North America - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 191

observatory and admire the 360-degree views of
the dense forest, craggy Sawtooth Ridge and icy
peaks of Mount Rainier. But the faint of heart
should take note that the owner posts a warning
on his website: “Climbing an 85-foot spiral
staircase, walking a 45-foot-long suspension
footbridge to a treehouse observatory 100 feet
in the sky and viewing mountain goats through
a spotting scope ... that takes a special kind of
person.” If you are that kind of person, you'll love
this place.

250 Canopy life at Cedar
Creek treehouse, Washington

If you don't have a head for heights then it may
be best to skip this one. As lofty lodgings go,
Cedar Creek Treehouse is vertiginously high.
Perched 15m above ground, it is wrapped around
the trunk of an enormous 200-year-old red cedar
oak, clear above the tops of the pine trees below.
The treehouse is the brainchild of Bill
Compher, who has created this stellar abode by
a forested creek at the border between Mount
Rainier National Park and the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest in Washington. Access is along
a 25m-long suspension footbridge, through a
rainforest of cedars, sword ferns and evergreens,
then up a five-storey stairway whose fourth
floor is a glass-enclosed observation area, where
you can swing in a hammock and enjoy the
mountain views.
On the fifth floor,
the treehouse
is split into two
levels: from the
entrance there's
a surprisingly
spacious living
room, kitchen,
bathroom and
sun room, while
upstairs the loft
has two double
beds and skylights
so you can take in
the night sky.
But if this
isn't enough of a
bird's-eye view,
you can climb
up a separate
30m “stairway
to heaven”, walk
across another
suspension
bridge to a glass

Need to know The treehouse is 15km by car
from the Nisqually River entrance to Mount
Rainier National Park. For prices, photos,
details of activities and reservations see W www.
cedarcreektreehouse.com; T [phone].

Inside a yurt at Treebones,
California

251 off-grid at treebones,
California

If you like the idea of watching whales but can't
stomach the boat journey out to sea for a closer
view, then Treebones' yurt camp could be just the
ticket. The camp - named after an old lumber
mill - is high up on a hill overlooking the sea
at the southern end of the Big Sur, the 145km
stretch of rugged Californian coastline flanked
by the majestic Santa Lucía Mountains and the
rocky Pacific coast.
Seven of Treebones' sixteen yurts face the ocean,
where several species of whales can be seen
throughout the year: grey whales from December
to April as they pass through on their annual
migration between Alaska and Baja California;
blue whales from June to October and humpback
whales from late April to early December.
The yurts here have polished pine floors, wood-
burning stoves and clear-domed roofs that allow
sunlight to flood in, and which are perfect for
stargazing at night. Other than telephone lines,
the resort is entirely off-grid: it has its own well,
and everything is powered by propane-fuelled
turbines; the heat produced in the process is used
to warm the water, swimming pool and hot tubs.