3 Fire Tower Overlook Mtn Catskills

Onto the third of our Fire Towers.  We needed to head to Pennsylvania so we planned to attack one of the fire towers in the Catskills.  The weather seemed iffy and calling for rain right about the time we expected to be at the mountain so we waited to make a decision until we arrived at the exit.  Overlook Mountain was near the Thruway near Woodstock, NY so if it looked like rain we would drive by and arrive in PA earlier than planned.Overlook is a 5 mile round trip with an elevation change of 1400 ft.  Difficulty is considered moderate and never very steep.

We began the day with a hearty breakfast at the ADK Cafe in Keene. It was a warm and dreary day.  The rain held off so we leashed the dogs, Foster and Brodie, and headed up.  It was a continuous, steep, excuse me, moderate climb, at least 2 miles on an old stone and gravel carriage road way.  The trees were thick along the road which alloweafforded no views.  We did see a shell of a hotel, originally built in 1833, burned to the ground on April Fool's Day 1874 (no one believed a small child tried to convince the staff that there was smoke from the chimney darker than usual) rebuilt in 1978 and burned down again in 1924.  The struggle to keep it opened ended in 1939.   Past the ruins is a large ugly communications tower.  From there it was a short climb to the fire tower.  The rain held off and the overcast sky did not block the 360 views of the Hudson River Valley to the east, Hunter Mountain to the north, Ashokan Reservoir to the south, and Slide Mountain to the west. At the base of the fire tower is a path for more views.  We were on a cliff that looked down on the tops of trees and the Hudson River.  Brodie seemed keen on jumping off the cliff to get something in the trees.  Thankfully he was on a leash.  Paul noted the changing winds and movement of the clouds and suggested we start heading down, fast.  About 3/4 of the way down the mountain the sky's opened and we were drenched by the time we reached the car.

Fire Tower 2 Hurricane Mountain

Technically tax season was in full swing but the ladies we had met at Ubu's in January sent us a text to say they were hiking Hurricane Mountain and would we join them.  Paul and I thought we would be holding them up but we agreed to meet with the understanding they did not have to wait for us. Turned out to be a wonderful day.  We met up at the 46 Sandwiches in town.  They added Blake to our group.  a young filmographer of the 46er film. A hit among the local crowd and hikers everywhere.  After breakfast we went to the second entrance to Hurricane up Rt 9N. This is the shortest route to the summit

.   Lots of uphill driving to the trail head.  Good for us, less uphill to climb.  Morning was cold and sunny.  We waited for Blake..long dull story.   The beginning part of the hike was flat through a forest then started uphill.  There was more ice than we expected.  It had been very warm the week before and not much snowfall for the year.  Our micro-spikes came in handy.  And because they were so new they were thankfully very sharp.  It was a short hike 2.2 miles from the parking lot to the tower.  When we arrived at the top it was a glorious day.  We could see Whiteface as well as many other mountains.  We spent a couple of hours on top of the mountain lounging in the sun, Blake practiced yoga, Chrissy brought out the whiskey and vodka.  The girls were very instructional as to what items are needed on a hike.  In fact both Chrissy and Angie strongly recommended the Skills Training workshop held at the ADK Loj at the end of April.  They would be head of "cook groups" during the weekend.  The trip down the mountain was a bit harry.  Walking up the ice was one thing but Chrissy's webbing came in handy.  It was a flat webbed rope 50 feet long that you would put around a tree and climb down the ice patch backward. It was truly a lifesaver.