A cool summer night breeze nipped at us as we stood on Arid Peak Lookout’s catwalk. We continued to watch while pulling our jackets tighter and readying our cameras. Then we saw it and were frozen in awe at the ribbons of green and pink au- rora that danced in the night sky to the north of us over Idaho’s St. Joe mountains. What started as a weekend getaway to explore a lo - cal historic site quickly became an unforgettable front-row seat to na- ture’s spectacular midnight show. By the end of the weekend, we’d
tracks removed long ago, and the rail bed has been reborn as the Hi- awatha Bike Trail, attracting thou- sands of visitors annually. From the catwalk where the trains’ roar shook the air, we only heard the forest whispers and na- ture’s unique symphony. The tow- ers’ legs were replaced in 1969, but the lookout was not actively used in service again. Some of these his- torical monuments to our past are destroyed or have fallen into an un- salvageable level of disrepair. Arid was given a new lease on life. In 1996 and 1997, the FFLA and the
face lightning storms, wildfires and a taste of what it truly meant to be fire lookouts. Built in 1934, Arid Peak Lookout sits on a lower ridge in Idaho’s St. Joe National Forest, unlike most towers built on the highest peaks. Arid’s purpose was unique to watch for spot fires ignited by sparks from the Milwaukee railroad as its trains lumbered through the dense forest below. The electrified railroad ran through this section of forest, link- ing parts of the Montana line to the North Fork of the St. Joe River at Avery, Idaho. The train is gone, the
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