Desolation Peak, Mountain summit in Ross Lake National Recreation Area, Washington, United States

Desolation Peak rises to 1,860 metres in the North Cascade Mountains, within Ross Lake National Recreation Area east of North Cascades National Park. At the summit stands a small wooden one-room fire lookout with light gray horizontal siding, a hipped shingle roof, a band of multi-paned windows and a dark metal fire tower with a ladder at its left corner. A sign on the lower right wall bears the number 793.

Lage Wernstedt made the first recorded climb in 1926 and named the peak for a forest fire that had stripped its slopes that same year. A fire lookout tower has stood on the summit since 1933, staffed in summer to spot fire starts. Jack Kerouac worked there for 63 days in 1956.

Jack Kerouac spent 63 days as a fire lookout on the summit in the summer of 1956. He drew on that stay in The Dharma Bums, Lonesome Traveler, Desolation Angels and a haiku collection titled "Desolation pops". The lookout is 15 miles from the nearest road.

The climb involves significant elevation gain over a steep route, making an early start advisable. Mountain weather can change rapidly, so proper gear and preparation are important for safety.

The summit lookout is 15 miles (24 km) from the nearest road, so its watchers are supplied on foot or by pack stock. The building in the photograph carries the number 793 on its lower wall, and a dark metal fire tower with a ladder stands at its left corner.