Arapaho NF
1942
In pursuit of recognition that there was a lookout on Mt. Evans, I talked with Dave Nordwall, Howard Lee, Ed Mason...and others about this LO..none could recall it..or knew it existed. I have wondered if perhaps this was a temporary LO to watch for the Japanese "Fire Ballons [sic]" that were launched during WW II...
Thanks to Mark Nelson for unearthing this information about Mt. Evans.
Getting there:The summit of Mt. Evans is accessible during the summer via I-70, CO-103/Chicago Creek Road, and CO-5/Mt. Evans Road.
Visit the Former Fire Lookout Site Register entry for Mt. Evans.
Mt. Evans Lookout
Mt. Evans
Elevation: 14,265'
Status: Removed
Year Built: 1942
Year Removed: Unknown
Typewritten notes on the back of the photo at right
read:
421873-Temporary Lookout
Bldg. at summit of Mt.Evans
to determine the value of
high altitide [sic] observations
vs.those from stations at
lower elevations. 8/14/42
F. R. Johnson - Arapaho N.F.
followed by handwritten notes indicating location of file and the comment, "May have been highest LO in NF system - 14260"
An additional document with the handwritten note, "Found by Bob Tice in RO Photo Files," includes the following:
HISTORIC LOOKOUT RECORD From Notes of Robert D. Sullivan
Mount Evans Lookout Building--1942--Arapaho National Forest.
This was a "temporary" Lookout on the summit of Mt. Evans, constructed in 1942 to evaluate and determine the value of high value observations vs. those from stations at lower elev. The photo was taken by Fred Johnson, (I think at that time Fred was Chief of I&E for R2.)
Bill King and I visited the Lookout in August of 1942. At that time, Max Durcum, and [sic] instructor in Forestry School at Penn State was the Lookout...(later to be a prime mover in ski development of Arapho [sic] Basin and Keystone ski areas on the NF...