PLACER COUNTY
DEVIL'S PEAK
Eldorado National Forest
January 4, 1962: "In recalling some of his early experiences Leland Hill said his first year of service at Devil's Peak, on Georgetown district, he had only six visitors all summer, and five of those were forest service personnel. He rode three miles to a cattle camp to get his mail twice a week and occasionally took the 20-mile trail to Uncle Tom's for groceries, fording the Rubicon River en-route.
He built the station and barn at Devil's Peak in the two summers he was stationed there, felling trees and cutting logs with a one-man crosscut, hauling them in place with the help of his old white mare, Dollie. Flooring and windows for the one-room building were packed in by mule train.
In contrast with today's modernized lookout stations, Bill's only lookout was a tall sugar pine near his cabin. Over a period of time he drove in metal pole steps till he could climb to a height of about 50 feet.
"When I put the first ones in I started up the tree pretty fast, but the higher it got the tougher it was to drive in the spike steps. Toward the top I only put in a couple a day - it was pretty high tree climbing." The veteran forest service employee added he only went up to look around when he got a telephone call to check on a reported smoke." (Mountain Democrat and Placerville Times)
He built the station and barn at Devil's Peak in the two summers he was stationed there, felling trees and cutting logs with a one-man crosscut, hauling them in place with the help of his old white mare, Dollie. Flooring and windows for the one-room building were packed in by mule train.
In contrast with today's modernized lookout stations, Bill's only lookout was a tall sugar pine near his cabin. Over a period of time he drove in metal pole steps till he could climb to a height of about 50 feet.
"When I put the first ones in I started up the tree pretty fast, but the higher it got the tougher it was to drive in the spike steps. Toward the top I only put in a couple a day - it was pretty high tree climbing." The veteran forest service employee added he only went up to look around when he got a telephone call to check on a reported smoke." (Mountain Democrat and Placerville Times)