Fire lookouts, they evoke images of small, weathered, glass encased huts on high peaks, wide views with clouds drifting over trees and an immense amount of solitude. Maybe they also bring up images of the lonely lookouts creating poems and literary works in their free time - sometimes this was the case. The fire lookouts of the North Cascades inspired a generation of beat poets, whose time spent in solitude and musings on society helped to inspire North American mountain cult