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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
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. It really sucks that it got destroyed, but I don't understand rebuilding it.
Because it's severely needed. Regardless of modern technology and the ability for NOAA to detect fires from space, the fire tower is a much needed asset to this area. TThe Domelands Wilderness and surrounding areas have seen many fires throughout the years, mainly from lightning strikes. Currently, there is a fire going on (Schaffer Fire), which is near the same burn area as the McNally Fire.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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I was up there with Margee about a year before the thing burned. We were watching aircraft dropping retardant on a fire. But there were two fires, and Margee saw that they were hitting the wrong one, the one they wanted to let burn rather than the one they wanted to contain. She got on the radio and sorted it out.
Boots on the ground vs. GPS and SatCom...
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Matt's
climber
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As a climber, it would be nice to have the fire tower there again-- makes contact with outside world easier in case of accident. I liked seeing margee living there, and I think it's cool as a tourist destination
But-With respect to fire safety-- how many fires has this station really stopped? Is this really an efficacious use of resources? All I know is that it has caused one fire... I doubt the argument can be made for the lookout from a fire safety perspective
Best
Matt
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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All the Fire Lookouts in the Southern Sierra have Webcams now with mostly a 360* view. https://rockyags.cr.usgs.gov/dashboards/WebCam.htm
I'd love to see the Needles Lookout Rebuilt again. But, it will never be the same as it was. I'm pretty sure Margee wouldn't be there and probably it wouldn't even have anyone living up there. Most of the other lookouts have a road that goes up to it. The Needles lookout requires some tricky logistics to make it happen, some of which only a Helicopter could do, though they have a ship close by. I will be interested in seeing if the Forest Service moves on this at all.....
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Im sure a friend that lives nearby would certainly appreciate any opportunity at an earlier warning of fire and direction on suppression efforts. There's not many ways out of there.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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I think I was up there in 1990, nice lady working the tower, was that Margee? I do not remember a long hike to the tower, but could have been.
A friend of mine worked the Miami Mountain tower (Mariposa) for years, paid position, seasonal. She quit when they asked her to be a volunteer, was not that good of a job.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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From a few weekends ago. You can still walk to the top but it feels weird without the lookout.
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nathanael
climber
CA
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You can still walk to the top but it feels weird without the lookout.
last year you could walk to the top in the late may/early june, but when I went back in july there was a gate at the bottom of the stairs that was locked and you couldn't get up there to get a view of the needles. bummer for the tourists who hiked out there to not get a decent view, they weren't about to scramble off trail either.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Fat.... is there a railing up there?
I think they need to just make a nice platform....stick one of those 360 degree panorama relief maps on it, add a nice photo display showing how it was at one time, install a coin operated cookie vending machine and leave it at that.
Hikers would still have a nice destination and climbers could still get cookies on Sunday.... a win win.
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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The demo and clean up effort is going to be huge. There's debris strewn all over the hillside.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Guy, do you mean at the end of the staircase? The gate was open at the bottom so we puttered up there. At the top there's just a gap where the lookout used to be. You can lean across, scramble up and sit on the concrete foundation where the structure used to be, or scramble around the summit. Me and kids had some snacks up top and then headed down.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Everything's gotta be a federal phukking production nowadays, eh? They built the phukking Al-Can Highway in like 9 months. That lookout could be built in Kernville in a couple of chunks and heloed up there. 6 months - if yer retarded.
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