The 42-foot-tall Benchmark Lookout Tower serves as a home and an early detection system for wildfire activity northwest of Dolores.
The Benchmark Lookout Tower northwest of Dolores has been in operation for the past 50 years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Benchmark Lookout Tower has been closed to the public as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. An individual was not happy about the road closure just below the tower and used a high-powered rifle to put a hole through the sign while lookout staff member Rick Freimuth and his wife, Linda, were at the tower. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Benchmark Lookout Tower northwest of Dolores has been in operation for the past 50 years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth and his wife, Linda, have been spotting fires from the Benchmark Lookout Tower for the past three years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Some of the original timbers that make up the Benchmark Lookout Tower northwest of Dolores stand strong through the years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Cables secure the Benchmark Lookout Tower from each corner. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
An outhouse and solar power are the amenities at the Benchmark Lookout Tower, northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Some of the original timbers that make up the Benchmark Lookout Tower, northwest of Dolores. The tower was built in 1970. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth walks up the 100 steps in the Benchmark Lookout Tower where he and his wife, Linda, have lived for the past three years during fire season northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth scans the horizon looking for smoke, which he and his wife, Linda, have been doing from the Benchmark Lookout Tower for the past three years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A closer view of Lone Cone as seen from Benchmark Lookout Tower, northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth walks up the 100 steps in the Benchmark Lookout Tower, where he and his wife, Linda, have lived for the past three years during fire season. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick and Linda Freimuth have lived in the Benchmark Lookout Tower for the past three years during fire season. The 14-by-14-foot living space is plenty for the two of them. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth uses an Osborne Fire Finder in the Benchmark Lookout Tower as his wife, Linda, spins yarn northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
When not looking for smoke, Linda Freimuth spins yarn to pass the time in the Benchmark Lookout Tower, northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Hummingbirds fly up to the feeders that hang outside the Benchmark Lookout Tower about 42 feet above ground. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth scans the horizon looking for smoke, which he and his wife, Linda, have been doing from the Benchmark Lookout Tower for the past three years. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick Freimuth uses an Osborne Fire Finder in the Benchmark Lookout Tower, northwest of Dolores. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rick and Linda Freimuth have lived in the Benchmark Lookout Tower northwest of Dolores for the past three years during fire season. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
