Mt. Tremper via Willow Trail

After three days of partying (an out of town rehearsal dinner and wedding, and a high school reunion) I was ready for a wholesome activity. Sister and I chose Mt. Tremper because it was the closest fire tower hike left to climb, and it was a shorter hike; no need to throw my I'm-getting-too-old-to-party-like-this-body into shock. So down to the Catskills we went. We chose the Willow Trail approach because our guide book said it would save 600 feet in elevation change but only add 0.2 miles round trip. Perfect hike for my condition!



The trail begins at the dead stop end of Jessup Rd. Our guide book says its 6.4 miles round trip. We were too busy talking about my eventful week and missed the turn sign through the meadow to the trail. We came to a gorgous building with solar panels and a field of wild turkeys. The road turned around and we encountered some loggers who informed us that we did miss a turn a while back. That excursion probably added only a half mile onto our hike.


When we got back on track we climbed a little and walked along the ridge where we could hear the helpful loggers down below and a snake (not a rattlesnake) sailed over the toe of my boot. We saw Doll's Eyes in person for the first time ever! We moved forward for quite some time before getting to a junction where a sign said that there was over two miles to the summit. That, according to our calculations based on the guidebook, would mean that we had only walked about a mile from the trail head?! We took ino consideration our missed turn in Albuquerque, but it still didn't seem to check out. We hiked all the way to the summit, and towards the end of the trail we were both amazed at how it seemed like the longest 3.2 miles of our lives. I blamed it on my exhaustion and the wine from the night before.

Doll's Eyes

At the summit, much to our dissapointment, the fire tower appeared to be closed and a little unsafe to climb. Several beams were on the ground, and we speculated as to whether it was under repair and reconstruction or if the tower was going to be taken down. The pulleys and large C-clamps made us think that a restoration was in store, but the spokesperson for the family at the summit insisted it was being taken down.



No views are available from the bottom of the tower, but a large rock provided a nice sitting spot for lunch. After lunch and picture takin we continued a little down the Phoenicia trail to check out the lean-to.

Even the way down seemed equally long. I was starting to feel ashamed - we have conquored several mountains more difficult that this trail, what was my problem?! This was a fairly easy trail! We had estimated that the 6.4 mile hike would take us 3.5 hours at most, but it took us five hours including summit, picture taking, the little accidental excursion and the walk to the lean-to. How shameful! What a pleasant surprise it was when Sister found out that the Willow Trail of Mt. Tremper, according to the Catskill Center website, is actually 4.2 miles to the summit, making it about two miles longer round trip that we had thought!



An email to a Catskill Fire Tower Volunteer clarified the fire tower situation. No worries, it is under repair and it isn't going anywhere! We should have known that they wouldn't let it come down!

Tour of Balsam Lake Mountain

My favorite fire towers are always the ones that are not only climbable, but with access to the cab as well. My first Catskill fire tower hike was an amazing experience - not only was it staffed with interpreters,but one of the interpreters had a special connection to the mountain.

Our hike started off on the Dry Brook Ridge Trail beginning at the southern approach to Balsam Lake Mountain in Beaverkill, NY. The sign to the "fire tower" almost got lost in the glare of the sun, but fortunately Sister's eyes are better than mine, as I would have led us down the path marked "trail," go figure. I'm not sure where that would have brought us to, but I think it may be part of the southern "loop."

Almost overlooked the sign to the tower

From the Dry Brook Ridge Trail, we met the Balsam Lake Mountain trail which was steeper but not horrible. Along the way we found things that we had not encountered on any hikes in the Adirondacks this year, such as rock walls across the trail (perhaps for run-off,) rocks containing rocks and possibly quartz, and Indian Pipes. Sister pointed out the Indian Pipes, which are "albino" plants lacking chlorophyll, but resembling a mushroom but they are not actually a fungus. Without chlorophyll, they do not require the sun that other plants do, allowing them to grow in the dark forest.

"Chlorophyll... More like bore-aphyll!"~Adam Sandler in Billy Madison

We made a wrong turn in Albuquerque at a very deceptive sign. We followed the sign leading us to the new lean-to and privy, however, the trail seemed to disappear into nothing in both directions from the lean-to site. Bushwhacking got us nowhere so we retraced our steps back to the sign we followed at the most recent intersection. We realized that Balsam Lake Mt was also the name of the lean-to. We continued up the trail where we initially took a left, this led us to the spring which was in the guide book, so we knew we were back on track!

The sign clearly makes Balsam Lake Mt and Lean To to be two separate things in the same direction. You wouldn't have gone straight either!

Balsam Lake Mt Lean-To dedicated to Elinore Leavitt - past President and Chair of the Catskills 3500 Club

We continued to the summit where the tower became visible through the trees. Posing for pictures with the tower behind, we got distracted by these beautiful wild flowers which we were told was fireweed. At the tower we were greeted by Tom and Laurie, the volunteer interpretive guides. Suppressing the urge jump, clap, and shriek "INTERPRETIVE GUIDES!" we kept our cool and followed Tom to the top of the tower. He gave us a tour of the Catskills, and even parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He let us use his binoculars to see the towers on Red Hill and Hunter Mountain, and to see the large stone structure on a mountain in New Jersey. He showed us the valley where Laurie, the other guide grew up, and the cabin that her father built!

The Tower

Fireweed

He explained the triangulation that the observers used to do, moving the alidade on the topographical map in line with where the smoke was. Observers staffing other towers would do the same, calling in their data via telephone. With the multiple location points observed, fire fighters had a better idea of where the exact location of the fire was.



Laurie gave us a tour of the cabin that her father, Larry Baker, build. We toured the kitchen, equipped with a stove and telephone, where the original topographical map is located. Signs and gear adorned the wall. We saw the water packs that the fire fighters would wear into the woods to use to try to extinguish the fire. My father-in-law actually wore these several years ago when he was a volunteer fire fighter in Pottersville, NY. We saw a picture of Laurie with her father taken several years ago. She showed us one of the Catskills books where she is pictured with her father as well.

The cabin that Larry Baker built - note Smokey the Bear on the door!

Father and daughter

After our tour, we were given signed and dated cards, just like the observers used to pass out, saying that we made it to the summit of Balsam Lake Mountain. Between the two, Laurie and Tom are members of prestigious groups such as the 46ers, winter 46ers, Catskill 3500 club, Views and Brews, and probably a few that I'm forgetting.

Balsam Lake Mountain was the home of New York State's first fire tower, built in 1887 with wood by the Balsam Lake Mountain Club. It survived until 1901 when a lightning strike took it down. It was replaced with another wooden tower in 1905. Telephone lines, an access road, and a cabin were added in 1919.

The current 47' steel tower was build in 1930, closed in 1988, and was restored and officially reopened in 2000.

Information from:
www.catskillcenter.org/towers/balsamlake.html


For more pictures, see my Flickr Set