I have just returned from a rejuvenating getaway with the best person I could think of to spend three days alone in a fire lookout tower with…myself. I rented Bald Knob Fire Lookout for the weekend, and set off with my books, my banjo, wool and needlefelting tools, the makings for delicious meals, and some Laphroaig single-malt scotch. I had been on several fire lookout trips before, discovering the Forest Service recreation rentals program through a long journey involving reading the fire lookout tower inspired works of Beat Poets when I was a young adult, discovering my first fire lookout tower on a road trip with a friend in Montana one summer, deciding I wanted to work for the Forest Service one day so I could staff a lookout during fire seasons, and then finding this great book called “How to Rent a Fire Lookout Tower in the Pacific Northwest” by Tish McFadden and Tom Foley. I wrote a blog post about it last year that you can read here:
Bald Knob Lookout had become my favorite, and I had returned for a few trips over the last several years, but always with family and friends. In fact, I realized that I hadn’t done a trip where I was truly all alone since I went backpacking up the Dungeness River in December when I was 19. And that was just for one night. Had I ever been really alone for three days? Could I spend three days alone with myself and my thoughts? What would that be like? Honestly, I was a little intimidated by the whole idea. It was an intriguing thing to think about, and I concluded that it was probably good for me. So, on a Thursday after I was done working, I set off on my solitary adventure.
I arrived at sunset and got unloaded and unpacked in my room with a view, walked out onto the balcony and discovered a bear rooting around in the bushes right next to my car where I had just been unloading not 5 minutes ago! Having already shown down and scared off a bear on my backpacking trip with the kids in June, and knowing that I was up in a tall tower with a door I could close over the stairway, I felt perfectly safe, but it was still a bit of a thrill. Then I settled in with my baguette, brie and Bordeaux dinner and started to think about what I was going to do with all this time and all these thoughts for three days. I decided to read first. I finished two books by noon the first day. I never got bored, finding plenty to do the entire time, and even surprised myself on a few occasions with short stories that wanted to be written down and a felted wool wall hanging I hadn’t thought of making. I think it’s important that we always remain capable of surprising ourselves.
I always enjoy locating peaks on the map with the Osborne fire finder. The Forest Service still uses many of these lookouts in the fire season and in emergency situations, so most are still equipped with equipment.
The fog settled in to the valleys every morning and gave the appearance of water flowing over the ridge lines and peaks. One day the cloud level rose to the peak I was on, and bits of cloud floated by the windows.
The first morning I watched the sun peek up over the mountains to the East, which is one of my favorite parts of sleeping in a lookout tower. You get the full spectacular display of the sunrise and sunset, unless that is you are fogged in which was the case Saturday morning. But, on those days, when the fog lifts in the afternoon, it’s a real treat to see the mountains again.
I had many peaceful mealtimes at the little table by beeswax candlelight. With a propane oven and range, I was able to make some pretty tasty dishes. My favorite was butternut squash ravioli in a nutmeg cream sauce with caramelized onions and boudin blanc sausage. I made buttermilk biscuits one morning too, which were fluffy wondrous things with melted butter and salaalberry jam. I was also quite proud of my innovation of chocolate mousse in a quart mason jar. I simply shook the schizzle out of it for a good 8 minutes and let it set up in the fridge. Who needs a mixer when you’ve got a mason jar?
I kept busy with reading, felting, cooking, banjo playing and writing, but I made sure to spend a lot of quiet moments just looking out at the mountains and soaking them in.
I learned during my stay at Bald Knob that solitude is golden. There is so much to do in the world, and so many people to know and talk to, that time truly spent alone with ourselves is often a rare thing. I learned that I have much to gain from solitude, and that I need to make more time for it. I am starting to think that a weekend retreat alone could become a yearly occurrence that I would welcome gladly. After all, who could be better to get to know really well in life than ourselves? Thoreau was onto something.
That sounds just wonderful! The FS has some cabins in our area, but none possess such a view!