Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
f Sisters Country,
ect spot for a lookout,
or thousands of hikers.
13
Friends of the Metolius led
the restoration of the UFS
cupola on Black Butte.
Carl Demoy worked the
lookout for many years and
liked his pet chipmunks more
than people. He was notori-
ously unpleasant to visitors,
being accused of dropping
rocks and <yellow fluid=
down the tower stairs. Carl
had an interesting garbage
dump I liked to investigate.
He appeared to live on a diet
of canned ham, peanuts, and
paperback novels, he would
tear the covers off to write
his lookout notes then throw
the books down the moun-
tainside. Finally, one year he
PHOTO BY MARET PAJUTEE
refused to come down at the
end of the season, filled the
cupola with firewood, and
insisted he could winter over.
PHOTO COURTESY USFS
The Forest Service burned down the old ground cabin on the site after it
had been condemned.
After they insisted he come
down to cash his paychecks
he had a stroke. The lookout
who took over for him visited
me one day, bringing fresh
peaches. He had visited Carl
in the hospital and reported
he had yearned for his little
animal pals and implored
him to <please feed my
chipmunks.=
By the time the 1934 tower
fell in the winter of 2001 I
had married two men I met on
the Butte, and spent my sec-
ond honeymoon in the 1979
ground house. I had a real
job as a botanist/ecologist
but worked relief whenever I
could, even working from the
old cupola after the tower was
condemned in 1990. The old
tower shattered and fell in the
winter of 2001, in a coat of
ice with high winds. I helped
with planning of the new
1994 tower and worked on
home & offi ce, small event
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home staging &
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Year-round
FIREWOOD
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Jennifer Beech, Owner
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251 E. Sun Ranch Dr.
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541-410-4509
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rehabilitation of the sensitive
habitats impacted by the hun-
dreds of people who climb
Black Butte.
These days, my older legs
protest on rare climbs to the
summit. I marvel at the beau-
tiful restoration work done by
the Friends of the Metolius to
bring the 1922 cupola back
to life. Little remains of the
tower where I began, and my
honeymoon cabin was con-
demned and burned in 2016.
But I still know where the tree
tower ladders lie half burnt in
the brush. And I wonder if
my spirit will someday wan-
der the Butte, keeping com-
pany with the lonely ghosts of
others who loved living on a
mountain top, keeping watch
over us.
PHOTO BY KIRK METZGER FOR GLEN CORBETT PHOTO
A new lookout tower overlooks the ruins of the old one as work crews
dismantle it.
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