The Zen of a Wilderness Fire Lookout: Chop Wood .. Haul Water
The wood is obvious. The water is in the brown cubies behind me on the lookout catwalk. Each cubie holds 5 gallons of water, at 8#/gal. (40 pounds). I hauled them all up the trail from the truck-park .. at almost 10,000 feet. There are 15 cubies, not all in the photo.
I lost over 20 pounds this fire season. I am in better shape than I have been in years. I feel great! I am 72.
After a fire season in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, with no TV and scant news (my choice), I emerged with one question: "Who is the President now?"
DemoTex
= new reply since forum marked as read
Although a LOT of jealousy on my part!
Air gets thin at 10,000 feet. I used to live in those higher elevations. And I wasn't chopping wood at the age of 72.
To DemoTex 
The shitter finally toppled. I had a "business bucket" in the lookout. The bio-degradeable poop bags went into the pit at the derelict outhouse. Wilderness life.
BTW: Couple of times some visitors came up, on RZRs. Grimaced outside the lookout (many USFS signs restricting access due to COVID-19), and asked if they could - possibly - use the bathroom inside the lookout.
Bwaa - haa - haaa -haaa!
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I would love to hear more about daily life in the tower, and see more photos like this one 
Everyone enjoys your posts so much- I would love to read a book about your adventures!
Thank you for sharing them!
One thing I learned about the FCWRNR is that once you spend a summer there, you're never quite the same afterward. When I had to go home the first time, I cried all the way from Challis to my hometown at the time. It was such a moving experience to be in the wilderness, nothing can compare.
I spent my off days in Challis. I absolutely LOVE that crazy little town: the Murder Motel, Shyla's, the Pioneer Motel & RV Park, and .. of course .. Bux's Place (on the National Register of Historic Places).
Stanley? High-end California this summer.
Bux's Place at Dawn
Challis, Idaho
I am fortunate to have run the middle fork on a private trip years ago. It was extremely high water and my friend who had guided the the river a dozen times or more said she never had seen it so high. We also got to run the Lochsa on that same trip, and went back a few years later to run Selway. All private trips with our own boats. Great times!
Idaho is gorgeous, but it does have a lot of crazies (I am from Michigan now, was living in CO at the time of my trips, so we obviously have a bunch here, too 🤪
. We stayed in Salmon, which was pretty cool. Stanley is the home of one of my favorite bands, Reckless Kelly, but they claim Austin as home now.
I always love reading your posts, and your photos! Stay safe and thanks for your work!
