Quartz mountain fire lookout

went for another hike from the book day hiking eastern washington   No dog this time since it was a 5 to 6 mile hike his little legs couldn't make it.

Starting at the Selkirk lodge on mt Spokane we took of series of trails up to the top.  there is a road that is not longer accessible to the public that goes up to the lookout as well but we chose to do most of our uphill on trails as the book had suggested



some of the trails were a bit overgrown


and most were pretty steep but the crunch beneath our feet was the quartz rocks





we reached the lookout and there was a family from Seattle staying the weekend  they were kind enough to let us take a few shots from the deck.  they said the lightening from the last two nights was both exciting and frightening



the view was gorgeous



this is a large piece of quartz which is what the mountain is named after.  this is white quartz but there is also some rose quartz that can be found here as well



there are three lakes visible from above twin lakes, hauser lakes both in idaho and in washington you can see newman lake.

this piece has a lot of the rose quartz in it



need to find out what type of berry this is but we saw a lot of it.  should be edible but not positive



this berry on the other hand is very edible and highly sought after because it can only grow in the wild many have tried to plant it and grow it with no success.  the huckleberry is smaller than a blueberry but very yummy.  bears also really like it so one must be aware of this when hunting them.  there is an unwritten rule that you must use a coffee can either with holes punched in it and hung around your neck or attach some sort of handle to it to go picking these.  I find that amusing.


on our way back down the mountain we came across this sign.  it amused me because my husband says of course we have to go up to go down.



more information on rentals of the firelook out can be found here: http://www.parks.wa.gov/yurtsandcabins/quartzmountain/