Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We set our sights on Leonard Hill yesterday. It's not far from Laurie's house and has a 80' fire tower. The road to the PA is a little washed out, but manageable in a normal car. There is a large wooden DEC sign that marks the start of the hike, but you can drive all the way up if you're lazy. 
Laurie took her grand-daughter Payton 'hiking' for the first time. She's 17 months old, and walks fine on her own, but of course at that age, she doesn't always walk in a straight line. We had a kiddy-carrier and after letting her walk a few hundred yards, exploring, picking flowers, and seeing an eft (newt) for the first time, we loaded her into the carrier on my back. She weighs over 30 lbs, and with the pack, and a few supplies, I was carrying 35 lbs up a road with a squirming toddler! This was a little tough on my back and shoulders, so after a while Laurie took over. She took Payton the rest of the way, almost to the summit. We let her out again and walked the last 100 yards with her exploring again.
The tower is in bad shape. The first 2 flights of stairs are missing, and the cab floor has been burned out by @#$#@$'s a while back! There are also a few nuts and bolts missing from the bottom supports. Also, the entire structure was covered with caterpillars!
We had a snack here and then started back down. Payton walked for a while, and then we packed her up on Laurie again. After Patyon fell asleep, Laurie refused to switch with me, so she ended up carrying Payton all the way back down! Ouch! I guess it will be good practice for Owl's head Saturday!
This is a nice easy hike, with good views, even if you can't climb the tower. You can see the Blackheads, Vly, and several other peaks in the distance. A good time was had by all!
Laurie took her grand-daughter Payton 'hiking' for the first time. She's 17 months old, and walks fine on her own, but of course at that age, she doesn't always walk in a straight line.
We had a kiddy-carrier and after letting her walk a few hundred yards, exploring, picking flowers, and seeing an eft (newt) for the first time, we loaded her into the carrier on my back. She weighs over 30 lbs, and with the pack, and a few supplies, I was carrying 35 lbs up a road with a squirming toddler! This was a little tough on my back and shoulders, so after a while Laurie took over. She took Payton the rest of the way, almost to the summit. We let her out again and walked the last 100 yards with her exploring again. The tower is in bad shape. The first 2 flights of stairs are missing, and the cab floor has been burned out by @#$#@$'s a while back!
There are also a few nuts and bolts missing from the bottom supports. Also, the entire structure was covered with caterpillars! We had a snack here and then started back down. Payton walked for a while, and then we packed her up on Laurie again. After Patyon fell asleep, Laurie refused to switch with me, so she ended up carrying Payton all the way back down! Ouch! I guess it will be good practice for Owl's head Saturday!
This is a nice easy hike, with good views, even if you can't climb the tower. You can see the Blackheads, Vly, and several other peaks in the distance. A good time was had by all!
