Oh, wow! First night in the lookout (2011) and look at this ..

[DemoTex]

Clouds spill over South Sister (L) and Broken Top at sunset

[Parker CA]

1. Gorgeous shot, Demo! Looking forward to your updates from here on out. Looks like a good amount of

snow still there. Stay warm!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Damn, but that's gorgeous, my dear DemoTex!

I hope you have sunsets like that one EVERY night!

Welcome home!

:hi:

[elleng]

3. REAL WOW!

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Beautiful shot!

You should be up here right now, DemoTex. We currently have 43 fires going, most in very remote areas, but there's one close to Fairbanks that has over 800 firefighters working it. We get mega wildfires in the spring. In 2004 and 2005 over 11 million acres burned.

[xchrom]

5. Wonderful! Nt

[robinlynne]

6. beautiful!!!!! Thank-you.

[Richard D]

7. WOW

Gorgeous. Thank you.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Oh my that is beautiful

you take care Mac, and stay safe...

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Gorgeous.

I still can't get over the fact that I was a mere 15 miles from your tower as I drove west on US 20 the other week. FWIW, I had a drop in the town of Sweet Home and I took rte 20 all the way there. If you haven't been that way, at the junction of 20 and SR 126 there are signs saying truck over 65' long must take 126 (I think it was 65'..anyway) but I took the risk and followed 20 toward Sweet Home. About 10 miles or so past that junction the first of 3 warning signs are seen; "11 miles of 6% grade ahead".

Not too steep, but long and twisty! Probably one of the longest grades of that order I've ever taken. Another was in Virginia which was about 7 miles of 9%.

I have looked at the maps of the area your tower is in, and I'm wondering if the roads to it are strictly 4WD only or are they graded sufficiently for a low ground clearance vehicle to make it? I think it would be cool as hell to get a photo of my truck parked at your tower! That would be secondary to being able to visit though.

[pinboy3niner]

10. Welcome home, Mac :)

It must have been incredibly frustrating to be delayed getting back to your tower after coming all that way across the country to get there. (And sticking you with upside-down maps, to boot!)

But it looks like you made it just in time, after all. Who was it who said, "All's well that ends well"?

My best to Nick. Oh...and you, too. :)

:toast:

[lonestarnot]

11. Almost thought you had moved to AZ for a moment.

[madrchsod]

12. you have one of the best part time jobs in the world...!

[joshcryer]

13. Wonderful.

[Lucinda]

14. So very very cool!

[Wind Dancer]

15. Breathtaking!

You need to frame this and hang it on your wall. Beautifully captured!

[tammywammy]

16. Beautiful.

Just beautiful.

[stevedeshazer]

17. +1

Nice.

[MilesColtrane]

18. I'm glad you're back in the tower, for selfish reasons.

I can dig the vicarious peace and beauty while I'm stuck in traffic choking on ozone alerts in this concrete armpit.

Stay safe, my friend.

[gkhouston]

19. I always enjoy your pics. n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

20. wow

[applegrove]

21. That looks like a painting. Beautiful!

[felix_numinous]

22. Thank you

for sharing your photos and experiences, DemoTex! I used to live in AK and would wake up looking out at-- such a view--my memories have lasted a lifetime. Your photos remind me of my time in the highlands. So breathtakingly awesome. :)

[Octafish]

23. You call THAT work?

That's LIVING.

Outstanding image, Cap'n. And I am still extremely jealous of your outstanding camera purchase...IIRC, full frame with an L-series.

[malaise]

24. Fabulous

Stay safe and thanks :hi:

[FLPanhandle]

25. Your office view is infinitely better than mine!

Nice.

[Ptah]

26. 2 historic fire lookouts go up in flames

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_9b2e3816-6706-53d1-8cb5-97d33d6e8234.html


Two historic, treasured fire lookouts have been destroyed in a blaze of irony - burned by wildfires like the ones they were built to detect.

Flames of the Horseshoe 2 Fire consumed the Barfoot Lookout - perched at about 8,800 feet in the Chiricahua Mountains southeast of Willcox - as the fire expanded last Thursday. The fire has now burned through 116,024 acres.

The Atascosa Lookout - sited on a 6,249-foot summit northwest of Nogales - was destroyed Monday in a surge of what would become the Murphy Complex Fire. The fire, a merger of two fires, has now burned 67,525 acres.

"It's a shock to hear that it's gone," said Tom Johnson, a member of the Green Valley Hiking Club who had helped in restoration work on the Atascosa Lookout.

[RadiationTherapy]

27. Grapefruity.

[Scuba]

28. Watch the scenery and go fly fishing. Sweet. Thanks for posting.

[lildreamer316]

29. My Goddess that's gorgeous.

What a beautiful world we (still) live in. Thanks for the shot.

[Arugula Latte]

30. I was just in Bend. It's so gorgeous there.

[nilram]

31. Are you blogging these somewhere?

I catch them now and then here on DU, but I'd like to make sure to see them all!