My Tuesday hiking group went up to the abandoned fire lookout on Leecher Mountain yesterday. That is right above our place so the group picked me up at 8:15 AM on their way up the road to the National Forest.

Leecher Mountain Lookout
It’s not a very long hike, only about a mile from the locked gate, but the views to the west and north into the Methow Valley are very good. Not much snow left on the high peaks. We are having a drier than normal year in the northern part of the Cascades.
I also climbed the stairs as far as I could go (you can’t actually enter the lookout) and could gaze out to the Okanogan valley to the east and our own Benson Creek drainage to the north, but there was nothing particularly picture-worthy.
Rick and I drove down to Wenatchee in the afternoon, “did Costco” and then picked up a Wells Cargo enclosed utility trailer that we found last week on Craig’s List. It’s in fine shape and we are quite happy with it. Then we had dinner with friends in Wenatchee before driving home, arriving close to midnight. A long day!
I realize this was a few weeks back, but I’m wondering what the fire status is around you? A friend of mine, whose son is a firefighter and is summering in/near Twisp, sent her a map showing fires both east and west of Twisp, plus three others a little further to the north from Winthrop – just east of the Ross Lake Natl Rec Area.