Adirondack Peeks Summer 2024

dad and the observers were who gathered at our house. My mother told me how my father cried after they finally found the boy and he was deceased. SR: It’s easy to get turned around in the dense forest. We always hear stories about lost hikers and hunters each year. LR: I remember my dad responding to a plane crash and was involved in recovering the bodies. So, it wasn’t all positive or easy being an observer. People were count ing on you and it’s your job to help those people. It was extremely important work. Before my dad passed away in 2013, we got him up to the fire tower one last time. Since my dad couldn’t walk far anymore, a ranger with an ATV who had planned to pick up some old phone wire rode him up; the rest of us walked. It was a great day. SR: In John Freeman’s book, Views from on High , he states that the Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower was the first fire tower erected in New York State in 1887 by the Balsam Lake Club. The wooden tower burnt down in 1901 when it was hit by lightning and was rebuilt in 1905, and again in 1909 when the road and observers’ cab in was added. The tower was then replaced with a steel tower in 1919 and eventually abandoned in 1988. It has since been restored by volunteer efforts. Tell us about the Catskill Fire Project. LR: The Catskill Fire Tower project restored five towers within the Catskill Park starting in 1997. Local grassroot groups got together and raised money to restore the towers by holding square dances, having raffles, and all kinds of events within their community. One of these lo cal groups happened to be steel workers, so at Balsam Lake, they built a stainless steel roof. It's the only tower with a stainless steel roof in New York State. Then in 2000 they had a grand reopening of the tower. They restored the cabin and set it up as a museum with historical items. They have volunteer stewards on weekends from Memo rial Day through Columbus Day, which I've been part of for many years—seventeen, I think. SR: Do you have a favorite memory on top of Balsam Lake Mountain? LR: I remember my dad would drive us up in the Jeep. Be ing typical kids, we would ask, “Are we there yet?” Even tually, I was able to figure it out on my own because when ever we got close to the top, I would hear the tower bird sing. Later in life, I figured out it was a white-throated spar row. Of course, we’ve all heard that song on the tops of mountains in the Adirondacks and throughout the North east. As a little girl, I remember being so excited when I heard the tower bird because we were almost there.

SR: Do you have a favorite trail up Balsam Lake Mountain? LR: No, I think they're all special in different ways. SR: I understand your family likes to hunt. Have you al ways hunted? LR: Yes, hunting season is still a special time of the year for my family. We have a hunting camp that borders state land and I love walking around the mountain. I have so many memories of hunting with my father and now I get to hunt with my sons and my grandkids, as well as my young er brother and his daughter. Of my nine grandchildren, I've had the pleasure of hunting with my 17- and 19-year old. The nine grandkids range from 1 to 19 years old! SR: Wow! That’s a big gang! Do you have a memorable hunting story you’d like to share? LR: I do. I was hunting with my brother-in-law, Andy, and headed to Laurie’s Rock, which is a rock ledge named af ter me because it’s the first place I was able to go by my self on the mountain. It was a warm fall day, the sun was just starting to come out after the rain stopped, and the woods were dripping wet, which covered the sounds of our footsteps. From Laurie’s Rock you can see two levels below, so it's a great view for hunting. When I stepped up on the rock and looked down, I saw a mother bobcat and two kittens. They were cleaning up after the rainstorm. We stood there watching them for probably forty-five minutes and they never knew we were there. Eventually the kids got tired of cleaning and started playing. They tried to get their mom to play but she wasn’t interested and contin ued cleaning. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I have no pictures because there were no cell phones back then, just the memory with Andy. Another big event in my house growing up was opening day of fishing, April first, which was often cold and snowy. My mother would bake fresh bread the night before and bring a frying pan and a stick of butter with her. She would cook the native brook trout right near the stream where we caught them. They were so fresh and delicious! So, when my boys were growing up, I started doing the same thing. And, my goodness, my hands would freeze! But I did it. SR: Many of us know your husband, Tom Rankin. For those who don’t, Tom is also an avid, accomplished hik er and has completed the NE 115 and the Winter NE 115, as well as the winter 46. He is a past president for the Catskill 3500 Club, and the editor of the Catskill Trails , 5th edition. So, it makes perfect sense that you were married

[I]t wasn’t all positive or easy being an observer. People were counting on you and it’s your job to help those people. It was extremely important work.

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