In my 20s and blinded by love, with a copy of Jack Kerouac’s memoir Desolation Angels in my pack, I hiked into a fire lookout in Washington’s North Cascades to meet my, hopefully, soon-to-be-girlfriend. The memories still persist, though she didn’t. But it was a unique experience unlike anything else.

Perhaps it was the 360-degree view of craggy mountains and snowy volcanoes, or the ultimate silence, or the merciless mid-day sun, or more than likely it was the blinding lightning and the torrential rain that followed in the middle of the night, that left me squealing like a baby looking for its mama.

But that was then, when fire lookouts kept an eye on the forest, spotting twisting columns of smoke and calling in the troops to put the flames out. Way back in the 1900s there were nearly 600 such structures, but today there are just 89.

Now, Amber Casali has put together the ultimate guidebook of 42 of the Washington’s lookouts that are still standing, all accessible by trail.

The author, who visited all of these sites, writes, “At the lookout, we chatted with other hikers and gazed at the stunning view. Then suddenly, everyone was gone. It was a Saturday night in August, and to my amazement, no one was sleeping in the open lookout.”

Casali describes the first lookouts, around 1914, when firewatchers often just climbed a tree, but more permanent structures soon became the norm. There were cupolas with turrets, often rising high above the peak on top of dizzying staircases. Perhaps the most common by the 1940s were the 14-by-14-foot boxes, with windows on four sides, with hinged shutters and catwalks. Inside was the fire finder, for determining the direction and distance of the fire by those ever-vigilant firewatchers.

Some lookouts are accessible by road, but many take a good day, or multiday hike to visit. Many of them are unlocked and available on a first-come basis. You can actually rent two of the lookouts (Evergreen Mountain and Heybrook). If the lookout is staffed, then bring along a treat, maybe some fresh fruit or sweets. And take along plenty of water: remember, they are on top of the mountain.

Casali’s guidebook describes these 42 lookouts, with the location and map, what sort of access you can expect, and even the year it was built. And of course, there is the elevation, gain, and round-trip distance, as well as color photographs. Desolation Peak is perhaps one of the longest approaches, with a 23-mile hike in, and a climb of 4,400 feet, to get a view of Mt. Hozomeen, described by Kerouac during his 63-day stint. (You can cheat that hike a bit by taking a boat up Ross Lake if you’re pressed for time.)

The 256-page book is well constructed, and organized by region: north, central, south, and Olympics, with another list of 45 existing lookouts that are more difficult to access or are closed to the public.

Published by The Mountaineers, you can pick up the book for about $17. You too can have an experience to remember. This collection certainly brought back some memories for me.