Needles Lookout is gone

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Messages 1 - 20 of total 166 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 28, 2011 - 05:25pm PT
Bad news!

I just got an email from a friend who lives in Ponderosa. In an event apparently unrelated to the Lion Fire burning nearby, the Lookout at The Needles was destroyed by fire at about noon today.

Margee is fine. The cause is not known. This is no gag, my friend sent me numerous pictures which I'll post if he gives me permission.

I am seriously bummed.
klk

Trad climber
cali
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:25pm PT
wow. bummer
eKat

Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:26pm PT
BooHiss!
Levy

Big Wall climber
So Cal
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:26pm PT
WTF??

That really sucks.

I'm glad nobody got hurt. I'd imagine they won't replace the lookout due to prohibitive costs in this age of dwindling budgets.
eKat

Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:30pm PT
Credit: SwipedFromGoog

RIP!

:-(

I'm glad Margee is OK.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:32pm PT
An icon if there ever was one.

Actually that goes for both the lookout and its occupant.

Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:35pm PT
Wow! I was just up there (and met Margee for the first time) weekend before last, checking out the Lion fire in part. Very sad news for a very cool lady.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:39pm PT
This really sucks!

Post pics when you have em' Kris
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2011 - 05:51pm PT
Margee Kelly in her lookout, Sept. 2009.
Margee Kelly in her lookout, Sept. 2009.
Credit: Ksolem
Slater

Trad climber
Central Coast
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:55pm PT
Dude, that sucks!

Surely they'll rebuild!?
eKat

Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
Jul 28, 2011 - 05:56pm PT
Margee's such a neat lady! She's pretty frikken famous in USDA FS circles. Last time I was up there, she had a beautiful kitty cat with her. . . I hope it's OK, too.

Let me tell you. . . she kept that lookout SPOTLESS. . . it was a joy to visit her.
labrat

Trad climber
Nevada City, CA
Jul 28, 2011 - 06:15pm PT
Sad day indeed :-(
Hope they replace the lookout.
Erik
Morgan

Trad climber
East Coast
Jul 28, 2011 - 06:19pm PT
I don't know that area, but it looks like an excellent 360-degree view for spotting fires. And doesn't the fire sort of prove the need to have a lookout like that one. There must have been serious flames because the lookout seems like it's on some pretty bare rock. Maybe the staircase was a primary fuel source?
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Jul 28, 2011 - 06:19pm PT
Too bad;...sorry to hear this;.......end of an era for Margee;.....during the 80s we were always happy to go visit Margee;....the lovely young lady who lived in the lookout tower at the Needles........I saw her a few years ago;...it was good to see her after a couple of decades in between. She will find a new quest in life, I'm sure.........
eKat

Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
Jul 28, 2011 - 06:20pm PT
A friend says she read that the cause of the fire was the cook stove blowing up.

?

Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2011 - 06:28pm PT
If anyone has contact info for Margee, please email it to me? All I have is the phone number in the tower (installed last summer) which obviously will not work.

I'll send her a letter c/o the Forest Service station up there but anything more direct would be nice...
BillO

Trad climber
Yachats, OR
Jul 28, 2011 - 06:58pm PT
Such sad news. Margee and the Lookout were iconic.
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
Jul 28, 2011 - 07:27pm PT
I can't see why they wouldn't rebuild it.

Still sucks for Margee though....
eKat

Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
Jul 28, 2011 - 07:28pm PT
Here's some news:

http://wildlandfire.com/hotlist/showthread.php?p=93689
k-man

Gym climber
SCruz
Jul 28, 2011 - 07:39pm PT
Wow, such a wonderful piece of history ...
Messages 1 - 20 of total 166 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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