Print Order Form or use Paypal:

Clinch Mountain is the setting for Jack Kestner's fast-paced thriller. Young Duncan Akers takes on a big challenge while recuperating from a serious illness. He agrees to serve as a lookout at a remote fire tower high atop Clinch Mountain in Southwest Virginia. When not at his lofty post watching for smoke or cooking meals in his tiny cabin, Duncan explores the dark depths of the mysterious sandstone channels that are weather-carved into the earth below.
    He's just settling into the rhythm of life and work in the wilderness when suddenly two unexpected visitors appear -- a desperate man and a little girl. Duncan's routine is disrupted in ways he could never have imagined. In short order a major forest fire threatens their lives as well as thousands of acres of pristine forestland he is determined to protect.

The late Jack Kestner wrote this adventure story in 1960 after serving as a lookout himself at the Hayters Knob fire tower on Clinch Mountain, which is the location he named "Kermit Knob" in the book. With this book, Jack honored the men and women of the Virginia Division of Forestry (now the Department of Forestry) who work tirelessly to protect lives and property during fire season.    

A View from the Mountain
108 of Jack's columns from the Bristol Herald Courier, selected by his family and readers. Jack's musings on stray dogs, humming-birds, and seasonal cycles at his Hayters Gap home in Southwest Virginia delighted his readers for 18 years. Read more...
$16.00