Wakely Mountain Fire Tower

Tallest fire tower in the dacks

Jack Coloney, missing since 2006

First two miles were like this

Big fat ass mushroom

First view of the tower

An old marsh or pond

Blue Mt

Snowy

The view south: Cedar River, Lewey and Cellar Mts

High Peaks in the distance

The lakes to the west

Looking down from cabin.  No fencing on this fire tower.

The view north with heliport in foreground

Definitely an American mushroom

An Adirondack snake

A pond near the parking area

At 6 miles, the round trip climb to Wakely would be one of the longer ones I would do on this trip.  In the trail register a few hikers commented that the trail was longer than stated.  What really caught my I was the missing persons photo in the register.  I was very saddened to see that somebody had disappeared in 2006 and still had not been found.  After reading Finding Everett Ruess, I cannot help but think there is a redneck serial killer out there.

Wakely was another mountain that required some driving off the beaten path.  The first two miles would be through some lovely marshes with some views of the climb ahead.  On my way out I would spot my first snake ever in the Adirondacks.

The trail then led to an old beaver dam.  This once marshy area, possibly an old pond, was an interesting spot to check out.  It had a nice combination of tall grass and some spectacularly white rocks. Views of the fire tower opened up from here.

After leaving this area, the trail climbed relentlessly.  I felt the mileage of the past couple days pile on.  I found myself needing a rest after only ten steps.  As slow as I went, I would have to agree that this last mile was longer than advertised.  This 6 mile walk was closer to 7.

Once finally on top, Wakely offers up some of the finest views I've seen in the Adirondacks.  At roughly 80 feet, the fire tower is the tallest in the Adirondacks.  I'd have to think based on what I saw, it's taller than the Catskill fire towers also.  From the summit, you could barely make out the fire towers of Snowy and Blue.  To the west, their are plenty of lakes.  My guess is they are the Fulton Chain.  To the north, Blue Mt and the Adirondack high peaks could be seen in the distance.  Just below the summit a heliport could be made out.  Not sure why one is needed here.