I've done 18 in the Adirondacks and 1 in the Catskills. I'm looking forward to Lyon, Woodhull and Adams later this summer. I enjoy the firetowers -- fewer people, pleasant hikes and some great views.
"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” John Muir
I have: Poko and Hurricane would love to do more. Going up Poko again Saturday evening to be on top for the full moon. May stay and camp, may come down but will be fun either way!
There is as much beauty on the way up as there is when you get there!
I'm planning on climbing my GF and I's 23rd tower this weekend, including the Catskills which we've completed.
Some things I've found are:
-Some are incredibly easy (Bald, Kane, Belfry, Cathedral Rock)
-Some are a heckuva climb (Allen, Snowy)
-Some have great views (Hurricane, St. Regis, Allen)
-Compared to some with amazing views, it sounds kind of snotty, but some have 'meh' views (Kane, Bald, Cathedral Rock)
-The Catskills are no joke (My first time there. We did 5 towers in 3 days. It was tiring. The trails have a pretty high gain, some around 2000).
Overall they're really fun. We've had a great time with them.
Completed the ADK FT Challenege and the HAMCO FT challenge this past weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed driving my 4-door sedan down the access roads to the trailheads for Pillsbury and Vanderwhacker. Along with some dirt-roadin' on Corey's road and the roads through Moose River Plains, I owe my car some past due servicing as a way of saying thanks.
I started this with my son last year (7 years old) as a way to get him more interested in hiking. So far we've done Hadley and uhhh Hadley. Is there a good list somewhere that ranks the difficulty? I'd like to find some other stuff around the same difficulty or easier for us to tackle next.
Tanston, Don't know where you live, but near Watkins Glen there's a fire tower at Sugar Hill State Forest that you drive to and can camp next to......so close to Watkins Glen, that you can hear the fireworks from the racetrack some evenings.... Last time I was there the Forest Service was building flush toilets, but not showers. There was also a Geo-cache right across the street from the fire tower that would be an easy way to introduce your son to finding them..... BTY camping there is free.
There's also many hiking trails used by people with bikes and horses. The big trailers with the horses park on top of the hill... tent campers down on the grass.
Might want to contact the ranger to confirm that there's no archery tournament ... such as the zone or NY State Championship the weekend as they get crowded.
Last edited by dockless; 04-28-2015, 05:04 PM.
Reason: Spelling again......
Used to climb the Padlock Hill fire tower every summer, as it was located close to our cabin in Tompkins County. Then the state moved it to the state fairgrounds. I want to go up it to see if my name is still in the cab.
I had my own fire tower challenge in mind. See how many towers you can visit in a 24 hour period. The clock starts at the base of the first tower.
In the process...hiked kane ,pokeomoonshine black, hadley, red hill, hitting belfry this weekend..anyone know if you have to do it in certain amount of time? Same year? With 2 or 5 years?
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