Climbing to the Wakely Mountain Fire Tower

Friday, September 10, 2021

Hi Blog!

On Wednesday, we traveled from Ausable Chasm to Thornbush Acres in Indian Lake, New York. We are camped in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. We had last stayed here back in 2014. At that time, we were able to hike to two of the 25 fire towers in the Adirondacks. Today, we added another tower to our collection. Wakely Mountain’s 70-foot tower is one of the highest in New York state, and the tower affords excellent views of the West Canada Lakes Wilderness to the south and the High Peaks to the north. 

We started our hike on an old logging road.

Logging in the Adirondack forests began shortly after the English replaced the Dutch as the landlords of New Netherlands and changed its name to New York. Logging operations generated wealth, opened up land for farming, and removed the cover that provided a haven for Indians. After the Revolutionary War, the Crown lands passed to the people of New York State. Needing money to discharge war debts, the new government sold nearly all the original public acreage - some 7 million acres - for pennies an acre.

By 1850, the destruction of Adirondack forests became a growing concern, as the continued depletion of watershed woodlands reduced the soil's ability to hold water, hastening topsoil erosion and exaggerating periods of flooding. Lumbering was not alone in impoverishing the forest: the tanning industry depleted the hemlock; the paper industry consumed spruce and fir; and the charcoal industry devoured wood of all sizes and shapes. 

Even today, you can still find remnants of the industry that ravaged the mountains.  A short way up the trail, we found this twisted wreckage of what appeared to be an old pickup truck.  How it got here, and how it became so mangled, are mysteries we will not be able to solve.

To try and save the forest, the Adirondack Park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure,” and for watershed protection. The park's boundary roughly corresponds with the Adirondack Mountains. Unlike most state parks, about 52 percent of the land is privately-owned in-holdings. State lands within the park are known as Forest Preserve. Land use on public and private lands in the park is regulated by the Adirondack Park Agency. This area contains 102 towns and villages, as well as numerous farms, businesses and an active timber-harvesting industry. The year-round population is 132,000, with 200,000 seasonal residents. But with 6.1 million acres, it is easy to wander around the woods and not see another soul.

There is no doubt Fall is here.  We saw lots of colorful leaves on the trail, although the trees themselves are still green with only small touches of Autumn color.

The first two miles of the trail were relatively level. We had several stream crossings. Pictured below, Kathy takes a moment to check out the log bridge across an unnamed creek that eventually empties into Cedar River. 

Much of the trail work in the Adirondacks is done by volunteers from the Adirondack Mountain Club. The ADK was founded in 1922 to help develop and maintain hiking trails, to construct and maintain campsites and permanent camps, to publish trail maps and guidebooks, and to educate the public regarding the conservation of natural resources and prevention of forest fires. The ADK has approximately 30,000 members. Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, was an early member, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were lifetime members of the ADK. Thanks to the efforts of the trail crew, we could cross the stream without getting out feet wet.

At the two mile mark, the trail leaves the original fire tower road, which had been an old logging road, and heads almost straight up the mountain to the fire tower. We took a break and prepared ourselves for the challenges ahead, which were greater than we expected.

Fall color is definitely starting to show in more ways than one. It's so cold, this plant is turning purple!

After leaving the old road, the trail changes dramatically. It begins a steady and fairly steep climb of about 1150 feet over the next mile. There are only a few switchbacks during this entire section. Much of this part of the trail is eroded down to the bedrock. Yesterday's rain made the smooth rock very slippery. In the photo below, Kathy is not eager to try her luck on the wet rockface. Instead, she carefully picks her way around the edge.

You never know what you are going to find along a hike. Sometimes it is the little things that draw your attention. This fun guy decided to make his home on the stump of an old tree. 

While much of this part of the trail was undeveloped, we did encounter a few hand rails and one ladder on our way up, which were very useful on the way down.

Back in 1972, the old caretakers cabin was dismantled. This field was cleared and a helecopter pad constructed so that materials for the new caretaker cabin could be delivered.

We climbed up on the platform and were rewarded with views of the Cedar River Flow and the mountains beyond.

One of the unique facts of the Wakely Fire Tower is that it was one of the first ten built in the Adirondack Park in 1916.  The towers were adapted from windmills, which did not need daily access, and had a vertical ladders on the outside of the tower.  All later towers across the park were built with the standard staircase we now see.  The original ten were eventually refitted with “modern” stairs (1930), but only this tower still has the original vertical ladder attached.  The lower section of the ladder was removed to prevent climbing.

After climbing 89 stairs and a 6 rung ladder, we made our way onto the viewing platform at the top of the tower. As we looked down, we could see the helicopter pad.

With temperatures in the 50s and 30 mile per hour winds, we only stayed above tree line long enough to take a few photos and enjoy the views.

The caretakers cabin looks snug as a bug in a green rug!

We met only one other hiker the whole day. While we saw bear scat on the trail, we saw no wildlife while we were in the forest. However, as soon as we started to drive back to Indian Lake, a small herd of deer walked across the road:

If the weather cooperates, we hope to climb to at least one more fire tower. There are also a number of lakes, ponds and rivers that would be fun to paddle. So, stay tuned.