When I left my life in the office world in 2000, I began a life full of adventure. I started exploring the forests of the Pacific Northwest and gradually focused on Fire Lookout sites. I had an opportunity to visit Iceland in 2007, and that began a series of annual trips to explore that exciting island. Here I share discoveries and observations on both themes, with my current priority the Fire Lookouts of the Olympic Peninsula and Willapa Hills.
Recent Posts
- Publication and Purchase InfoAvailable from these sources:
- EVENTSFUTURE PUBLIC EVENTS: Friday, November 14, 2025. Present a slideshow on EASY HIKES IN GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY at the Hoquiam Public Library, 7 p.m. Hosted by The Olympians Hiking Club. PAST PUBLIC EVENTS: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, March 24, 25, 26,… Read more: EVENTS
- WEATHERWAX LOOKOUT SITE ˗ ALTERNATE ROUTEOVERVIEW This is offered as an easier route than Hike 47 in Lost Fire Lookout Hikes and Histories: Olympic Peninsula and Willapa Hills. Both the hike distance and the elevation gain are substantially reduced from the description in the book;… Read more: WEATHERWAX LOOKOUT SITE ˗ ALTERNATE ROUTE
- MIDSUMMER 2023 – BRIEF UPDATESWeatherwax Lookout Site: The shorter, flatter route to the fire lookout site via FR 2371 is open! This is the route I will use for The Olympians Hiking Club day hike on August 5. Byles Lookout Site: The timber harvest… Read more: MIDSUMMER 2023 – BRIEF UPDATES
- GOLD MOUNTAIN LOOKOUTS – 2023 REVISIONRT Distance: 8 miles High Point: 1760 feet Elevation Gain: 1450 feet Season: All Year Discover Pass is required. HISTORY In 1948 the Washington State Division of Forestry raised a 75-foot Navy surplus steel tower with a small observation cabin… Read more: GOLD MOUNTAIN LOOKOUTS – 2023 REVISION
- SIMPSON LOOKOUT SITE ˗ 2022 HIKE ROUTEHIKE SUMMARY: This hike in the Green Diamond Tree Farm on the Shelton˗Matlock Road in Mason County is behind a gate that is opened for motorized public access during the autumn hunting season. Non˗motorized recreation is allowed year-round, whenever forestry… Read more: SIMPSON LOOKOUT SITE ˗ 2022 HIKE ROUTE
Check out some of these posts
A MONDAY KIND OF ADVENTURE
From December 2015 until December 2017, I had an opportunity to occasionally explore Fort Lewis for the remains of the five fire lookout towers that watched over that area, starting in the 1940s. Four are gone. Goodman Hill Lookout was still standing at that time; its current status is unknown. The essay below describes our…
HINTS FOR BLOGGERS
I went to a regional writers’ conference in September that offered really good ideas for writers who know they should plan to do their own marketing. I know I don’t read everything that is available on the subject of blogging, so there were a lot of new ideas for me. We all know that we…
The Laki Eruption: Island on Fire?
During the second week of January the authors of a new book on the 18th century Laki eruption, Iceland’s most devastating volcanic catastrophe, made two presentations in Seattle. One was at Seattle’s largest independent bookstore, Elliot Bay Book Company, and the other a slideshow talk at Town Hall. One of the authors, Alexandra Witze, is…
THE CAMP WITH THE PINK BUOY
As much as I want to finish this book about Iceland’s volcanoes, I cannot let the glorious summer we are having in the Pacific Northwest go by uncelebrated! I have just spent three days camped at Kayostla Beach on the wild Pacific coast in Olympic National Park. This beach can be reached only by hiking…
Copyright Leslie Romer 2013 – 2021
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