Devil's Peak Lookout

I had another whim to go hiking this past weekend. It was one of those things where I thought, "well I probably won't go hiking Saturday because I have football practice Sunday," but then the weather was really nice… you know how it goes. I did some quick trail research in the only guide book I have, which was published in 1969.

I should note that using a guidebook published nearly 40 years ago is not always a wise idea. A few weeks ago I tried to hike up Silver Star Mountain in Washington. The problem was that the road names had changed. Of course I should have looked online to make sure everything looked the way the book described it, but I was in a hurry to start the hike. Suffice to say that after two hours driving along the Columbia and through the hills outside Washougal, I still couldn't find the right trailhead. I found a trailhead—there was another guy there who was just starting so I asked him if this was the right place. He said he thought so, but that there was also another trailhead a few miles up the road. The problem was that my gas light had been on for about the last ten minutes (because I didn't expect to drive around for two hours before finding the trail). And though my car does pretty well on gravel roads, it takes a lot of gas to drive slowly and carefully around big potholes up steep grades. I laced up my boots and tried that trail, hoping it was the right one, but after about 1-1.5 miles it gave out. I tried another branch that I had passed earlier, but it led to a dead end as well. By that point it was 4:00 PM; I was nearly out of gas and out of time, I was hungry, frustrated, and I needed to get some work done. I went home.

But I learned my lesson. After I read about Devil's Peak in the book, I did some searches online and looked at maps to make sure the roads were there. I'm glad I did because the road names had changed. Devil's Peak is just south of Zigzag along 26 near Mt. Hood; it's easy to get to, but only if you know the right roads to take. The trailhead was not very obvious from the road, but there were a few cars parked there, and somebody pointed me in the right direction. The trailhead was 45 miles from my house, and it took about 90 minutes to drive there. I started the hike at 2:00 PM.

I spoke with a guy who had just finished for a few minutes as I put on my boots. He told me the views were great (though a little hazy that day). He said I was in for quite a climb. I like difficult hikes, but I'll admit I didn't expect the trail to be that steep. For reference, the trail starts at 1840' and ends at 5045'; that's 3205' in about four miles, or an average of 800' elevation gain per mile. A site I found online had this to say:

"The Cool Creek Trail is basically a rugged, steep, narrow, rutted trail that was constructed at a time when the objective was for fire lookouts to get to the top of a ride in the shortest amount of time."

That's a pretty accurate description of the trail. I was sweating and breathing hard after just a few hundred yards, and the switchbacks just kept coming. There were some gorgeous views of Mt. Hood looking north across 26 and up a tree-filled valley, but I wish the air had been a little clearer. I had to stop to catch my breath and stretch my calves a few times on the way up. At 1.5 miles the trail crossed a small spring. I let my dog drink for a few minutes before we started up again. I met one guy and one couple on the way up.

Devil's Peak Lookout is one of only six remaining fire lookout towers in Mt. Hood National Forest. At one time there were over 50, but today the Forest Service mostly monitors the forest from the air. When I hiked up to Bull of the Woods Lookout Tower a few weeks ago there was a small plaque with some history about it, but the tower itself was locked (I put a trip report for that hike at [http://www.adventuretaxi.com]). Devil's Peak Lookout was unlocked so I went in. There was a piece of paper tacked to the wall that gave some history about the tower.

It was originally built in 1924, but the current structure was built in 1952. After the Forest Service stopped using the lookout to watch for fires, it went unused and was heavily vandalized. The Forest Service decided to try a new approach: open the lookout for campers and let them maintain it. If people wouldn't take care of it, the lookout would be torn down. Their plan worked—I found journals going back at least until 1999. I wrote a small bit in the most recent journal. The couple I met on the way up had stayed there the night before, and they were quite excited about how clean it was. They were trying to organize a work party to go up there later this fall with new shutters. I think it'd be great to spend the night up there sometime and wake up with a light dusting of snow and a full view of Mt. Hood right there. My guide book says that on clear days you can see Portland and the Coast Range.

I went up Cool Creek Trail to get to the lookout, but you can also hike an eight-mile trail from the Zigzag Ranger Station. Hunchback Ridge Trail goes from the Ranger Station, up to Devil's Peak, then down to the Sherar Burn Road.

I think it took me about 2.5 hours to hike up to the lookout. I sat in the sun and ate crackers and drank lots of water while my shirt dried, then I started back down. My knees were screaming at me by the time I finished. My round trip took four hours, and it took me about 75 minutes to get back to my house. I'm definitely going back there sometimes—maybe I'll park at the Ranger Station and hike the Hunchback Ridge Trail.