foggy trees
Fog and a wet snow greeted us when we reached Billy-Bob Sno Park, where we would begin the hike up to Five Mile Butte Fire Lookout. We got to the start of the trail later than expected due to poor weather conditions during the drive, pushing our scheduled time of arrival to just before dark--not so great considering we needed to climb up a 40 foot tower and get wood for a fire.
Casey snowshoeing his way up
we arrive!
We were pleased to find when we entered the fire lookout that the previous night's visitors had stocked us with enough wood to last throughout the night. Yay! The small lookout quickly warmed up and we were roasted in 80+ degree F temps for the remainder of the night. I got little sleep that night between keeping the fire going and the excitement of being there. I kept hoping that the clouds would clear to expose the snow covered ground around us, but with no such luck. This worried me that we would be socked in for the next day as well and miss out on seeing the Cascade peaks that I knew were somewhere lurking very close by.
casey warming by the fire
morning sun!
five mile butte sign
Morning presented us with a different side than the gray scenery we had seen the day before. A pallet of pastels with silhouettes of evergreens filled the 360 views of the lookout and we even had a few glimpses of Mt Hood and Mt Adams!
ahhh...so pleasant
pastels
up high
looking north at mt adams poking through the clouds
mt hood!
casey warm inside
view of mt. hood from the cabin
the stove
home for the night
hauling up wood!
snowshoeing out
yay for snow!
