Vanderwhacker Mountain - July 14, 2011

"Level over the first half, then relentlessly steep." That's the billing we found in Freeman's firetower book about this hike. And this one is only considered "strenuous", not "difficult." So after 1.22 miles of deadfalls and mud, it was only then that we started up the next mile and the climb of more than 1500 feet to the top. About half way up we asked, "Why are we doing this?" The answer came at the top with this view of the Adirondack Mountains from above the trees. :-)

Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain - July 12, 2011

We took the new trail up to the top of the mountain to find the "cab" of the firetower draped in Old Glory. Co-author Mike Carpenter climbed the 2 mile, 1250 foot ascent with us. He thoroughly irritated us by not breathing hard, and looking as fresh AFTER the hike as he did before the hike. We'll get even with him; somehow. But it was a great, albeit HOT, day on the mountain and a good time was had by all! And, we have now completed #12 of 28 firetower mountains. Stay tuned for more.

Belfry Mountain - July 7, 2011

Okay, it's a mountain at 1820 feet. But you can drive to it at the 1700 feet level. That makes it a climb of only 120 feet and probably, by far, the easiest firetower climb in the "challenge." That's okay. There is a firetower and a great view at the top, all the way to Lake Champlain and Vermont.

But the kinda weird thing is that we did Goodnow Mountain on July 4th. While on top a couple and a young boy arrived while we were there. Three days later, in the afternoon, we met the same couple coming DOWN from Belfry, just as we were headed UP! We had a nice chat about, "What are the chances" of such a meetup? Guess we're all having fun and on the same schedule!

Goodnow Mountain - July 4th, 2011

We celebrated the 4th of July by climbing up Goodnow Mountain near Newcomb, NY. A day trip from Glens Falls, it was 1 1/2 hours to the trail, and just over a three hour trip up and back. A little tough, but listed as a "moderate" trail in Freeman's book. We were seriously disagreeing with Freeman's definition of "not steep", but reasonable people can disagree. Overall it was a great day - hot, humid and "steep" by our standards; not Freeman's. :-) But we survived, just fine.

Hunter Mountain - June 26, 2011 - Rip VanWinkle

We met Rip VanWinkle on this firetower trek! He fell asleep near here in the late 1700's and slept for twenty years. completely missing the American Revolution. Then woke up to a whole new world. At least that's the fictional story according to author Washington Irving in his short stories book published in 1819. Located at about the 3200 foot level of Hunter mountain, just off the high point of the Colonels Chair lift, is a memorial to good old "Rip". It took 14 years to complete this monument out of a chunk of 8 tons of blue sandstone by sculptor, Kevin VanHenteryck. Oh, yea, we found it at the END of our 4 mile, RT hike, up about 900 feet to the Hunter Mountain Firetower. Did we mention that? The photo is of Rip, not Roger; although they are about the same age. :-)

Red Hill Firetower - Re-do - June 12, 2011

In December of 2010 we climbed this mountain in 6 inches of snow. But.... Someone forgot to get the GPS reading at the summit! And since we ALWAYS do what we write about, it had to be done once again. But this time it was even better. On top, we met "Vince" hanging out 8 stories high on the tower. He was the volunteer "Tower Guide" according to his sign in at the base. And, he had the keys to get up into the "cab" at the top where the observers watched for fires. Even Roger, who hates heights, couldn't resist climbing up the nine stories to the top and looking out. It was the first time he has climbed to the top of one of these firetowers. It was a limited view on a foggy day, but Roger remembered to get his reading this time! It was a fun trip, no matter what the reason. And Vince was a good "Tower Guide" for us.

Balsam Lake Mountain - June 11, 2011

The downpours had passed when we began our trek up this Catskill mountain. And, we were pleasantly surprised when we completed our 2.7 mile climb in a relatively dry condition. We were met by Mike, the volunteer firetower guide and "keeper of the keys" to actually get up into the top of the tower where the fire observers actually stood watch for about 100 years. Sadly, the "view" from the top was almost non-existent due to heavy fog. Kate and Mike could barely even see Roger from the top of the tower. But we made it up the mountain today, enjoyed learning from Mike and had a great day! The photo to the right, with Mike and Kate at the base of the tower puts the tower in perspective.