[Source: Doug Kreutz, Arizona Daily Star] -- A real estate agent might call this place a "fixer-upper." It's more than 70 years old, tiny, weathered and unadorned with such upscale features as plumbing, running water, phone lines, electricity or access by road. But get a load of the location: The onetime fire lookout is perched on a pinnacle of rock 6,249 feet in the sky with a soaring hawk's view of vast expanses of Southern Arizona and Sonora.It's that spectacular setting northwest of Nogales -- along with the little hut's colorful history -- that inspired members of the Green Valley Recreation Hiking Club and other volunteers to become lookout fixer-uppers. Periodically since 1996, volunteers have hiked a 2.75-mile trail to the lookout to repair the roof, stabilize the catwalk, install a new door, fix shutters, make safety alterations on a wood stove, paint walls and remove debris. "The place was pretty much a mess," said Chris Schrager, an archaeologist with the Forest Service, which oversees the work. "The volunteers have been a great help with the preservation efforts up there."
Work isn't currently under way, but three volunteers from the hiking club trekked to the lookout last weekend with a reporter and photographer to assess progress on the project. Winding through oak woodlands under imposing cliffs, the trail ascends about 1,500 vertical feet — gradually most of the way but steeply at the end. "Well, the lookout's in better shape than it was before, and I have to tell you that working in a setting like this is not exactly bad duty," said club member Jim Jordan as he savored a summit panorama taking in distant Baboquivari Peak, the Pajarito Mountains and blue-green ranges fading into the horizon.
[Note: To read the full article, click here. To help preserve Atascosa Lookout, contact Chris Schrager, a Forest Service archaeologist, at 520-388-8393. Photo source of hikers Jim Jordan and Bob Kotz: Dean Knuth, Arizona Daily Star.]
