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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Morton Memorial Hike to Red Hill



It's been 4 years to the day that my buddy Morton got hit by a car. Every year I do a hike in memory of that beautiful, good-natured cat. The first year I did Big Slide in the Adirondacks. The following year it was Porter. And last year while in Spain, I limped 25km out of Burgos to San Bol, an old Roman army site and the best alburgue on the Camino.

This year with the weather being lousy I decided on doing something short. Red Hill fit the bill well. This would also be the 9th fire tower out of the 28 that exist in the Catskills and Adirondacks.

I decided to walk the mile stretch of road to the parking area where the trail starts. Despite having rain gear in my car I choose not to carry it along. Big Mistake.

The trail was a typical Catskill trail (more rocks than dirt) with a steady climb. The views did not exist. I could barely see the fire tower even though I was on it. This was one of the thickest fogs I have ever seen. It then proceeded to rain and despite the tree cover, I got totally soaked. This reminded me of the times I would call in the cats if it were raining. Sometimes they didn't listen. They'd come in soaked and I'd have to dry them off with the towel. R.I.P. Morton.

2 comments:

  1. All that time I spent in the Cats, and I never visited this tower.

    Doesn't sound that spectacular. But when one has a goal in mind, it doesn't matter. The goal becomes the spectacle.

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  2. I think the views would be great. I definately plan on going on a clear day.

    ReplyDelete