Fire Lookout Friday

Earlier this summer, I told the story of Slate Peak, a historic fire lookout that stood for seventy years at the end of Washington's highest road until it collapsed in March. This is the story of a remarkable group of volunteers who pulled off a salvage effort that was anything but simple, and a glimpse of what it really takes to preserve eight historic fire lookouts in one very short summer. Get full access to Where in the Wild is Chris? at whereinthewildischris.substack.com/subscribe

A tiny log cabin has been standing on a remote mountaintop in northeastern Washington since 1914. In that time, lookouts have carved their names into its walls and come and gone. I’ve visited it three times and each time I’ve stood in the same doorway and taken a photograph. This week on Fire Lookout Friday: a story about the animals who walk beside us and what a century-old fire lookout can teach us about love, loss, and the places we keep going back to. Get full access to Where in the Wild is Chris? at whereinthewildischris.substack.com/subscribe

All I want is an ice cream cone.Nearly twenty years after scribbling “Desolation” into a notebook, I finally set out for one of Washington’s most legendary fire lookouts. It took me two attempts to get there. Jack Kerouac spent 63 days up there. I got fifteen minutes. A tale of border crossings, wildfire smoke, and the realization you’re in the worst place imaginable to outrun a lightning storm. Get full access to Where in the Wild is Chris? at whereinthewildischris.substack.com/subscribe

What lightning leaves behind. For the last two weeks, I've been talking about lightning. What it's like to ride out a storm from a fire lookout, and what our eyes miss inside a lightning flash. This season, I hunted down three different trees hit by lightning strikes I witnessed from Goat Peak. Come join me to see what happens when lightning hits a tree and what it leaves behind. Get full access to Where in the Wild is Chris? at whereinthewildischris.substack.com/subscribe

What happens inside a lightning flash? During an extraordinary August 2024 storm from Goat Peak, I realized I'd been watching something far more complicated than I understood. This week, we slow lightning down to see what our eyes miss and explore everything happening inside a lightning flash in just a fraction of a second.Visit my substack page, to see the videos and frame-by-frame sequences of some pretty incredible lightning captures. Get full access to Where in the Wild is Chris? at whereinthewildischris.substack.com/subscribe