Eagle Scout project creates accessible mountain top lookout for public viewing

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Darren Baptiste from Auburn can remember when he decided he wanted to become an Eagle Scout, as well as when he decided to turn his enterprising gaze to helping disabled or wheelchair-bound people enjoy the same things he takes for granted.

The 15-year-old was at a Cub Scout meeting and encountered a wheelchair-bound Eagle Scout, who was doing just that. Fast forward to Baptiste’s final push toward the highest rank and he decided to sign off his application with a significant initiative of building a wheelchair ramp on the Sun Top Lookout.

John Hearing, a Forest Service volunteer who’s overseeing other accessibility projects and who chairs the Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association, told Russell Leung at the Seattle Times (paywall) that the Sun Top Lookout was uniquely suited for Baptiste’s idea.

“We get a lot of visitors up there,” Hearing said, estimating 3,000 hikers visited the lookout last year who get to use a parking lot that places them extremely close to the gorgeous view. “But people with mobility issues couldn’t get up there; they couldn’t make that last 150 feet to get to the lookout.