Bald Mountain Fire Tower

Trailhead

A nice friendly trail up.  I can say this since it was not raining.

More nice slabs of rock

Early morning twilight

A nice walk for the family 

Sun still not up

First look at the sun

Fulton Lakes in the foreground

I love sunrises.  Maybe more so than sunsets.  It's just soooo hard waking up for them!

That's right, only two to go!

Just a really gorgeous area

There is always something on the walls of a fire tower

Chris Hiker in one of the best cabins

The view east

These lakes are the beginning of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail which  ends in northern Maine

The view south towards Old Forge

I like how the colors reflect

One of the better sunrises I've seen

Looking west

Glorious!

One of the best fire towers

Chris Hiker on the tower

I camped out the night before in the woods near the parking lot to Bald Mountain.  This turned out to be a great idea, since I could get an early start to catch the sunrise.  Starting at 6:15 AM, I did not think I'd get a chance to see the sunrise figuring it'd be too late.  Fortunately I could not have timed it better.

Another reason why this was a perfect mountain to catch the sunrise, the hike was only 1 mile.  The walk was quite gradual, with only 300 feet elevation gained in the mile.  A beautiful little path that used plenty of slabs of rock.  About halfway, the walk provided views of the Fulton Chain of Lakes from below.  An early morning fog built up on the lakes.

Continuing on, periodically looking back at the lakes, the sun began to rise over the mountains to the east.  And what a sun it was.  Rising from the horizon, the large, red sun was a gorgeous sight.  When the sun appears like this, you often have to remind yourself that you're still on earth.  It also reminds me of the time as a little boy watching the sun rise and yelling to my parents, "I see Mars! I see Mars!"

Upon reaching the fire tower, I enjoyed the rest of the sunrise and the lay of the land.  This fire tower is my favorite.  Like Overlook (on the rare occasion when the cabin is open) this tower has a table that lets you know what direction to look for certain landmarks.  The best views are to be had to the east, where the Fulton Chain dominates the foreground.  Like the views from Wakely, there almost appears to be no sign of life, despite being only 4 miles from Old Forge.  This will definitely be an area of the Adirondacks that will require further exploration.