Hiking historic Crescent Mountain

Dick Spray (right) leads his merry band up Crescent Mountain.

On a cool rainy day Tuesday, September 25, veteran forester Dick Spray led his hiking class up Crescent Mountain. The Sisters Central Oregon Community College group ambled past lichen-shrouded Douglas fir trees in old growth stands over 200 years old.

Crossing Maude Creek, the group stopped to inspect old signs posted on trees. The signs identifying the creek were barely readable. Lovely green moss covered many of the rocks.

Later the group passed hemlock, spruce and silver fir trees before stopping for lunch. A few huckleberries were found and shared along the trail.

It is a four-mile hike to the top and a 2,000-foot elevation gain. There was a former fire lookout station on Crescent Mountain. Parts of the old wooden floor survive today. It was first used as a lookout in 1908 according to Spray.

"A crude shake cabin was built in 1914, a Cupola constructed in 1922, a lookout in 1938 that was destroyed in 1948," Spray said.

Spray recounted the tale of the death of 16-year old lookout Douglas Lindsay who was working there during World War II. He had been pressed into service because many men had left for the war effort. He lived alone at the lookout tower.

The tale is recounted in the piece Mystery Fatality at Crescent Mountain, by Ray Kresek in "Fire Lookouts of the Northwest" 1984):

Three weeks after Doug had moved up on the peak, he failed to report in. The Fish Lake packer was dispatched. Four hours later, the phone rang. It was Crescent Mountain on the other end of the line. But instead of the watchman, it was the packer's voice, with grim news that he'd just found Doug lying dead on the porch of his cabin, the victim of a point blank gunshot wound in the head.

Several unusual circumstances surrounding the youngster's death lacked necessary answers. Neither of his guns had been fired recently; yet empty .22 cartridges were found in and around the station, recently fired by an unidentified weapon.

After weeks of interrogation and examination, investigators were unable to find sufficient evidence as to how the incident might have occurred. Was it an accident or homicide? The answer remains unknown (over 50 years later) and will no doubt never be solved."

Spray commented, "In 1945 I was on Jump Off Joe Lookout with my father. We heard of the shooting via the grapevine on our circuit.

"The explanation that we heard was that it was an accidental shooting -- nothing more. Accidents were fairly common among lookouts, and often required medical attention or even evacuation. Axes were usually the culprit."

To visit Crescent Mountain drive west on Highway 20 towards Sweet Home. Turn right at the Lava Lake sno park signage and travel about 1.5 miles to the trailhead.