WeRmudfun
New member
The 5th hike on our vacation took us to the East Whitcomb fire tower for #81 on the NH Fire Tower list of the 93 Towers that are standing, once stood or were proposed.
This hike soon became one of our favorite hikes of all the towers. The ascent was a nice break from all the steep hikes and bushwhacking of the previous hikes from the week. Basically we followed ATV/Snowmobile trails all the way to the summit. Unlike Signal Mountain, the trail started where we parked and there was no logging!
There is no trail sign either. Once we got on Trio Pond road from Philips Brook Road, we headed down almost 1.25 miles to a pull over area on the right. There is an old obvious logging road that is there and what looks like an overgrown ATV trail to the left of it. The ATV trail is the trail we followed. There were some turns that we had to make. We first came to a clearing area and it was obvious the trail went to the left. About a 1/2 mile later and ATV trail came in on the right and we took that turn. That brought us to an intersection where we took a right again. After that we took a left and then another right on the trail.
We had a nice stroll along the trail. It was some times dirt covered, some times grass, but before we knew it we were at the tower. It is still standing and in pretty good shape at 60 feet high. The cab on the top is one of the smallest we have seen, but offered great views. It was also nice to see that every window was still intact. It is hard to imagine it being rented out as a Honeymoon Lodge, it was very small. :shock:
We took in the views along with the views of the wind turbines, we couldn't seem to get away from those things last week! We had a bite to eat and then headed back down the trail.
Coming down the last stretch of the trail to our vehicle, I noticed something further down and as we got closer we saw it...a moose! We have seen a lot of moose but this was the first one we ever ran into on a trail. It was a young one and as we got closer, but still keeping a safe distance, it spotted us. We were so glad to capture it on film. It just cocked it's head and stared at us. We were all caught up in the moment sharing at each other. We're not sure how old it was, but it seemed it had never seen a human being before. All the other moose we have seen over the years, would just look up from what they were eating, see us, then go back to eating. This one was just too darn cute! 8)
We did post the video on YouTube for anyone interested in seeing the hike...
This hike soon became one of our favorite hikes of all the towers. The ascent was a nice break from all the steep hikes and bushwhacking of the previous hikes from the week. Basically we followed ATV/Snowmobile trails all the way to the summit. Unlike Signal Mountain, the trail started where we parked and there was no logging!
There is no trail sign either. Once we got on Trio Pond road from Philips Brook Road, we headed down almost 1.25 miles to a pull over area on the right. There is an old obvious logging road that is there and what looks like an overgrown ATV trail to the left of it. The ATV trail is the trail we followed. There were some turns that we had to make. We first came to a clearing area and it was obvious the trail went to the left. About a 1/2 mile later and ATV trail came in on the right and we took that turn. That brought us to an intersection where we took a right again. After that we took a left and then another right on the trail. We had a nice stroll along the trail. It was some times dirt covered, some times grass, but before we knew it we were at the tower. It is still standing and in pretty good shape at 60 feet high. The cab on the top is one of the smallest we have seen, but offered great views. It was also nice to see that every window was still intact. It is hard to imagine it being rented out as a Honeymoon Lodge, it was very small. :shock:
We took in the views along with the views of the wind turbines, we couldn't seem to get away from those things last week! We had a bite to eat and then headed back down the trail.
Coming down the last stretch of the trail to our vehicle, I noticed something further down and as we got closer we saw it...a moose! We have seen a lot of moose but this was the first one we ever ran into on a trail. It was a young one and as we got closer, but still keeping a safe distance, it spotted us. We were so glad to capture it on film. It just cocked it's head and stared at us. We were all caught up in the moment sharing at each other. We're not sure how old it was, but it seemed it had never seen a human being before. All the other moose we have seen over the years, would just look up from what they were eating, see us, then go back to eating. This one was just too darn cute! 8)
We did post the video on YouTube for anyone interested in seeing the hike...
