I was browsing my lookout list the other day and found an opening on Tuesday December 9th for Clear Lake Cabin lookout. I pulled the trigger without much thought. I’m pretty glad I did.
Clear Lake Lookout is a pretty sought after rental so I’m stoked I was able to snag it. The journals are filled with wonderful stories from folks who have stayed there. I won’t be sharing them. If you want to enjoy these journals you have to hike up there. Deal with it. The journal entries in this specific lookout are pretty amazing.
The trip up there was in quite a bit of rain. I was mildly drenched by the time I got to the lookout. A quick fire took care of the moist situation. This storm is so warm that I was never cold on the way up, despite being in shorts. It only took me 45 minutes to get up there. Most of that was 33 minutes of pushing my bike up a hill.
I spent most of my time reading the journals, doing chores, and relaxing. There wasn’t much of a view to enjoy but the wind made up for that. The lookout was moving in the wind quite a bit. According to other journal entries the wind usually keeps people from sleeping. It put me right to sleep. I woke up every few hours to put a log on the fire and pee, but otherwise I slept so well.
The chores I did were a little more than I usually have to do. The previous folks left the sink clogged so I took care of that. There is a leak over the cartography table so I put down a plastic bag and then found a bunch of pots to catch the drips. I also swept, cleaned the wood/stove area, and cleaned the counters. Then the woodshed got swept. I made a bunch of kindling and hauled up a bunch of wood. The next folks should be all set. I also left an apple in the fridge. Someone else left lactaid milk in the fridge.
On the way out I ran into Ranger Steven(Stephen?). He asked me about the leak and the monoxide detector. I let him know I put the plastic and pots out. He agreed they can’t really fix the leak until spring. So folks will just have to deal.
I’m splitting the media up for this one into photos and videos. There are quite a few of each. The last video is 8 minutes long, so you’ve been warned.
This post has a song called Northsiders by Christian Lee Hutson and Ur Name On a Grain of Rice by Runnner
Clear Lake Cabin Lookout
