Olallie Mountain

By Cheryl Hill

I bat at another spiderweb with my hiking pole. It’s not a full-blown web, just one of those single strands that I frequently encounter across trails. I’ve run into several of them this morning, which means I’m the first hiker of the day to pass this way. I wave my poles in front of me as I walk, fully realizing that anyone who passes me on the trail will think I’m crazy. Fine with me, because another person on the trail ahead of me means no more webs.
 
I spot an old ceramic insulator up in a tree. I see these from time to time along trails and roads. Back when guard stations and lookouts were connected by telephone lines, these insulators were everywhere. But with radios (and now cell phones), those old phone lines are gone now, as well as most of the lookouts that relied on them. But not all of them, for I am hiking to one today.
 
Tucked away in the northwest corner of the Three Sisters Wilderness is an 82-year-old lookout on Olallie Mountain. From the Pat Saddle Trailhead it is a 3.5-mile hike to reach the lookout. On the way up I pass through a lush green meadow and think of bears. A little bit ago I ran into a trio of backpackers who told me that another group of hikers saw a bear here the day before. I know bears want to avoid humans, and the feeling is mutual, so I am glad that I see no sign of one. I don’t see people either. Except for the backpacker trio, I seem to have the trail to myself, which is quite a difference the popular trail to Green Lakes on the other side of the wilderness.
 
Just after hiking through a lovely patch of wildflowers, I reach the summit and am immediately faced with stunning views in almost every direction. I love getting up high and getting a lay of the land. I can spend many happy hours with a map and a view, identifying all the landmarks around me.
 
Since it is only July 5, the haze and wildfire smoke of late summer has yet to settle in and the sky is crystal clear and a stunning shade of blue. To my left I can see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and Three Fingered Jack. To my right I can see 8,744’ Diamond Peak. And dead ahead to the east are the Three Sisters and Broken Top, still mostly covered in snow. It is a sight to behold. But best of all is the huge stretch of pristine forest laid out at my feet.
 
At 281,190 acres, the Three Sisters Wilderness is Oregon’s second-largest wilderness (the largest being the Eagle Cap Wilderness). Along with eight other Oregon wilderness areas, it was one of the first to be established in 1964. Logging isn’t allowed in designated wilderness which means my view doesn’t include a patchwork of missing trees, a rare treat in the clearcut-riddled Cascade Mountains.
 
Behind me, to the west, is the French Pete Creek watershed, a controversial place during the 1970s when preservationists were trying to save it from logging. They succeeded and the watershed was added to the Three Sisters Wilderness. I can see the fate it might have had, though, for Indian Ridge (which is outside the wilderness boundary) is visible through the gap and it is covered in clearcuts.
 
I check out the inside of the old lookout and find a weathered old visitor logbook. Several people hiked up here the day before on the 4th of July. Flipping back through the pages, I’m actually surprised how many visitors have come here so far this year.
 
The lookout hasn’t been staffed in many years and therefore no longer receives any maintenance. Volunteers shored up the west wall a few years back, but now the lower east wall is sagging a bit and some of the shutters have fallen off of the windows. The paint is peeling both inside and out. I’m saddened to see it in such a bad state. I take hope in the fact that it is not unheard of for lookouts in wilderness areas to live on with the help of volunteers (the Devils Peak Lookout in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness comes to mind).
 
I enjoy the quiet solitude for awhile until other hikers start trickling in. I soak up the views for as long as I can, then gather up my pack and my poles and head down the trail.

Photo Credits
Photos by Cheryl Hill