Each year hundreds of amateur astronomers gather at Indian Trail Springs in the Ochoco Mountains east of Prineville Oregon where the skies are very dark and clear at night. They bring all sorts of telescopes and scan the night sky for faint double stars, galaxies, star clusters and the planets.

Video by Steven Nehl

Terry Richard/The OregonianFive Mile Butte fire lookout at Mount Hood.

It's time to plan your summer stay in a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout or guard cabin. Here's a taste of what you can expect.

Believe me, this is not a bad way to "camp'' in a national forest Here's a story of a trip I recently made to a Mount Hood fire lookout.

41 STEPS: UP AND UP AND A-SWAY IN THE WATCHTOWER

Forty-one steps.

Up and down, a half-dozen times each day, ferrying sleeping bags, food, water and reading material.

All those steps threatened to take the romance out of a two-night stay in the Fivemile Butte fire lookout on the Mount Hood National Forest. But since I was sharing the lookout with my brother and his dog, I wasn't there for the romance anyway.

Terry Richard, The OregonianA deluxe camping cabin on Lake Billy Chinook in Cove Palisades State Park.

Rain on the tent, hard ground to sleep on, long walks to the restrooms can be miseries of the past, at least for campers lucky enough to snag one of the deluxe cabins at two state parks in central Oregon (the Cove Palisades and Prineville Reservoir) and one at the coast (Cape Lookout), or a deluxe yurt at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. Wallowa Lake and La Pine state parks each also have one deluxe cabin.

Do you suppose I will be so lucky to get one of these on my current camping trip, June 3-12? I'm going to be working the Cascades, from Mount Hood south down to Mount McLoughlin, then will be taking a really big swing through eastern and central Oregon.

My final package will be published in print and on line Sunday, July 6, in The Oregonian's Travel section and on OregonLive. But I need your help.

Send me tips, by commenting on this blog, dropping me an e-mail or calling at 503-221-8222, on: