July 16, 2006 Susan takes my picture as I put my new ice box in the cab of the truck.  My schedule is getting busy again and I can only go up the mountain for a single day and not stay overnight. This picture shows my recent weight gain of 10 pounds.  Guess I better start doing something about that.  Tomorrow.  Maybe Monday I'll start.  Right.
	I get up to Vetter Mountain and all seems good.  I get the 2x4 and start to open the cab.
	This little guy perched on the rocks down below kept watching me as if he never saw a fire lookout before.  He was pretty funny because he was acting more like a merekat than a squirrel.
	The Anti-Rodent Device ("ARD") was installed by one of the other fire lookouts.  Guess they didn't like that birdseed was going to wildlife other than the birds.  Maybe that's why the squirrel kept watching me.
	Making my rounds to open the shutters I am about to make one of those boo boos I talk about.
	I should place the locks in the basket as I walk around the lookout opening the shutters.  But this time I put a few of the locks on the railing.  The squirrel down below has not moved for 10 minutes, and I think he laughed when I accidently knocked one of the locks off the railing into the rocks below.
	Extreme close up of the lock in the rock. With all the rattlesnakes we have this year, the perfect accident would be to stick my hand down there and get the lock.  Knowing better I take a long stick and poke around the hole first.  Then with a little care I get the lock out without loosing it to the depths of the Earth below. Wonder how far down those holes go?  Eh... I don't need to know.
	Hey bud... you can move along now.  Really.  Show is over.  Stop laughing. I took this picture on my way to get the lock in the photo above.  It wasn't until I was almost right on top of this guy did he scamper off.  I'm going to call him Mr. Merekat.
	The yucca is doing fine and in its fruit stage.
	Close up of the yucca bloom.
	Close up of the base, that is starting to die already.
	It was a very hot day but that did not stop two (make that three) east coast transplants from hiking up to Vetter Mountain.  They told me that they recently moved to California and they enjoy hiking and the outdoors.  On the east coast they told me they would have to drive two hours or more just to get someplace that is "sort of" uncrowded.
	Now that is the way to travel the back country.
	Can you see me now? This lizard is almost invisible.
	The new den of squirrels located near the base of the long stairway.  You know, where there are many squirrels, there are bound to be snakes.  Seems the two keep in balance.
	I call this "visitor rock" because many visitors head straight for this granite outcrop.  I decide to take a break, grab the camera and radio and hike down to the rock to take some pictures looking back to the lookout.
	This is the first time I have taken a picture from this angle for this webpage.  The lookout is built on an outcrop of rocks.  From this angle it almost looks artificial but I don't think so.  There is natural ground below the cab and the rocks seem too random.  But this angle made me think about it some.
	Close up view, same angle.
	There is a small road that extends from a fork near the garage and the trail head of the Vetter Trail.  The slash debri was placed here during the clean up of the mountain peak during last year's fire season.
	Standing on top of the "visitors rock" there are some holes worn into the surface of the rock.  I think these are due to natural erosion but I wonder if they could be acorn grinding mortar holes.
	Vetter Mountain is home to a lush garden of Yerba Santa.  The thick, sticky leaves - used either fresh or dried - were boiled to make a tea for coughs, colds, asthma and tuberculosis. Anti-bacterial properties have been noted as well. The leaves have also been powdered and used as a stimulating expectorant. A liniment was applied topically to reduce fever. A poultice of fresh leaves was used to treat bruises and young leaves were applied to relieve rheumatism. Fresh or dried leaves were used as a poultice for broken and unbroken skin of both humans and animals when in pain from rheumatism, fatigued limbs, swelling, sores. Anti-inflammatory actions were noted when combining Yerba Santa with Grindelia and applying externally to poison oak or poison ivy.
	Walking back to the lookout, the high clouds are coming in and the visibility is reducing.  Keeping an ever watchful eye out for smoke is the key duty of a fire lookout, and as long as I have the radio by my side I can continue that duty. The lookout is where I stay, but I am the fire lookout.
	Ok here is something new... I decided to take about a hundred shots of the hummingbirds then pick one I liked and post that here.  Then as was writing this page, I was trying to pick the best picture, I found it too hard.  So why limit myself.  Here are the best of  best shots.

The Humming Bird Shots

	...Now back to our regulary scheduled program... Standing on the small stool in the lookout, I take this elevated view of the Osborne fire finder and the cab.
	Another view of the Osborne.
	Looking East, there is another cloud forming over Mt. Baldy.
	Looking West.
	Looking northwest.
	Looking east with a zoom lens.
	Later in the day looking east.
	This is a small peak above the location where the West Fork and the North Fork of the San Gabriel River merge.  They are building an electronics tower on the summit that at first glance looks like a fire lookout tower. Below you will find several shots that I took trying to capture a picture of the elusive butterfly.  I picked the shots that have the butterfly in each of the pictures, no tricks, so you have to find him.

Find the butterfly game...

	Well its 1700 hours and time to pack it up.  The visibility is not bad but it is dropping fast and its time for me to go home.
	Locking up the lookout I say goodnight to my friend and start the drive down the mountain for home.
	Ah yes our friend the illegal passer zooms by me and the vet.  Blind curve?  What blind curve? (/sarcasm on)  I'm sure he could react to anything coming around that blind curve because he must be the best motorcycle rider there is on the mountain. (/sarcasm off) Kind of makes my trip complete.