Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Laurie and I are now volunteers at the Balsam Lake Mountain Firetower site. We help man the cabin and tower on weekends.
This past weekend, we spent our first weekend up on the mountain. We walked up Saturday morning thru 2-3 inches of new, wet snow. We met Rich Roller, the volunteer coordinator, and he gave us the scoop on what to do when we are up there. After a few hours, he walked out, and we were left to ourselves. Well sort of! About 15 boy scouts showed up a little while later. They were camping at the lean to nearby. We let them up in the tower and they enjoyed the limited views. Eventually, they left to go make dinner and prepare for the night.
Dinner for us was noodles that we had cooked before hand and prepared in boiling water. There is a spring near by and adequate cooking facilities at the cabin.
We slept in our sleeping bags on low cots. The wood stove kept us warm, but we had to feed it a few times during the night.
In the morning, we had a couple more inches of new snow. We had breakfast, cleaned up the cabin, inspected the leanto and tower grounds, packed up, locked up, and walked out. The walk out was quick. The snow was pretty much gone by the time we got to the trailhead.
It was another great weekend in the mountains!
This past weekend, we spent our first weekend up on the mountain. We walked up Saturday morning thru 2-3 inches of new, wet snow. We met Rich Roller, the volunteer coordinator, and he gave us the scoop on what to do when we are up there. After a few hours, he walked out, and we were left to ourselves. Well sort of! About 15 boy scouts showed up a little while later. They were camping at the lean to nearby. We let them up in the tower and they enjoyed the limited views. Eventually, they left to go make dinner and prepare for the night.
Dinner for us was noodles that we had cooked before hand and prepared in boiling water. There is a spring near by and adequate cooking facilities at the cabin.
We slept in our sleeping bags on low cots. The wood stove kept us warm, but we had to feed it a few times during the night.
In the morning, we had a couple more inches of new snow. We had breakfast, cleaned up the cabin, inspected the leanto and tower grounds, packed up, locked up, and walked out. The walk out was quick. The snow was pretty much gone by the time we got to the trailhead.
It was another great weekend in the mountains!
