Mare Czinar

Special for The Republic

A hike up to Baker Butte culminates at an idyllic, pine-shaded pinnacle. Swarms of hummingbirds whip through lilac-scented air and masses of ladybugs cling to trees, shrubs and knee-high wildflowers.

Nearby, a horse chomps hay in a makeshift corral while a friendly black Labrador retriever noses a tennis ball. Perched on a knoll at the edge of the Mogollon Rim, the Baker Butte fire-lookout tower and its environs are calm and pastoral.

But this enviable location removed from city heat, traffic and noise belies a very serious purpose.

“Are you coming up?” The voice of fire lookout Shirley Payne broke the silence as she called down to me and my hiking partner from the catwalk of the 30-foot-high tower.

“Oh, yeah,” was my no-brainer answer. Payne, who has worked in the tower for 23 years, welcomed us with a plate of fresh-baked poppy seed muffins.

The tower is east of Payson and near the western edge of Rim Road (Forest Road 300), a 51-mile dirt route that runs between State Route 87 south of Clints Well to SR 260 near Forest Lakes. Rim Road is a classic Arizona scenic drive for anybody with a high-clearance vehicle and the fortitude to endure some queasy, edge-hugging sections.

Of the many Coconino National Forest fire-lookout towers that dot the Mogollon Rim, Baker Butte is one of the easiest to reach on foot. For a moderate 3-mile hike, park at Baker Lake (usually not more than a soggy bog) at the junction of FR 300 and SR 87 and hike 1.2 miles on FR 300 to FR 300B (the road to the lookout) where there’s a parking area for the General Crook Trail, then continue 0.4 mile uphill to the summit.

The summit road passes through archways of Gambel oak trees, pines and Douglas firs. Fringed with ferns, raspberry brambles and colorful spreads of Canada violets, pine thermopsis, sandwort and wild strawberries, the road twists uphill in long loops to the base of the tower.

The tower, which earned a spot on the National Historic Lookout Register in 2006, wears its heritage well. Constructed with a blend of original, repurposed and new materials, the practical yet homey loft is softened by Payne’s collection of quilts, plants and mementos.

Neatly arranged instruments, radios, binoculars and maps speak to the intense, sometimes harrowing, work of fire spotting and coordination of incident response team — the daily grind of a fire lookout.

The long-gone original tower cabin built in 1921 was replaced in 1937 with the present 12-foot by 12-foot cabin perched on a metal skeleton with wooden stairs. The catwalk was added in 2009. Upgrades to walls and windows surround a floor covered in speckled, cracked linoleum that smacks of mid-century utilitarianism.

Copies of Payne’s book, "Baker Butte Journal 2010," sit near the guest register. Well worth its $20 price, the photo-rich volume presents a slice-of-life account of a season in the tower. Packed with play-by-play descriptions of wildfire response, turbulent mountain weather, recipes and the misadventures of “cidiots” (city visitors with irresponsible forest habits) who litter, cause damage, raise hell and sometimes need rescuing.

A stroll around the catwalk reveals see-forever vistas. On most days, the peaks of Flagstaff, Williams and the White Mountains can be seen with the naked eye over seas of ponderosa pines. On the best days, Picacho Peak and Mount Lemmon near Tucson show their silhouettes 200 miles to the south.

Below the tower, a tiny cabin serves as Payne’s home for six months (usually May through October) each year. Draped in lilac bushes that were planted in the 1980s, the abode has been expanded, adapted and upgraded over decades of use.

The kitchen was salvaged from a Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Mormon Lake and repurposed into a compact, fully equipped work space (with hot and cold running water) where Payne cooks up her specialties like the yummy muffins she serves visitors. Some of her recipes use wildflowers and berries harvested from the forest.

Outside, an array of hummingbird feeders attracts species including the broad-tailed, rufous and magnificent varieties. During summer, flocks of the glinting little birds can drain a feeder in hours, which keeps Payne busy with refill runs up to three times a day.

In addition to the elk, chipmunks, turkeys, Western tanagers and deer that hang out around the tower, Payne has two special four-legged helpers at her mountaintop work environment.

Rameses, a 21-year-old Missouri fox trotter, a gaited breed of horse with a sure-footed, rhythmic stride who loves mint candy treats, and Jeffrey, a friendly 3-year-old black Lab with a fetch fetish and boundless energy, provide companionship and assistance.

Visiting the tower

During fire season, the Baker Butte tower is open to the public between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. when Payne is on duty and closed for lunch between noon and 1 p.m.

As Arizona heads into fire season, visitors should respect fire restrictions and safety protocols. The last thing any fire lookout wants to see is a plume of smoke drifting skyward from a human-caused blaze.

When visiting any fire tower, please observe proper etiquette:

Respect visiting hours.

Do not attempt to enter a tower when no lookout is present.

Wait to be invited. Lookouts may not allow visitors when monitoring an active fire.

Leave bulky packs and trekking poles on the ground. Tower stairs are narrow and space is tight inside.

Ask permission before taking photos or approaching companion animals.

Follow the lookout’s instructions and don’t touch instruments.

Learn something. Ask questions. Most lookouts are founts of knowledge about the forests they watch over.

Baker Butte fire-lookout tower hike

Length: 3 miles round trip from Baker Lake or 0.8 mile round trip from the General Crook trailhead.

Rating: Moderate.

Elevation: 7,430-8,074 feet from Baker Lake or 7,866-8,074 from General Crook trailhead.

Getting there: From the State Route 87/260 junction in Payson, go 28 miles north on SR 87 to Forest Road 300 (Rim Road). Then:

Option 1: Park in the dirt turnouts on Rim Road near Baker Lake just a few yards in from SR 87.

Park in the dirt turnouts on Rim Road near Baker Lake just a few yards in from SR 87. Option 2: Follow FR 300 (make a sharp left at a Y junction at 0.1 mile) for 1.2 miles to the Baker Butte Summit Road (FR 300B). There’s parking directly across from the summit road at the General Crook trailhead. Forest Road 300 is bumpy dirt but passable by carefully driven cars.

Details:

Read more of Mare Czinar's hikes at arizonahiking.blogspot.com.