Woodhull Mt

Tons of these along the way

Seeing this sign can turn lots away

One of the prettiest rail trails

Fallen leaves

A family

First of these I saw on this trip

Bear scat, but no bear sighting

And then there was one

Moose River

Woodhull Lake in background

Looking out toward the high peaks

I'm so glad they maintain this tower

In about 50 feet of walking I spotted a hundred of these

Washing my  dirty hands

Marshy area

Remsen Falls.  They are barely a rapid!

The Moose River

I'd love to be here for peak leaf season

My last year going to school on Long Island was spent at  6th grade Woodhull Elementary.  Twenty seven years later I return to Woodhull.  Unlike that monstrosity, this Woodhull in the Adirondacks is a little visited mountain located south of Old Forge.

A big part of the reason Woodhull Mt is not very popular is that it's a 15 mile walk.  But it doesn't have to be.  The first 5 miles are located on an old rail bed.  The original plan was to ride my bike the first 5 miles, cutting the time immensely.  Since there was no room in my car for the bike, I planned to run the 5 miles in and then the 5 miles out.  This worked out quite well.  The 15 mile hike/run took only 4 hours.  Without the run, my guess is that it would've taken 5 and a half hours.

Unlike the normal hard packed dirt rail trail that I'm accustomed to, this trail had tire tracks with grass growing between and on the sides.  The ground here was also much softer, which makes for a great run.  Even while running I took some time to stop and enjoy the scenery.  The rail trail passed a few marshes which were worth checking out.

After about 50 minutes, I reached the beginning of the trail up to Woodhull.  In many spots, this trail was also quite runnable.  I'm glad I didn't because I spotted more bear scat than I've ever seen previously.  I would not have taken it kindly stepping into one of those giant hunks of shit.  This two and a half miles went by quick and I made it to the fire tower in less than 2 hours from when I started.

Like Wakely's fire tower this one lacked fencing, making the climb up a bit shady (though the foundation looked more solid than most I've seen).  Unlike the previous 4 fire towers, this one's cabin was closed.  That was O.K though.  From the top flight, you could see anything you'd see from the cabin.

The views here were great, despite my lack of knowledge of the surrounding area.  A man who hiked up only a mile from a resort, helped me out with some of the area.  I could make out the high peaks way in the distance and Woodhull Lake below and to the southeast.  To the south I could make out the Moose River and the approximate location of where I started.

The guy asked me if I had been on any other fire towers.  I told him that yes I have and explained to him there is a Fire Tower Challenge and that I have only one left.  It felt good saying that.  Because I could hardly believe I had just one left.  It felt good indeed.  And then I thought about the 7.5 miles I had left!