A U.S. Forest Service lookout, J.S. McClemmons, was on a hand-crank telephone call one August afternoon in 1920 when lightning struck atop Mount Eddy in Northern California.
Mount Eddy, at 9,025 feet, is the tallest mountain west of Interstate 5, directly across the valley from Mount Shasta.
The lightning knocked out McClemmons, bore a 4-foot hole into the old lookout house, tore into splinters a corner of the nearby lookout station, and blasted out windows in both buildings. McClemmons recovered quickly, extinguished the fire and hiked 12 miles to the safety of Sisson, known today as Mount Shasta City.
A month later, wind blew down the lookout door and shattered windows, forcing the station keeper to seek cover from snow and rain under a table for four hours.
The Forest Service dug a tunnel as a place of refuge two years later. In 1923, high winds again nearly destroyed the lookout house. A district office report said the station keeper, his son and a dog escaped injury, but added drolly, “Cat last seen mid-air over Edgewood,” a community on the valley floor.
All that remains today of the Mount Eddy lookout station and house is scattered, rotting debris.
Sources: "Mount Eddy." The Trust for Public Land. 2016. Web. 1 Aug. 2016. https://www.tpl.org/our-work/our-land-and-water/mount-eddy; Source: Juillerat, Lee. "Little-known Mr. Eddy serves up surprises." Daily Tidings 1 Aug. 2016 [Ashland, Ore.] : A3+. Print; Source: "Mount Eddy Shasta National Forest." Forest Lookouts. Weebly,com. Web. 1 Aug. 2016.
