I live for the holidays because they’re the best time to visit local hot spots. So while most people were opening presents, we checked out Heybrook Lookout. It was another hitchhiking trip for the newbie, as seen during yesterday’s outing.
See more trip photos here.
Heybrook Lookout at a Glance
Access: Heybrook Lookout Trailhead
Round Trip: 2.1 miles
Elevation Range: 840′-1720′
Gear: none
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Heybrook Lookout Trail
There was one other car in the lot when we arrived in the early morning. I thought we were early! The hike up to the lookout is relatively short. So we could make it back down before the crowds showed up. Then as we were leaving, the party of the other vehicle came down. The couple also had two dogs with them. So we chatted while they said hi to the newbie.
Soon, we were going up the steep part of the hike. Once we walked past the fourth switch, terrain then became more moderate. Before long, we were standing on the somewhat rocky part of the trail. Here, I got a glimpse of Mount Index through the opening. Behind us at the top of the path was the 73-foot tall lookout.
See more trip photos here.
Heybrook Lookout Plus Views
Getting both dogs up the stairs wasn’t as hard as I thought. But I could feel the extra ten pounds when walking nearly vertically. What a vantage point to see the south! I quickly surveyed the area. Then I realized I needed to keep the pup on the leash. The gap under the stairs was just wide enough for him to fall to the ground.
Mount Index, Baring Mountain, and Philadelphia Mountain looked gorgeous in their winter coats. I had been on Heybrook Ridge once nearly eight years ago. It was during my navigation field trip with the Mountaineers. Back then, we had lousy weather and poor visibility to have any views. Plus, we were in a forested area. But our main focus for the trip wasn’t the view anyway.
See more trip photos here.
Outro
We enjoyed 45 minutes of quiet before packing up to leave the tower. As I was getting my last photos, I saw another hiker down on the trail. He reached the tower and then took a break at the bottom. But I knew he was trying to be polite. He waited for us to go down before walking up the stairs. What timing!
Before getting to the switchbacks, we left the trail and scrambled to the north of the ridge. From there, I could finally see Gunnshy Peak through the powerline clearcut. I couldn’t see it from the tower because of the trees on the north side. Soon, we were back at the trailhead. And to my surprise, there were only two cars in the lot, including mine.
See more trip photos here.