Fire Towers

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Azure fire tower was restored in 2002 check out the website here
the wind was strong here too so pictures were quick, you can climb this tower but it has no windows in it.


The tower
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looking out from the tower, thats a rain storm comming in from the right
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saw a lot of small trees with the bark chewed off
then we found out who was doing it


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spectacular views.
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http://www.poststar.com/articles/2009/0 ... 456634.txt
BALLSTON SPA -- A group of Adirondack fire tower enthusiasts is hoping Saratoga County officials will help them further their ambitions to restore the tallest publicly accessible tower in the state.

On Monday, representatives of the Friends of the Spruce Mountain Fire Tower group asked a committee of county supervisors to consider transferring 2.5 acres of land it owns underneath the tower to the state.

Transferring the property to the Department of Environmental Conservation, they said, would relieve the county of its responsibility for the land while allowing volunteers to work with state officials on restoration efforts.

It’s an idea that’s been discussed for years, but one that is becoming increasingly viable because the county is removing emergency communication equipment it has on the site.

The county is upgrading its communication system and plans to remove a pair of radio towers it has on top of the mountain this spring.

If the land is transferred, the land trust Saratoga P.L.A.N. and other supporters of the project would undertake fundraising efforts to finance restoration of the 81-year-old tower.

New stairs, landings and windows are likely needed. Advocates say such an effort could be largely volunteer driven, could be done in relatively short order and would cost as little as $10,000.

Once finished, the tower, about 15 miles north of Saratoga Springs, could become a destination for local hikers and bring business to the surrounding area.

Around 25,000 people a year visit a fire tower on nearby Hadley Mountain, and as many as 35,000 could visit Spruce Mountain every year, advocates said.

As a signal of its potential popularity, proponents said the site, located off Fire Tower Road, is already attracting some savvy hikers.

"You have to know where it is, but people have found it," said Jack Freeman, the author of "Views from on High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills."

At their zenith, before technology rendered such towers obsolete, there were 128 fire towers in the state, he said. More than 70 have been torn down over the years.

Transferring the property and restoring the tower are just part of the equation, however.

A 2.2-mile trail to the summit would cross privately owned land, and trail easements would have to be acquired before the public could access it legally.

Julie Stokes, of Saratoga P.L.A.N., said discussions about transferring an easement from the landowner – Lyme Timber – are already underway.

County officials deferred a decision on the land transfer Monday but asked County Attorney Mark Rider to research the steps necessary to make the move.

Stokes said she’d like to see restoration begin in late summer or early fall.
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Good article, hopefully that will add 1 more tower to restored status.
I plan on doing all 28 towers listed in the book “Views from on High“. I’ve also done two that are not listed in the book and have found a website that list more peaks that had towers or the remains of one.
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cbobcat49
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A blog about the Azure Mountain tower...

http://adirondackhikes.blogspot.com/200 ... ent-3.html
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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nice blog
looks like most of the snow is gone too. There was or is nice views from Azure,
it was a little cold and windy when I was up their.
thanks for the link
The Mountains are Calling and I must Go John Muir
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We took our first trip to the Catskills on Sunday. Not thinking about heading south and the possibility of black flies we took no bug spray. Let me say they were so thick they could carry you away, and two stores we checked had no bug dope oh well. First stop was Overlook Tower which stands on the south east corner of the Catskills and overlooks the Hudson Valley. You can read more here

The Tower
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An old tree near the tower
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The remains of a hotel
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The trail (road) goes through the remains
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Looking South over the valley
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For those of us that remember the summer of 1969 Woodstock is still alive and doing well
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Matt
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those are some interesting shots. That one of the hotel isolated by the trees is fantastic.
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