A new adventure awaited us. It began by flipping the tower sign to "open" before we drove up to our new home away from home on Black Mountain.
For this season, we chose to volunteer at the Black Mountain Fire Lookout Tower.
Since 2013, we scanned the mountains for smoke and fire from the tower on Tahquitz Peak but this year, we made a switch to Black Mountain.
One of the main physical differences between the two towers is that the tower on Tahquitz is an older, shorter wooden structure on an 8,846 ft peak compared to the taller metal tower at 7,772 feet on Black Mountain.
Once inside the cab, they are essentially the same. The Osborne Firefinder is an essential component for determining the location of smoke or fire that is found within a 20-mile radius of the tower. As you can see from the window, our time at the tower included a mighty thunderstorm with heavy rain. Lightning strikes can pose a real threat to the wilderness but fortunately, there were not any impacts during this storm.
Although the two towers are in the same wilderness, the views differ. Some landmarks are familiar but there are plenty of new ones to learn.
Mountain Chickadee
Cassin's Finch
We had plenty of feathered visitors to the tower before...
...and after the rain. It's not easy being a bird!
This was my favorite moment as the sun was setting.
I love rewatching the rainy weather! It's such a welcome sight in the mountains!
I hope you are enjoying your summer!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
