Adirondack Peeks Summer 2024

young. We climbed up the tower and there was an ob server in it. Suddenly, we heard something smashing against the tower and we all started screaming. The ob server burst out laughing and showed us his arm hanging out the window. He was hitting the side of the cab and trying to spook us. We all signed the book that was in the tower for climbers to sign and I thought that was the cool est thing. LR: My father certainly greeted visitors all the time and provided them with information on where the nearest lean-tos were. He made sure visitors had the proper gear and were prepared for the hike. He also went out on trail crew when it was wet. If he worked trail crew in the valley where we lived, he would just bushwhack home when the day was done instead of riding down the mountain with the guys. Many times, on his hike home, he found beauti ful spots deep in the woods that he just had to show us, and he would tell my mother to pack a dinner picnic so he could take us there. My mother was always prepared and ready to go. One spring picnic, I remember my dad had found this old foundation in the woods with a beauti ful rhubarb patch. So off we went to find the spot with a picnic dinner, which was probably peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We cut rhubarb and brought it home for pies and jam. Thirty-five years later, I asked my dad if he could find that spot again and off we went. We hiked up the mountain trail, and right before reaching the lean-to, my dad turned and walked into the woods and right to that spot. That's how well he knew the woods and felt comfortable in them. Another thing my dad and the other observers were involved in was search and rescue. Back in the 70s, I remember one search my dad went on for a lost little boy. They couldn’t find him, and I remember how sad my

Grace's house

SR: Tell us about your childhood and the impact your dad’s job as a fire tower observer had on your understanding of the woods and forest fires. LR: When I was a child we would go to the fire tower with my dad all the time. We knew when we were in the cab of the tower that he had a job to do. While we could talk, read books, and fly our paper airplanes out the window and re trieve them, if dad spotted smoke, or if a call came over the radio that another tower had spotted smoke, it was all business, and our jobs were to stay quiet. I understood he was there to protect the local communities and the forest, and it was an extremely important job. We didn’t take toys with us. We didn’t have to—we played outside. We talked to chipmunks that lived nearby and learned about the out doors and how to be kind to it. SR: What were some of the activities you saw your father do as an observer? LR: Observers gave out climbing cards. They’re like a business card that said that you had climbed the tower. I thought I was hot stuff because my father let me fill those cards out for hikers. I wrote the date, and he signed them. SR: I remember climbing Lyon Mountain when I was very

Laurie at Snake Rock

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