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Heybrook Lookout renews tradition with new cabin on 67-foot tower
By GREG JOHNSTON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A new cabin is now perched atop the 67-foot tower of historic Heybrook Lookout east of Index off U.S. 2, thanks to U.S. Forest Service crews and The Mountaineers Everett Branch volunteers.
The new cabin, totally rebuilt by the branch's Lookout/Trail Maintenance Committee, was hoisted into place last Thursday with a giant crane. It now perpetuates a tradition dating to 1925, when Forest Service employees first began watching for fires from the site.
Retired as a fire lookout in the early 1970s, Heybrook has become a popular day-hike destination, about a mile off Highway 2, because of its commanding view of Mount Index's rock spires across the Skykomish River Valley, and nearby Baring Mountain.
Sometime in the year 2001, hikers will be able to rent the lookout for overnight visits. A nearby lookout, Evergreen Mountain about 12 miles to the west, has also been restored and will be rented for overnight visits beginning sometime next spring or summer, said John Robinson, recreation specialist at the Forest Service's Skykomish ranger station.
The trail to Heybrook, beginning along Highway 2 about a mile east of Index, remains closed as work continues on the lookout's catwalk, stairs, and interior.
When the trail reopens, probably later this month, the Forest Service will discourage visitors from climbing up to the lookout until all work is complete, with a target date of September 2000.
The first actual lookout tower at Heybrook was built in 1932 at 45 feet. It was replaced with the current structure in 1964, which is unusual because of its height.
The Everett Mountaineers are also doing the work on Evergreen Mountain, and previously restored the popular Mount Pilchuck Lookout to the north.
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