Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather
- Thread starter Tour 931
- Start date
Sweeney
Administrator
Do they actively use those towers - I'm surprised they are still up for risk mitigation...or maybe they are just so far out no one bothers to find them...One more day and the sun will rise behind the towers.
Tour 931
Ranger
The lower ladder section of the higher metal tower has been removed so unless you bring your own 20 foot ladder you can’t climb it. The newer lower wooden tower is an easy climb and in the summer dozens of people climb it daily. I can walk to it and often do in the summer. It’s a 3 mile loop from my house to the tower and around the lake. Timms Hill is a county park. The Timms Hill Trail connects to the Ice Age Trail.
Ice Age National Scenic Trail | | Wisconsin DNR
dnr.wisconsin.gov
Sweeney
Administrator
The lower ladder section of the higher metal tower has been removed so unless you bring your own 20 foot ladder you can’t climb it. The newer lower wooden tower is an easy climb and in the summer dozens of people climb it daily. I can walk to it and often do in the summer. It’s a 3 mile loop from my house to the tower and around the lake. Timms Hill is a county park. The Timms Hill Trail connects to the Ice Age Trail.
Ice Age National Scenic Trail | | Wisconsin DNR
We've got a few fire watch towers in our state forest, I've climed several of them. Its a thrill that never gets old!
I seen to remember a news story within the last few years that mentioned that many of the human observers who manned the towers have been replaced by electronic sensors that are better at spotting the fires than the human eye....and cost less to maintain.
Tour 931
Ranger
I believe they use satellites now.
My 100 year old neighbor knew the guy that maintained the tower. He lived less than a mile away and only went to it during storms. In Washington State I’ve hiked to many of them as there they are very remote. Most of them were college students and manned them in the summer. Most were resupplied by helicopter as most had no roads to them.
Van_and_Terri
Ranger
A friend of mine bought a watch tower from the state of NC. It cost him much more to have it dismantled and moved than the price of the watch tower. I think his winning bid was $100.
Sweeney
Administrator
I don't doubt that a minute. Human costs are very high for something like that --- though I have to admit, as a job all those years ago, if it consisted if binocular work -- I'd finally get caught up on all the things I want to read!
Sweeney
Administrator
Its 2:47pm. I just had my first cup an hour ago. I'm slowing down! Some one told me drinking for coffees a day made you a heavy consumer. I said pots? In all seriousness, 3 or 4 cups in the morning is pretty routine - I don't need it, but it does make the morning go better. I'm not nasty or unpleasant as a person before. But I know those people! One of my friends refers to his wife as "Zuhl" as in "There is no Dana..." in the morning. Not 100% sure it is lack of dicipline, poor sleeping hygene, or lack of moral fiber....but when I wake up and my feet hit the floor, its game on.
As for fire towers...a colleagues father was a road engineer. He retired from government work and went on to the private sector working as a expert in car accident cases. Bask in the early 2000s, before gogole maps was available he needed an aerial photo of an intersection and found a company that provided the service. His concern was the ersolution would be low. The company sample series of any random intersection of his choice. The same that came back had a typical manhole, but was recognizable. The sample set they sent showed a wide area (200 feet?) and a series that zoomed in on a manhole cover, that was identifiable. EASILY you could read the foundry makers mark (neenah) and seeing the wear pattern that was present. That was 25 years ago. a 2.5 or 3 ft diameter hole clearly visible from orbit...can you imagine what they can do today?
Once again, I'm not a conspiracy theorist -- they are all turning out to be true. Now lets talk Swarm cameras.
Last edited:
Steve Sanford
Junior Ranger
I was hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1998 and there was a fire tower open in Vermont or Massachusetts. It was getting late so I spent the night in it. It had stairs until the last flight which was a steep ladder. I was hiking with a dog and she went up no problem and then we went down after dark for a bathroom break. In the morning when she could see down she refused to go down the ladder. At that point we had hiked together for 3 months and we had a tight bond so she trusted me enough to come down when I called her after I went down the ladder first. There are a few ladders on the AT to go up or down steep sections and cliffs so she was used to going up and down ladders. I guess when she could not see the ground she was a little freaked out. Our hike was one of the best experiences of my life.
Tour 931
Ranger
Thanks for sharing the story.