Sugar Hill Fire Tower

Hi Blog.  Today is Wednesday, May 14, 2014. After spending most of yesterday inside, in front of our computers, working on trip logistics, we decided that today we needed to get out and about. Whenever we get to a new area of the country, we check out Trails.com to see what hiking opportunities are near us. Here in Watkins Glen, we found a number of possibilities.

Today we decided to venture out into the Sugar Hill State Forest and hike to the Sugar Hill Fire Tower. Among Sugar Hill State Forest's many attractions is the Six Nations Recreation Trail System.  This well used trail system is just shy of 40 miles long. It is open for horse use in the summer months, and snowmobile use when there is sufficient snow cover. Hiking on the trails is encouraged anytime. However, it should be noted that all the horse traffic does make it a bit mucky this time of year. Here is Kathy pointing out where we are on the Six Nations Trail Map.

Since 40 miles is a bit much to do in one day, we decided to just hike 5 miles along the Mohawk Trail directly to the Fire Tower and back again for a total of 10 miles.  Here is Dave pointing the way at the start of our hike.

After a mile or so in the woods, we came out to a pipe line easement which also serves as a fire break.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves having to ford a stream. In fact, the stream had pretty much taken over the trail at this point.

After we crossed the stream, we came upon a perfectly planted grove of fir trees.  We later learned that the Civilian Conservations Corp. was responsible for a number of work projects in Sugar Hill, including the planting of thousands of pine and spruce trees, the construction of roads, and the Sugar Hill Fire Tower - all between 1934 and 1941.

Because the trails are multi-purpose, so are the trail markers.  Here, David tries to figure out where we go next:

With over 40 miles of trails, it is possible to do a multi-day backpack. There are lean-to's at a number of the trail junctions.  Here Dave is showing the proper way to lean to.

It may be hard to see in this photo, but Dave found a hidden spring.

We stopped for a brief break at this lean to.

Here Kathy demonstrates her mad lean-to skills.

After slogging up hill for five miles, nothing was going to stop Kathy from reaching the fire tower.

Here Kathy could just not contain her excitement at having reached the summit.

However, there was still more up.

The views down to the Finger Lakes were amazing.

After sucking up the panoramic views from the top of the tower, we tucked into our trail lunches and gave our tootsies a chances to be out of our boots for a few minutes before starting the five mile trek back to the truck.  This photo will give you an example of the muckiness of the trail.

Well, at least we were able to wash some of the mud off our boots.

The thunderstorms they predicted for this afternoon never arrived.  We were able to dry out our boots and enjoy Happy Hour on the deck. Needless to say, we are going to be a little stiff tomorrow, but it was oh-so-worth-it.