Mockingbird Lookout March 26, 2019

Today I got to see what Mockingbird Lookout looks like in the daylight!  You see, it was this Lookout where I rang in 2019!  Back then we hiked up in the dark, celebrated in the dark and hiked down in the dark. When the opportunity was put out there to do this hike today, there was no himmming nor hummming, I jumped on board.  I wanted to see what this place was made off!  It is a a lovely lookout with of course a 360 degree view.  We had a beautiful day to experience it but it was windy.     

The route up is a dirt road.  It was clear in areas with hard packed snow for some stretches.  

This sign indicates we only have a couple more minutes left to our hike up.  We skirted to the right of that fence you can see mid photo on the right.  That allowed us to avoid climbing over the closed gate that is lined with barbwire.

We approached the Lookout at a different direction from the night of the 31st.  

This is the initial view.    

The others stopped to admire the scenery right away but I went straight up to the Mockingbird Hill Fire Lookout.  I like everything about Lookouts just like I love everything about Lighthouses.  There is just something about them!

Talk about vistas!  Mountain peaks stretched the entire length of our view.  

I captured this photo from the Lookout balcony.

We were all circling the property taking in the full 360 degrees of scenery.  I was figuring out where I would like to be for my destination photo.  I like this spot the best.  No one was home yet but that could change soon.  When it does, being this close will be off limits.

We picked our lunch spot and there was no where up here that you could pick where you would not have a view.  The best place though was being up close against the wall of the Lookout sheltered from the wind.  The outhouse just so happened to be a part of the view on the windless sheltered side.

view in another direction

Within about the 45 minutes or so we spent at Mockingbird Lookout, some snow had melted and some mud had formed.  We went for a bit of off trail on the descent.  I took one last look back and then it was forward march to the bottom.

This is the best time of year to be here which is a weekday early season.  Soon the Lookout Person will be home, being close up will then be off limits.  ATV & Side-By-Side sportsters will soon be frequenting the surrounding area interrupting the peace and quiet.  As has been the case these past few weeks, I got to make new friends and catch up with old ones today while out enjoying our playground.