9/1/24
Yes Virginia – the tower was lit up in all its glory last evening. However, we were in a cloud for most of the half hour.
This was the 11th annual lighting of FFLA NY State firetowers, and the 8th lighting of the St Regis Mt Fire Tower!
Board members Bob and Rich had a rather wet hike up. About a quarter of the way up, the skies became increasingly dark, and then opened up. After getting our rain gear on, we continued up but, in much wetter, and sloppier conditions. The rain did stop so the hike was a bit nicer, but the muck obviously did not improve. Once at the summit, there was no rain but lots of wind! The wind blew the clouds in and out which resulted in some fascinating views for us. Then the sun was a glowing orange ball setting in the western sky.
We got the lights set up in typical fashion. Managed to get the Coleman lanterns lit; the led lights were of course easy! And the tower was lit up! Meanwhile the clouds rolled in and we were in the midst of them. Via phone calls with our wives down on the shores of Lake Clear, they reported not being able to see the lights. Then they could – then not, … But the skies cleared enough around 9:20 for them to be seen. And of course, while we were packing to leave the clouds pretty much completely left. We could see the lights down below. And all the stars were out by the time we got home.
As you can see, Bob and Rich had an interesting adventure and got some interesting pictures and videos. The videos clearly show the cloud we were in. There were 3 other hardy folks on the summit as well.
