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October 8, 2001 |
Catskill Fire Tower Days |
As part of what hopes to be an annual event, we each led a hike for "Catskill Fire Tower Day" on October 7th, trekking to two of the five fire towers in the Catskill Park. Balsam Lake and Hunter Mountains were our destinations, and others led hikes to Overlook, Red Hill, and Phoenicia's own Tremper Mountain. Participants on the Tremper hike were led by local forest ranger, Patty Rudge. The foliage was unbelievable, as was the enthusiasm of all participants despite harsh winds and, yes, snow flurries. This event celebrated the achievement of re-opening these treasures to the general public, and symbolizes what can be accomplished when citizen volunteers, non-profit groups, businesses, and state agencies work together for a common goal. These historical landmarks would have been torn-down if these entities had not stepped up to the plate - and three yeas later - hit a homerun. Could you imagine the tower on Tremper getting dismantled, much like on Belleayre or Slide Mountain?
The fire towers provide benefits to both our forest preserve and Catskill communities. Shandaken and other Catskill towns are filled with residents who love our mountains for many reasons. Two major reasons are that they draw visitors here, bolstering our economy, and that they provide us with the quality of life we enjoy. The fire towers help us achieve both, giving residents and visitors alike fantastic 360 degree mountain top views.
By promoting the use of these towers, hikers are visiting areas like Red Hill or Tremper Mountain that do not normally receive heavy traffic, but are trails that can handle increased use, helping to protect the more sensitive and pristine areas. Hikers are often attracted only to the highest mountains, but instead of rewarding those who 'bag' all 35 Catskill peaks over 3,500', we should reward those who volunteer their time to maintain sections of trail, install water-bars and rock steps, and who restored and will maintain fire towers. Over-use of sensitive summit areas isn't as large an issue here as it is in the Adirondacks, but it could become worse. The summit canisters in the Adirondacks are being removed simply because those trail-less peaks are over-used, and, quite honestly, aren't 'trail-less' anymore.
We urge all Shandaken residents to make the Tremper fire tower part of our community, take responsibility for its upkeep, take pride in the restoration work that has been done, visit it often, and volunteer their knowledge of the area to visitors at the tower by staffing it for a day or weekend. We hope businesses will promote the tower and continue to support the fire tower committee's fund-raising efforts as they have in the past. Volunteers are needed for the five fire towers; people who believe that cooperative partnerships and community volunteerism can achieve good things.
This fall is a great time to visit the Tremper Mountain fire tower because it will be staffed each weekend until early November by volunteers from your community. To find out more information, visit www.catskilltowers.com or to volunteer for any tower, call The Catskill Center at 845-586-2611. We'll see you on the trail, hopefully up on Tremper Mountain.
- Chris and Aaron
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