Winchester Lookout
This weekend my friend Skyler and I took a trip up to Winchester Fire Lookout, an historic fire lookout north of Mt. Baker highway on top of Winchester mountain up here in Washington State (see map below). I hadn’t gotten to go backcountry skiing in a few weeks and I was itching to get out, even if the conditions looked a little iffy due to warm weather and tons of new, unconsolidated snow (and I don’t mean powder).
We tried to hike into the Lookout after classes on Friday afternoon, but we didn’t realize that five miles of the road was still covered by snow. Per Dawson family tradition I chained up the Cherokee, but was only able to hog a few hundred yards.
Winchester Lookout and Mount Baker.
So we slogged till eleven o’clock, and finally camped on a ridge a few miles away from the lookout. I sent my dad a Spot OK message from there, I wonder what he thought? The next day we planned to ski Mt. Larabee, but the snow didn’t want to freeze that night, so we got to the base of Larabee and headed back up to the Lookout. We hung out for the rest of the day and enjoyed the panoramic views from our perch on top of Winchester mountain.
Brush hiking: We thought we would take a shortcut up this grassy hill to get on the ridge that connects to Winchester Mountain. It turned out to be waist high bushes, not grass, it wasn’t a shortcut either.
Our bivy the first night. Brrr. At least it didn't rain!
There are a number of these old fire lookouts in these mountains, Winchester is operated as a hut by the Mount Baker Club. The lookouts are usually located on the highground, with amazing views available through 360 degrees of glass walls. I’ve heard some are surrounded by excellent backcountry skiing terrain, as Winchester is. The Lookout isn’t heated, but has a propane cookstove. In a climate such as the Cascades, you appreciate a roof and four walls — heat or not!
Goat mountain: One of the amazing views out of Winchester Lookout. We were going to ski goat mountain, the peak in the center, if the snow solidified the second night.
We stayed the night and slept in, after waking up early and realizing the temp had not dropped below 35 degrees all night. We headed back in time to catch lunch at the WWU dining hall and finish up some homework.
Our kitchen even had a propane stove, deluxe!
Winchester Lookout, with Canadian Border Peak (left), American Border Peak, and mount Larabee. Canadian border runs just on the other side of American Border Peak. Nice border station, you check in by presenting your climbing skins to the customs officer?
(All photos by Skyler)
Louie Dawson earned his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design from Western Washington University in 2014. When he’s not skiing Mount Baker or somewhere equally as snowy, he’s thinking about new products to make ski mountaineering more fun and safe.
