LEVIATHAN PEAK
Alpine County
October 20, 1958: "Construction began this week on a new forest service lookout building atop the north part of Leviathan Peak in Alpine county. It will be the first Toiyabe national forest lookout station located in California says Ivan Sack, forest supervisor.
Though the structure will primarily be used to spot fires during the forest fire season, Sack envisions other uses. It will probably become handy as an observation point for seeking lost hunters and fishermen. It will be useful as a radio repeating station too, Sack says.
And once a decent road is built to the lookout station it will become a vantage point for tourists who will be able to scan large expanses of the Sierra Nevada. Sack terms the view "exceptional." The lookout and visitors will be able to see as far north as Carson, east over the Sweetwater mountains, south into the back country of Alpine county and west to the Sierra divide.
Sack says the present road is impossible to conventional vehicles but next year a better standard road will be constructed to the lookout station. The station will be dominate over half a million acres of forest in Alpine and Mono counties.
Construction of the station is under Bob Simmons, Toiyabe improvement construction foreman, and Sack says speed is very important in order to beat the coming Winter weather. The lookout will be placed on a cinder block sub-structure about ten feet high. The station itself be the latest forest service design of glass with maximum visibility with minimum glare. It will be built for a man and wife lookout team.
The possibility of a Leviathan Peak lookout was first considered after a 1956 incident in which two fishermen spotted a Sierra blaze, sack says. The duo were fishing on Topaz Lake when they spotted a fire on the West Walker River. They rowed to shore and hiked half a mile to report the fire. Till then it had been an unknown fire.
This indicated to Toiyabe foresters the need of a lookout in the area. So in 1957 and 1958 temporary lookout facilities were established atop the peak...to determine the effectiveness of a lookout there.
Each year fire spotters discovered six fires. A permanent lookout is the result.
The station will be under the jurisdiction of Lyle Smith, Toiyabe district ranger with headquarters in Carson Valley. Leviathan Peak is south of Carson Valley and west of Topaz Lake." (Reno Evening Gazette)
Though the structure will primarily be used to spot fires during the forest fire season, Sack envisions other uses. It will probably become handy as an observation point for seeking lost hunters and fishermen. It will be useful as a radio repeating station too, Sack says.
And once a decent road is built to the lookout station it will become a vantage point for tourists who will be able to scan large expanses of the Sierra Nevada. Sack terms the view "exceptional." The lookout and visitors will be able to see as far north as Carson, east over the Sweetwater mountains, south into the back country of Alpine county and west to the Sierra divide.
Sack says the present road is impossible to conventional vehicles but next year a better standard road will be constructed to the lookout station. The station will be dominate over half a million acres of forest in Alpine and Mono counties.
Construction of the station is under Bob Simmons, Toiyabe improvement construction foreman, and Sack says speed is very important in order to beat the coming Winter weather. The lookout will be placed on a cinder block sub-structure about ten feet high. The station itself be the latest forest service design of glass with maximum visibility with minimum glare. It will be built for a man and wife lookout team.
The possibility of a Leviathan Peak lookout was first considered after a 1956 incident in which two fishermen spotted a Sierra blaze, sack says. The duo were fishing on Topaz Lake when they spotted a fire on the West Walker River. They rowed to shore and hiked half a mile to report the fire. Till then it had been an unknown fire.
This indicated to Toiyabe foresters the need of a lookout in the area. So in 1957 and 1958 temporary lookout facilities were established atop the peak...to determine the effectiveness of a lookout there.
Each year fire spotters discovered six fires. A permanent lookout is the result.
The station will be under the jurisdiction of Lyle Smith, Toiyabe district ranger with headquarters in Carson Valley. Leviathan Peak is south of Carson Valley and west of Topaz Lake." (Reno Evening Gazette)
DESIGNATION - LEVIATHAN LOH
PID - JR1175
STATE/COUNTY- CA/ALPINE
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - TOPAZ LAKE (1988)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY CALTRANS 1972 (RMB)
THE LOOKOUT HOUSE IS A CONCRETE BLOCK BUILDING WITH A WOODEN
CATWALK AND A GLASSED IN ROOM ON TOP. THE BASE DEMINSIONS ARE
15 X 15 FEET AND IT HAS A RELATIVELY FLAT TOP WITH A 2 INCH
WOODEN POST PROJECTING 2 FEET ABOVE THE ROOF NEAR THE CENTER
OF THE ROOF. THE WOODEN POST IS USED FOR THE INTERSECTION
STATION, WHICH IS CALLED LEVIATHAN LOOKOUT HOUSE.