Tagging along with a friend who is a volunteer with the Snoqualmie Fire Lookout Association was an amazing experience at Suntop Fire Lookout! Our shift was from 12:00 noon to 12:00 noon when another volunteer took over. We were blessed with this incredible dry weather streak and clear skies which had incredible views 24 hours a day. Visitors during our shift hiked up, ran up biked up and came by car! The reasons for wanting to visit Suntop Lookout varied and we had some great conversations with all visitors. One surprise for us was a small wedding party (without a required permit) showed up at 7:45PM to take their vows at sunset with Rainier in the background. That group relocated their vehicles down the mountain to the parking area 1+miles from the lookout so we could lock the gate by 8:00PM. Others taking in the sunset and star gazing were also hanging out. The last to leave was the wedding party who stayed until 10:00PM and then walked back down to their vehicles. Early risers walked up at 5:50 to catch early morning sunrise. You’re not on duty from 8:00PM - 8:00AM but you sort of feel that responsibility to be aware of any situation that might arise. Your duties as a volunteer are: 1) hiking to the lookouts with all needed equipment 2) observing the local area for signs of smoke, 3) talking on the radio to Snoqualmie Dispatch, 3) carrying out cleaning and minor repairs 4) interacting with the public 5) responding to emergencies. For more information visit:
https://www.snoqualmielookouts.org/membership. Suntop is the only fire lookout you can drive to so it made it much easier to bring extra water and supplies up to the lookout. The association is making the lookout ADA accessible and work will be complete when a missing section of the ramp will be completed this coming week! An additional duty here is opening and closed the gate on FS road 7315 (about a mile downhill from the lookout) at 8:00AM - 8:00PM. We walked down in the morning to open the gate and saw grouse, a rabbit, pika and heard a few song birds in the distance. Wildflowers are at their peak around the lookout and close up meadows. A few hornets are in the area of the lookout, we were not really bothered by mosquitoes. This opportunity was perfect for me after a recent knee injury which has kept me off the trails, but allowed me to be in nature at a beautiful location. Another amazing experience out in nature!
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