Ascending Owl's Head Fire Tower

Tuesday, September 13, 2021

Hi Blog!

Tuesday was our last full day in the Adirondacks. After Monday's fishing adventure on Eaton Lake, we decided we wanted a hiking day. When we paddled around Eaton Lake, we had great views of Owls Head Mountain. Turns out, Owls Head has a fire tower and a 3.1 mile trail that takes you right to the tower. We wanted to get an early start, but it was foggy most of the morning. No sense climbing to the top of a mountain to take in the views if there are no views. We busied ourselves with pre-move chores. By 10:00 a.m. the skies began to clear. We packed our packs and reached the trailhead by 10:30.

 

In 1970, the State of New York stopped manning the fire towers. Several were taken down while others had their bottom flights of stairs removed. It took 30 years before these fire towers were re-opened. Many of the towers have been adopted by local hiking groups. The Owls Head Tower and trail are maintained by the Friends of Owls Head Fire Tower. Below, Dave poses with some of their handiwork.

We recently learned of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) Fire Tower Hiking Challenge. In 2001, the ADK published Views from on High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills. The book describes 30 fire tower trails accompanied by photos, maps, and GPS coordinates for trailheads. It includes a chapter on the history of the Forest Preserve fire towers and describes towers located in both the Adirondacks and Catskills Parks. To complete the Fire Tower Challenge, you only have to hike to 23 of the 30 towers in both parks, document your hikes, send in your list and $5.00 to the ADK, and you get a patch! This will be our fourth tower in the Adirondacks. We have a couple in the Catskills, but that's for another blog.

Owls Head Mountain is part of the Sargent Ponds Wild Forest, which covers an impressive approximately 45,000 acres. Owls Head is a prominent peak in the Long Lake area and is made up of four separate summits, two of which are referred to as the horns. These horns give the mountain the look of an owl's head - a great horned owl's head to be exact.

Moving up the trail from the bridge, we first noted how many more colorful leaves littered the trail.  While the trees themselves are still generally green and don't display extensive color, the trail was a beautiful Jackson Pollock painting:

As to the fire tower itself, which was our goal, it was first a wooden fire tower erected by the Commission Corps in September of 1911, which was replaced by the current 35′ steel Aermotor LS40 tower in 1919. Observers (the title of the people who watch for fires in New York) originally stayed in tents until the Observer’s Cabin was built below the summit, the latest being built in 1929.  A phone line ran up the mountain and the small poles are still visible along the trail, many boasting trail markers.

Aerial detection of forest fires by planes and radar have replaced the need (i.e. cost) for manning fire towers across the state. The Owls Head tower closed at the end of the 1970 season and the Observer’s Cabin was burned in 1979 as “non-conforming” to the natural state of the forest. All that's left of the cabin are the front steps and concrete footings. Dave knocked, but no one answered!

Some hiker used the old footings as a stove.

The Owls Head Tower is half as tall as the Wakely Tower, which we hiked a few days ago. However, from Owls Head, you can see eight other fire towers. In order to pinpoint the location of a fire, two towers were needed to triangulate. Owl Head might be small, but was it was mighty important.

Dave went up the tower stairs first, just to make sure it was safe. Kathy waited patiently below for the all clear.  (Can you spot her in the photo below?)

The views from the top of the tower were expansive:

Its windows seemed to frame innumerable lakes, which surrounded us at every compass direction:

The lakes and peaks stretched out as far as the eye could see:

We even spotted what we believed was Lake Eaton below, where we had paddled and fished the day before.  Our trail connected with a trail that would have taken us over to the Lake Eaton campground, "only" another 3.8 miles out and 3.8 miles back.  We decided to pass on that option.

We kept our heads in the clouds as long as we could, but our tummies began to rumble. We slowly descended back to earth. We found a nice smooth rock with a pleasant view and enjoyed our lunch. Sit back and enjoy the views!

Just as we finished, another couple reached the tower. It was time to get back on the trail.  We exchanged pleasantries before descending some slick, flat, steep rock faces that gave us pause as we climbed up, and gave us even more pause as we climbed (slid?) down.  Yet, heading down, we spotted more workarounds than we had seen climbing up, and the rock faces proved not to be as challenging as they had been on the uphill.

There are some hikers who don't like out and back trails. They prefer long point to point hikes or circular hikes. They don't want to cover the same ground twice. We feel that the trail is always different on the way back. You are not as focused on your destination. You have time to relax and enjoy what's around you, whether it be a babbling brook or convenient log seat.

We move on to the Catskills next. Not sure what adventures await us, but that's half the fun! Until next we meet, stay thirsty my friends.