Flag Point Lookout - 12/26-12/27/2023

[teachpdx]

When the whole six month block of reservations for Flag Point dropped earlier this year, I finally succeeded at booking a night at a fire lookout. I took my bestie and my brother to join me for my birthday and a full moon.

I fully expected and planned for this hike to be on snowshoes, but with the dearth of mountain snow this year it was a relatively straightforward road walk the whole way. 10.2 miles, right around 2000' elevation gain from the start of the trek at Billy Bob Sno-Park on FR 44 near Camp Baldwin.

The walk took us west on FR 44 and then south on 4420 to Fifteenmile Campground, and just beyond we spotted these very, very fresh bear prints crossing the road.

There were numerous other prints of rabbit, coyote, maybe bobcat as well? The inch or two of fresh snow highlighted every footprint.

The snow only started to have any kind of depth beyond the crossing of Jordan Creek on Flag Point Road, but it was easily manageable. There was a light crust of freezing rain on top of the snow and our footsteps were loud. The ice increased the final mile to the lookout, and we found it shrouded in fog.

We set up, got a fire going (it took a couple hours for the wood stove to warm the place up to 60), and relaxed as night fell.

At first the fog cleared enough to see a distant ridgeline, and then all of a sudden the moon was on full display.

And then it was the mountain's turn, peeking out from behind the clouds.

The wind picked up as the clouds cleared further, but it was still surprisingly quiet... no wind whistling through the rails, just a gentle swaying and an occasional sound in the stove flue. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the entire lookout and we functioned for hours with no additional light.

Later on a sleet shower passed over, pinging against the single-pane windows and lulling us to sleep.

We awoke the next morning between two cloud layers, with a sliver of sunlight appearing only for a moment. There was freezing fog below us and we could see ice coating the trees lower down the mountain.

We made a full breakfast of bacon and eggs on the gas stove and had a slow morning packing up, taking in the ever-changing views and hoisting up firewood to replace what we had burned earlier.

The first couple miles of the trek down was much icier than the day before... nearly enough for me to don the microspikes but in the end they weren't necessary. At the base of Flag Point Road we passed a ranger driving up to the lookout and that was the only other person we saw on the whole trip. We booked it back through a fresh coating of snow, following our own footsteps and making the 10.2 mile return in only 3h15.

Overall I would highly recommend a lookout stay if you haven't before... it was pretty epic.

[retired jerry]

Thanks for the trip report

What did you do for drinking water?

I used to camp at 15 mile campground and walk up to the lookout

[teachpdx]

What did you do for drinking water?

We packed up 4L each, and then had a filter in case we needed to melt snow but it wasn't necessary. It was plenty for one night.

[kdechant]

Thanks for the info. That's very useful. I have the lookout reserved for a couple days next week, and I was wondering how hard it is to get up there.

[skyline]

How funny! That's our silver Subaru in the first photo. We stayed at Fivemile Butte Lookout from Dec 25 to 27, and when we returned on the 27th, I wondered if the vehicle parked next to ours belonged to folks who had gone to Flag Point. Mystery solved.

Re: drinking water at Flag Point during low snow conditions, there are two seasonal springs on either side of Flag Point. When I was there in late November this year, the easier-to-access spring (Sunset Spring) appeared to still be dry, but I would imagine that it's flowing by now. I was pressed for time and didn't look very hard for it, but my memory from a trip there in spring 2016 is that it's fairly easy to find. Sunset Spring is about one mile from the lookout.

The other spring (Sunrise Spring) is much trickier to locate and located in an area with a lot of deadfall. Be very cautious in looking for it, especially in icy conditions like right now.

kdechant, if you're looking for a shorter journey by foot next week, you might consider driving south from Dufur on 197 and cutting east through the town of Friend. The road isn't plowed past the National Forest boundary (8.7 miles from the lookout), but considering current conditions and the upcoming forecast, I suspect you would comfortably be able to drive most of the way to the turnoff to Flag Point road, which is only about 3.4 miles from the lookout. That said, if there's any chance of heavy snow during your trip, keep that in mind as you could return to a very snowed-in car.

I'll be heading back to Flag Point in two weeks, and am assuming/hoping that winter will have arrived by then and that I'll be doing most if not all of the 8.7 miles on foot.

Great details on both routes here: https://theguide.io/articles/flag-point-fire-lookout

[retired jerry]

Ahhh... I was confusing five mile lookout with flag point lookout. I now see there are two lookouts from Billy Bob sno Park.

I've camped and hiked all over around there. Nice area. I was on badger creek and little badger creek a couple weeks ago

[teachpdx]

kdechant, if you're looking for a shorter journey by foot next week, you might consider driving south from Dufur on 197 and cutting east through the town of Friend. The road isn't plowed past the National Forest boundary (8.7 miles from the lookout), but considering current conditions and the upcoming forecast, I suspect you would comfortably be able to drive most of the way to the turnoff to Flag Point road, which is only about 3.4 miles from the lookout. That said, if there's any chance of heavy snow during your trip, keep that in mind as you could return to a very snowed-in car.

There were fresh tire tracks on the morning of the 26th all the way to the lookout and back, on top of the snow/sleet that fell on the 25th, so it is currently drivable all the way to the top via Friend. Likely a ranger headed up to check on things... another ranger was driving up as we were leaving, but they came over from Parkdale.

Outside of Friend, do they not have a seasonal closure to motor vehicles like they do on 44 just beyond Billy Bob?

And yeah, we had debated going up out of Friend... but even though it is a bit shorter from the NF boundary it's around 500' more elevation gain than from Billy Bob.

[skyline]

Outside of Friend, do they not have a seasonal closure to motor vehicles like they do on 44 just beyond Billy Bob?

That's a good question. My memory from 2016 before Flag Point was taken out of the rental program is that the road east of Friend is not gated in the winter (perhaps because it generally receives so much less traffic than 44). But that would certainly be worth asking the Dufur Ranger Station.

teachpdx, did you happen to notice if there's a larger, soup-size pot at the lookout that would useful for melting snow? I don't recall seeing one back in November and am considering donating one when I return in mid-January, as it's kind of a pain in the neck to try to melt enough snow for multiple people using small pots and a tea kettle.

[dayhiker]

Happy Bday, maybe next year for me, the 27th, had steak instead!

[wnshall]

Those bear tracks are fantastic! Looks like a great trip.