The Sourdough Mountain Lookout is a fire lookout that was built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

in 1933. Constructed atop Sourdough Mountain in

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in Washington (state), Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the No ...

, in the

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, the lookout was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1989. An earlier lookout was erected at the site in 1917 but was torn down when the current lookout was constructed. The current structure was built atop a rock foundation and is by square. The walls are composed of shiplap siding and the structure is covered with a wood-shingled hip roof. Diagonally-braced plywood shutters could be swung open for observation in each direction. The structure is no longer used on a regular basis but is visited with some frequency by hikers and it is a hike to the cabin from the trailhead. During the summer of 1953, poet

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

worked at the location as a fire lookout while his friend and fellow poet

Philip Whalen Philip Glenn Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation. Biography Born in Portland, Oregon, Whalen grew up in The Dalles f ...

worked at Sauk Mountain Lookout.''Beat Culture Lifestyles, Icons, and Impact'' edited by William Lawlor, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005 page 241. Snyder's poem "Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout" is based on his time there as is his poem "August on Sourdough, A Visit from Dick Brewer." Snyder's time at Sourdough Mountain Lookout is said to have provided the "seed experience for the poetry he is best known for: language full of the raw, playful wit that reflects the granite ridges where he worked and watched and wrote." Two years later Snyder was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

by the Forest Service from working another season at Sourdough Mountain so Whalen took his place as the lookout. While there Whalen wrote "Sourdough Mountain Lookout," one of his "most enduring poems." The poem references Whalen's work as a lookout along with "musings on rocks, insects, animals, and weather." In August 2023, the lookout was wrapped in fire-proof material to mitigate potential damage caused by the nearby Sourdough Fire.

References

External links

"Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout" by Gary Snyder

"August on Sourdough, A Visit from Dick Brewer" by Gary Snyder

"Sourdough Mountain Lookout" by Philip Whalen
{{National Register of Historic Places Fire lookout towers on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Towers completed in 1933 Buildings and structures in Whatcom County, Washington Aircraft Warning Service National Register of Historic Places in North Cascades National Park Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Whatcom County, Washington 1933 establishments in Washington (state)