Hi, I’m Chris, aka TrailChick! I’ve called the gorgeous Pacific Northwest my home for over 20 years. My nerdy obsession with wilderness maps and route planning led friends to jokingly call me a walking encyclopedia of trails, hence my silly nickname.
I’ve long been drawn to places rich with history, wildlife, and solitude. For me, the solo exploration of the wild outdoors is magically grounding and empowering. I love sharing photos and stories from my adventures and hope they inspire others to take a path less traveled. Despite being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2011, I’m determined to keep skiing, hiking, backpacking, biking, running, and paddling my way across Washington State’s backcountry.
Visiting all of Washington’s Fire Lookouts.
As a peak-bagging, history, and outdoor geek, I’ve long had a love for fire lookouts. While living in the Methow Valley in 2014, I learned that Okanogan County has the highest number of fire lookouts still remaining in the state, and the Methow Valley Ranger District is home to eight of those.
That year I made a goal to visit all of the Methow Valley fire lookouts. It didn’t take long for my ambitions to grow. In 2017, I committed to seeing and photographing all of the remaining historic fire lookouts across Washington State. Between 2017 and 2019, I traveled to every corner of the state, allying nearly 20,000 miles of driving, over 500 miles of hiking and biking, and nearly 140,000 feet of climbing.
The more I traveled, the more the journey became less about checking off a list and more about understanding and capturing a piece of American history. I return to fire lookouts often, continue to research their histories, visit former fire lookout sites, and help to maintain the lookouts we have here near my home in the Methow Valley of beautiful North Central Washington.
Staffing Goat Peak.
For the 2021 fire season, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to staff the Goat Peak fire lookout outside Mazama, just north of my home. In my first season as a lookout, I reported several fire starts and witnessed the Varden, Cedar Creek, and Delancy fires taking hold, as well as Cub Creek 2. I’ve always been an advocate for staffing fire lookouts, for both early fire detection and communication, as well as for building a deeper connection to both the surrounding nature and the local community. It was an experience I won’t soon forget and I’m excited to continue my service at Goat Peak for the 2022 fire season.
I currently reside in the beautiful mountain town of Twisp, Washington at the foothills of the North Cascades with my blue heeler named Hudson. I’m living off-grid in a tiny 19′ Airstream while I work to develop a small solar-powered home.
I’ll be continuing to explore all the miles and miles of backcountry and wilderness right here in my own beautiful backyard and you can usually find me deep in the Pasayten Wilderness or the Chelan-Sawtooth, two of my very favorite wilderness areas.
My latest adventure was buying land so I can build a small sustainable home in Washington’s beautiful Methow Valley.
Contact me if you’d like to chat, I love hearing from readers! I’m also available for guest blogging and freelance writing. You can follow my stories on Facebook and Instagram.
Explore, dream big, and give back to this beautiful planet! Thanks for reading and happy trails!
