos in a dramatic slideshow of the October 3-4, 2009, blizzard at the East Butte Fire Lookout in the Deschutes National Forest. Music: Carl Orff's "Schulwerk" and Edvard Grieg's "The Hall of the Mountain King" from "Peer Gynt, Suite #1, Opus 46."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXY2na0RyN0

Slideshow #3 - The best photos of 2009. Fast-paced slideshow with minimum captions and no video. Music: Mendelssohn's "The Hebrides" (aka "Fingal's Cave") overture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KCW8NUL-sA

[grantcart]

25. On behalf of DU I nominate Clliffordu

[DemoTex]

26. For what?

What does Clliffordu have to do with this business? Strange nomination IMHO.

[grantcart]

28. To be packed in 14 miles and left for the summer.

[phasma ex machina]

27. What an exquisite hermitage! Thanks for sharing.

Unfortunately too many societal obligations prevent me from personally partaking. :(

[Cleita]

29. Been there but not in the interior. I would love that job

if I were twenty years younger. I love the wilderness areas of Idaho, the more remote and the wilder, the better I like them.