Fire Lookout Challenge Cache

[tomfuller]

Congrats to PMOGUY (Mark) for completing #50 this morning on my "Spring has Sprung" cache SE of LaPine. He now has a long trip to NE Oregon to do the final. Way to go Mark!

[tomfuller]

To anyone planning on starting/completing the Lookout Challenge this year, come up to Spring Butte any day except Wednesday or Thursday. I should be there from Memorial Day on.
Tom Fuller

[tomfuller]

On Sunday I hiked across some snow on the road up Round Mountain. In another two weeks, you'll be able to drive right up to my new cache, but for now it will be a good hike. Round and Round GC1R7HW. I recently found out that Finley Butte had a 60' pole L-4 tower in 1932. If you found the pill bottle up there it should qualify.

[Chief Paulina]

650 miles this weekend and 5 cache finds equals COMPLETION! More later.

[logscaler]

Congratulations !!!

That is a nice long weekend there Chief.

Did you happen to snag out the last coin?

Hunting Lookout caches "May" just spoil you for caching in the rest of the world.

Logscaler

[Chief Paulina]

Quote

"Hunting Lookout caches "May" just spoil you for caching in the rest of the world."

That will be very hard. In the last 18 months, lookout caches have comprised 90+% of my caching. There are enough lookout caches out there, maybe I'll start OFFLC over again.

I had planned to stop by for a visit on my way out but you can imagine my excitement to get on my way. I will be back up there someday soon to do some caches south of there and won't sneak in without tracking you down.

[PMOGUY]

Quote

"Hunting Lookout caches "May" just spoil you for caching in the rest of the world."

That will be very hard. In the last 18 months, lookout caches have comprised 90+% of my caching. There are enough lookout caches out there, maybe I'll start OFFLC over again.

Congrats Chief! Lookout discovery and caching do indeed go hand in hand. I snagged "Top O Straw" south of Prairie City this past weekend and placed a new one just east of Davis Lake on Maiden Peak on Thursday. It is pretty cool standing on these sites and looking around and realizing hey, I have been up there and there, and on that peak over there! We are very lucky to live in a state that has hundreds and hundreds of lookout sites. And when they have been explored there are many more awaiting us in the surrounding states. I will still cache but it will for the most part involve summits that once had lookouts....or of course the Badlands Post Office.

[Chief Paulina]

Hope you guys don't mind a cut and paste. I thought that some of you would be interested.

"Been there, done that!

Falling Star and I completed the long journey yesterday. 3 days and 850 miles (corrected mileage) later, we signed the log and had lunch and a beer at the final coordinates. We circumnavigated the Wallowas counterclockwise, getting outstanding views of the Eagle Cap and Hell's Canyon.

Fittingly, our final qualifying cache was Point Prominence, a WR7X cache. From there, we could see the smoke plume rising above the OFFLC final cache placement. That would have been crazy if we had not been able to complete because of a forest fire.

Looking back, it all started with our first find, Hawk Mtn lookout by Navdog, now archieved. Our second lookout find was 360 view by logscaler and Red. Our first lookout hide was Hash Rock on 5-19-02. Our second was Cinnamon Butte on 8-24-02.

Jackie's favorite is Cache Mountain. I have two, Mt. Ireland and Garwood Butte.

It is a real pleasure to be in the company of logscaler, Red, and PMO guy, people I share a lot of interests with. I don't know CB & BB but am sure that I would enjoy their company. cfm and Bubblegummers are my kind of people also.

Thanks for putting this together and maintaining it for us Rex.

I'll attach some photos."

[Dustydew]

WOW! Congratulations Chief Paulina! What an accomplishment!!
We have been doing lookout caches all summer, but just discovered what the "lookout challenge" was all about. Sooo... now we will have to plan some long trips far-away from southern Oregon to start getting the lookout caches in the other areas. Can't wait!! (But, will probably have to wait until next summer with winter coming soon.. )
Dustydew & Navigator Guy

[bigeddy]

Congrats! Speaking of fires it looks like there is one in your backyard today. Big smoke plume on the horizon east of Bend. Not listed on the fire sites yet.

[Chief Paulina]

Just looks brownish gray from here. Better seen from your vantage. Could it be those prescribed burns they were talking about by the Res?

[Chief Paulina]

WOW! Congratulations Chief Paulina! What an accomplishment!!
We have been doing lookout caches all summer, but just discovered what the "lookout challenge" was all about. Sooo... now we will have to plan some long trips far-away from southern Oregon to start getting the lookout caches in the other areas. Can't wait!! (But, will probably have to wait until next summer with winter coming soon.. )
Dustydew & Navigator Guy

There are some awesome lookouts in this state, not to mention the rest of the NW. It's a big state. Be prepared for some long trips and big gas bills, especially coming from a corner of the state. Good luck and have a lot of fun.

[bigeddy]

Just looks brownish gray from here. Better seen from your vantage. Could it be those prescribed burns they were talking about by the Res?

Yep, that's it. Smoke plume east of Bend from prescribed burn article on KTVZ. To quote:

A tall, dark gray smoke plume east of Bend, visible Tuesday across much of the High Desert, was not a wildfire, but the start of a large (4,600 acres) prescribed burn near West Butte, aimed at reducing wildfire fuels and boosting habitat in the area.

Dispatchers with 911 reported receiving several calls from people worried about what they were seeing, only to learn it was a controlled burn on Bureau of Land Management property about 15 miles south of Prineville, along the Millican Highway and due south of the Juniper Acres subdivision.

The public land is under a temporary closure through Oct. 31... entrance onto BLM lands along the east side of George Millican Road and south of Reservoir Road and west of Juniper acres, will be restricted beginning immediately...

It looks like a couple of caches are in the area: Nothing but Juniper Trees??? (GC1KPMM) and Lil' Stinky (GC1NJ0W). Not so many junipers when the burn is finished!

Besides this fire, there is the 1,500-acre Sanford Creek controlled burn, a mile southeast of Prineville Reservoir, which should contribute to our rosy sunrises.

[tomfuller]

To anyone planning on starting/completing the Lookout Challenge this year, come up to Spring Butte any day except Wednesday or Thursday. I should be there from Memorial Day on.
Tom Fuller

My last day on the tower will be October 10. I also have caches on Round Mt., Odell Butte, East Butte and Bald Mt.
Congrats to Chief Paulina for completing the challenge.
I saw the smoke from the prescribed burn over the top of Paulina Peak. The smoke had to be somewhat over the 8000' mark.

[Chief Paulina]

Congratulations Bubblegummers on your completion of the OFFLC!!!!!!