Apache Maid Lookout Sep 09
HIke to a fire lookout south of Stoneman Lake
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APACHE MAID LOOKOUT
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Hiking up the access road to the fire lookout
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Dry meadows and an empty cattle tank far below
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Olivia explains how her lookout works
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This lookout is a "12 x 12" foot style, 30' high
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A Forest Service utility truck
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Other fire watchers gather to honor a retired comrade
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We climb the tower
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Most of a wathcer's work time is spent outside on this catwalk
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A view from the top
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here is no electricity in the tower, just propane for the stove and heater...
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...and solar for the radios
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The Osborne instrument is for getting the bearing of a fire
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The radios
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This stool protects a watcher from lightning during storms
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A bearing taken on a fire...
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...combined with a bearing to the same fire from another tower allows the range to be fixed.
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One of olivia's fellow wathcers explains use of the fold-down map
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One of the functions of the map os to convert the degree bearings and mile ranges of a fire to land survey terms for bthe ground teams
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Periodically, the Osborne must be corrected to true north...
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...by making sure that the bearing to other visible lookouts match known values.
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Presenting the retirement award
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Fire watchers get a rare chance to go from being voices on the radio to meeting in person
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But outside, we see a storm approaching - time to leave
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This hand-operated pump supplies the water
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We head back down
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...then off the mountain
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Our group shot
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As we descend, we watch the storm build
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It hits just as we reach the cars
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