The top photo was taken from the Heaven’s Gate Vista parking area. When I parked my car I was at 8,225 feet of elevation. The Lookout you see is at 8,400 feet. It is staffed full time by two people who actually live underneath it.
The original lookout was destroyed by fire in 1958. The structure you see here was built in 1978. As you can see from the photos, the top of this mountain suffered a wildfire, the Green Acres Fire, in 2006 although the lookout itself was spared because it is surrounded by a large open area of rock.
I walked up the 2 mile path to the tower (oh… wait…. it’s only .2 miles. It only felt like 2 miles because of the altitude!) and spent about an hour talking to the folks who staff it. They have a full 360 degree view of the area and are constantly monitoring the landscape for new fires.
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