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Bald (Rondaxe)
Mountain
Fire Tower Restoration Project Progress Report
Website Provided By
Friends of Bald Mt., Box 206, Old Forge, NY 13420
Summer 2004 - Projects
The Volunteers of the Friends of Bald Mountain are making steady progress on
the restoration of the Fire Tower on Bald Mountain just north of Old Forge,
New York. Contact us below if you would like to make a donation or become a
volunteer.
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In spite of a
WET - WET summer, work parties completed painting the tower and
relayed supplies of materials from the staging area to the summit.
In July, vandals tossed the lower flight of stairs (stashed in the
woods), a ladder, and several boards over the ridge. Wednesday,
Sept. 8th, seven DEC rangers and seven volunteers were on the summit
awaiting the arrival of a helicopter from Saranac with additional
supplies. Poor weather cancelled the trip. The Rangers rappelled
over the cliff to retrieve the lover flight of stairs and brought up
two bags of garbage. All four platforms have been replaced. Thanks
to the assistance of Fred Munk, DEC Forester from Herkimer, NY
(carrying out trash in photo on the left), another helicopter drop
is scheduled for Sept. 15th. With luck, the new window frames and
concrete for the footers and other supplies will be on the summit
for volunteers who have scheduled two more work weekends later this
month.
Check back soon - we are making PROGRESS and hope to open the tower
in October!
Thanks to all
our supporters! Forest Ranger Doug Reidman reports more than 10,000
hikers visited this fire tower in July & August 2004!
(Photos by P. Masters) |
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Larry C.
installing platforms (left) - DEC retrieving steps (above) tossed
over the ledge by vandals in July 2004
(Photos by A. Spaziano) |
The Bald Mountain Fire
Tower Restoration Work is completely dependent on donated funds from
all those who agree with us that the tower is an historic treasure, a
destination point for thousands of visitors in the Old Forge region annually,
and a tangible link to the dedicated foresters that help to preserve thousands
of acres of forestland in the Adirondack Park during the past century.
Please help us by sending in a
donation today to:
Friends of Bald Mountain
Box 206, Old Forge, NY 13420
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