338 



. Canadian Forestry Journal, January, ipi6. 



FOREST FIRE STATION ON MOUNT HOOD 



During the summer of 1915 an in- 

 novation in the work of fighting fires 

 in the national forests was brought 

 about by the installation of a fire 

 observatory on the summit of Mt. 

 Hood, one of the live highest moun- 

 tains of the Pacific Northwest. Mt. 

 Hood stands 11,225 ft. above sea 

 level, and even in midsummer the 

 weather conditions at the summit 

 are at most times severe. The estab- 

 lishment of the station was largely 

 an experiment on the part of the 

 U. S. government, there having been 

 a great deal of doubt before the ex- 

 periment was tried as to whether an 

 observer could stand, for an entire 

 season, the lonely existence, the high 

 altitude, and the storms. This point 

 was conclusively settled by a moun- 

 tain guide whom the government 

 employed as an observer. This 

 guide, who had already made 350 

 ascents of the mountain, succeeded 

 in establishing a camp on the sum- 

 mit and spent the entire summer 

 there in comparative comfort. So 

 successful did the experiment prove 

 that toward the end of the season 

 the government built a wooden ob- 

 servatory building on the summit. 

 This building will serve as perman- 

 ent quarters for the Forest Service, 

 and in addition to this, will be used 

 as an observatory for the United 

 States Weather Bureau. As a result 

 of the satisfactory outcome of the 

 experiment, plans have also . been 

 made for the installation during the 

 year 1916 of a number of other 

 snow-peak observatories. 



When it came to establishing the 

 fire observatory on the summit of 

 Mt. Hood, the work of getting the 

 necessary equipment and supplies to 

 the top proved to be a big undertak- 

 ing. Above the 6.000-ft. level the 

 mountain is continually covered 

 with snow, while the slopes are so 

 steep and treacherous as to tax the 

 resources of the most skillful moun- 



tain climber. There are two routes 

 to the summit, one up the south side 

 of the mountain and the other up 

 the northeast side. Just below the 

 summit, on each of the routes, where 

 the slopes are particularly steep and 

 perilous, a steel cable has been an- 

 chored to the mountain side, and it 

 is only with this tliat the climb can 

 be made with any degree of safety. 

 The cable on the south route is 800 

 ft. long, and that on the northeast 

 route, 1,800 ft. long. The 4,000 lb. 

 of material required for the camp 

 was taken up the south route. Pack 

 mules were used for transporting it 

 up the mountain side and across 2^ 

 miles of the snow zone to the 8,000- 

 ft. level. From this point the climb 

 was too steep and dangerous for this 

 mode of transportation, and the ma- 

 terial was carried the remainder of 

 the way to the summit on the backs 

 of the observer and an assistant. 

 At the summit there is a scant two 

 acres of fairly level snow-covered 

 ground with little in the way of 

 mounds or depressions to furnish 

 shelter. Even in midsummer the 

 temperature sometimes drops nearly 

 to zero. To resist the high winds, 

 the tent, 12 ft. square, was not only 

 securely guyed but was heavily 

 weighted around the sides. It was 

 provided with a double floor. A 

 comfortable bed of Hudson Bay 

 blankets and a sleeping bag, a liberal 

 stock of food, instruments for mak- 

 ing observations, and a few books, 

 constituted the living and working 

 equipment of the observer. With the 

 pioneer work done, the transporting 

 of material for the permanent wood- 

 en building at the summit was car- 

 ried out with less uncertainty and 

 danger. 



The Journal is indented to "Popu- 

 lar Mechanics Magazine" for the 

 cuts appearing on opposite page as 

 for the text of the description. 



