There is nothing quite like watching the sun rise and set from a fire lookout tower on a mountain peak. Having stayed in several across various forested parts of Western Oregon, I decided it was time to visit the drier side of the state, and booked two nights in Fall Mountain Lookout near John Day at the edge of the Strawberry Wilderness. My adventure partner and I headed out from our McKenzie River homestead on a Saturday morning, and after a growler fill station stop in Bend to bring along some Elysian peppercorn ale, we were off on another adventure.
We arrived in the early evening after visiting a winemaking friend, David Hamilton at his winery in Mt. Vernon. He travels around the Northwest making sulfite free wines from wild fruits, old pioneer orchards, and even more unusual ingredients like pomegranate, kiwi and wild rose petals. He gave us a tour of his expansion in a historic building on the corner, and gave some samples of new wines. If you’re ever passing through on highway 26, David Hamilton Winery is well worth a stop.
It was great to just unpack, settle in and begin two days of relaxation. We brought tasty food to cook, good beer to drink, books to read, and even some episodes of Deadwood to watch on the laptop. We had all the makings for a rustic retreat.
This was the first lookout tower I had stayed in with electricity, which made cooking a breeze. We had delicious breakfasts of fresh baked biscuits and gravy, and delicious dinners of fajitas and enchiladas.
We got out to explore the historical highlights of John Day, including the Kam Wah Chung Building from the gold rush days, and a stop by poet Joaquin Miller’s cabin.
There were plenty of nature’s simple delights to take in, like birds nest I don’t often see in our region.
And some beautiful, and unfamiliar wildflowers.
We also had the opportunity to view our first wildfire from a lookout tower. It was across the valley, and well under control of the local firefighters, who had it mostly out by our last morning, but it seemed very fitting to watch the progression of a fire from our vantage point once exclusively to spot them across the Northwest.
And then there were the sunsets to watch every evening.
Every direction had a skyline vista of different colors that changed as the sun progressed on it’s course. Reds, oranges and yellows in the West were offset by blues and purples in the East. I could never get tired of watching the sky in a lookout tower.
And with the busy hustle and bustle of our Summer comings and goings, the relaxation time was golden.
What an amazing place to sleep. I'm intrigued by your meal of biscuits and gravy. Is it a meat gravy? and are the biscuits cooked on their own in the pan or is there something underneath?
Your friends winery looks fantastic. I'm thinking of trying my hand at winemaking next year. Do you think he does international orders? I think I might like to treat myself to a bottle or two.
The gravy was vegetarian for my partner, and normally I do it from scratch, but we bought a mix from the store for our trip. I bake biscuits in my cast iron skillet in the oven all the time and it works great! I am pretty sure David will ship anywhere, so send him an email. His wine is a good treat.