Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We met Jay H near the Sterling Forest State Park, and spotted a car for a hike to Sterling Forest Fire Tower. We hiked South along a ridge for about 3.3 miles. We gained and lost elevation as we went, but it was mild overall. We arrived after about 75 minutes of hiking. The Tower and cabin are open and manned by Bob Spear. It is the only continuously manned tower in NY state. The views were very hazy, but Bob made up for it by expounding on fire tower history for quite a while. Laurie really soaked it in. By the way, the BUGS are out!!! 
Eventually, we said good bye and headed off South to the car. We met another Observer on his way up, Larry ??, from Long Island. We chatted for a while, but the bugs were getting to us, so off we went. The trail back down is just the old road. Near the bottom, we saw that the road was flooded over by a beaver dam. It was easy enough to get around.
We drove back to Jay's Car and said good bye. On we went to Ninham.
Ninham is near Carmel, just over an hour's drive from Sterling Forest. By this time the bank thermometers were reading in the upper 70's! We found the trail head and started up the old road. We noticed a trail head off to the right almost immediately, but since we didn't know where it went, we took the road all the way to the top. It was only about 1.5 miles. This is NY State's tallest standing tower, at just over 82'. The views were better, but still not great, as the haze lingered on the horizon. We met several people on this hike, many with friendly dogs. We found the trail going back down, and this turned out to be a much nicer walk than the road.
All in all, a very nice day with very warm, humid conditions.
Pics will follow...
Eventually, we said good bye and headed off South to the car. We met another Observer on his way up, Larry ??, from Long Island. We chatted for a while, but the bugs were getting to us, so off we went. The trail back down is just the old road. Near the bottom, we saw that the road was flooded over by a beaver dam. It was easy enough to get around.
We drove back to Jay's Car and said good bye. On we went to Ninham.
Ninham is near Carmel, just over an hour's drive from Sterling Forest. By this time the bank thermometers were reading in the upper 70's! We found the trail head and started up the old road. We noticed a trail head off to the right almost immediately, but since we didn't know where it went, we took the road all the way to the top. It was only about 1.5 miles. This is NY State's tallest standing tower, at just over 82'. The views were better, but still not great, as the haze lingered on the horizon. We met several people on this hike, many with friendly dogs. We found the trail going back down, and this turned out to be a much nicer walk than the road.
All in all, a very nice day with very warm, humid conditions.
Pics will follow...
