Tom Rankin
Well-known member
(With apologies to Charles Dickens)
We just did 2 firetower hikes that are a huge study in contrasts.
Saturday (7/1/5) Laurie and I set out to do the longest firetower hike in New York State, a trip to Woodhull. The first 5 miles are almost flat, along an old rail road bed. The rail trail portion is very wide and the grass grows quite tall, so the dew was very heavy. Our boots were soaked before we reached the real trail, even though we had both water-proofed them recently. The dear flies plagued us on this section. DEET did not seem to deter them, but a hat did help some. The humidity was pretty bad. There were a few streams along the way that had a little water in them. Once the rail trail ended, and we got on the footpath, and the flies left us. There is a strongly flowing stream just as the trail begins.
The ascent up to the tower was gentle. There were a few places of genuine Adirondack Boot Sucking Mud. (BSM Index =2). Before we knew it, we were there. Total time to get to the tower, 2.5 hours, over 7.5 miles! Elevation gain, only 800 feet. The tower has an unusual staircase, in that it is self-supporting. The views were poor, owing to some haze, and the relatively low elevation. We found the remains of the cabin, just a few hundred feet from the tower. It was almost gone, except for the stone foundation. There were a few Iris and Digitalas blooming here.
Back we went, down the trail to the rail trail. The dew had evaporated, but the flies remained. We hustled down the trail and got back to the car as quickly as we could. We had met no one all day. A few hours later, the heavens opened up and we had buckets of rain and lots of lightning. We saw places where I-90 was covered with mud and debris. At least we were not out in that!
The next day, we set out for Gore Mountain, a place you ski buffs may have heard of. The day was beautiful. There were almost no clouds, and the temperatures were much more pleasant than the day before. A nice breeze was blowing as well. There is a very nice, shady trail all the way to the summit that is well maintained and stays off the ski slopes as much as possible. There were almost no bugs. It is a little tricky to stay on at times, but we made it. The trail is quite steep in many places, and you earn this summit!
After about 1 hour, we came to a nice stream in a small valley. There are some cool cliffs here. Soon, we came out on a nice view of what we thought was the summit, not far away. (NOT!). When we got to the false summit, we thought that we had one more hill to climb. (NOT!). Finally, we reached the true summit. The tower is not climbable, with dire warnings about radiation exceeding allowable limits, etc., etc. We took a few pictures and went down a few feet to the top of a ski slope, where there were picnic tables. From here we had great views of the high peaks. We met one young couple on the way down. The girl was practicing for a trip to Whitney, so we gave her some tips as we walked back. Near the trailhead, there is a small, free beach, where we cooled off a little before heading back.
Gore was a 9 mile roundtrip, with 2500' of elevation gain, and a summit of 3583', over 1300' higher than Woodhull. It is rated as one of the most difficult towers in New York state ('very strenuous'), because of the elevation gain. Woodhull is rated as 'strenuous', owing only to the distance.
There were quite a few contrasts in these 2 hikes. The trails, the distance, the elevation gain, temperature, humidity, bugs, views, were all different. Both had their moments though. I would definitely do Gore again, but I might pass on Woodhull.
(P.S. - I saw a snake on both trails - I almost never see snakes when hiking. The 2nd was not a garter snake, and not a rattler, but it was aggressive. It came at me, and I had to fend it off with my pole).
We just did 2 firetower hikes that are a huge study in contrasts.
Saturday (7/1/5) Laurie and I set out to do the longest firetower hike in New York State, a trip to Woodhull. The first 5 miles are almost flat, along an old rail road bed. The rail trail portion is very wide and the grass grows quite tall, so the dew was very heavy. Our boots were soaked before we reached the real trail, even though we had both water-proofed them recently. The dear flies plagued us on this section. DEET did not seem to deter them, but a hat did help some. The humidity was pretty bad. There were a few streams along the way that had a little water in them. Once the rail trail ended, and we got on the footpath, and the flies left us. There is a strongly flowing stream just as the trail begins.
The ascent up to the tower was gentle. There were a few places of genuine Adirondack Boot Sucking Mud. (BSM Index =2). Before we knew it, we were there. Total time to get to the tower, 2.5 hours, over 7.5 miles! Elevation gain, only 800 feet. The tower has an unusual staircase, in that it is self-supporting. The views were poor, owing to some haze, and the relatively low elevation. We found the remains of the cabin, just a few hundred feet from the tower. It was almost gone, except for the stone foundation. There were a few Iris and Digitalas blooming here.
Back we went, down the trail to the rail trail. The dew had evaporated, but the flies remained. We hustled down the trail and got back to the car as quickly as we could. We had met no one all day. A few hours later, the heavens opened up and we had buckets of rain and lots of lightning. We saw places where I-90 was covered with mud and debris. At least we were not out in that!
The next day, we set out for Gore Mountain, a place you ski buffs may have heard of. The day was beautiful. There were almost no clouds, and the temperatures were much more pleasant than the day before. A nice breeze was blowing as well. There is a very nice, shady trail all the way to the summit that is well maintained and stays off the ski slopes as much as possible. There were almost no bugs. It is a little tricky to stay on at times, but we made it. The trail is quite steep in many places, and you earn this summit!
After about 1 hour, we came to a nice stream in a small valley. There are some cool cliffs here. Soon, we came out on a nice view of what we thought was the summit, not far away. (NOT!). When we got to the false summit, we thought that we had one more hill to climb. (NOT!). Finally, we reached the true summit. The tower is not climbable, with dire warnings about radiation exceeding allowable limits, etc., etc. We took a few pictures and went down a few feet to the top of a ski slope, where there were picnic tables. From here we had great views of the high peaks. We met one young couple on the way down. The girl was practicing for a trip to Whitney, so we gave her some tips as we walked back. Near the trailhead, there is a small, free beach, where we cooled off a little before heading back.
Gore was a 9 mile roundtrip, with 2500' of elevation gain, and a summit of 3583', over 1300' higher than Woodhull. It is rated as one of the most difficult towers in New York state ('very strenuous'), because of the elevation gain. Woodhull is rated as 'strenuous', owing only to the distance.
There were quite a few contrasts in these 2 hikes. The trails, the distance, the elevation gain, temperature, humidity, bugs, views, were all different. Both had their moments though. I would definitely do Gore again, but I might pass on Woodhull.
(P.S. - I saw a snake on both trails - I almost never see snakes when hiking. The 2nd was not a garter snake, and not a rattler, but it was aggressive. It came at me, and I had to fend it off with my pole).
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