Hiking to Buck Mountain Firetower
Hiking to Buck Mountain Firetower | Buttermilk Falls | Kayaking Eaton Lake | Adirondacks, NY | July 2024
On our first morning at Lake Eaton, we decided to go check out a nearby fire tower hike: Buck Mountain. This one is actually a newer addition to the Firetower challenge, as it wasn’t on the list back when we completed the challenge in 2016/2017. It wasn’t too long of a hike so I thought I’d give Charlotte a chance to hike, but let Curtis go ahead knowing there was a pretty good chance she wouldn’t want to go all the way up. She and I started the trail, but found it very muddy at the beginning. Ultimately it was me that turned us around because the bugs were so bad here, and definitely worse when going at Charlotte’s slower pace. So instead we returned to the parking lot and hung out, chatting with other hikers as they were coming and going. Because the area was more open, the bugs weren’t bad in the lot. Eventually it started to rain, so we retreated to the van until Curtis returned.
Curtis: The hike itself was typical of many of the Firetower hikes in the Adirondacks. It started out flat (and therefore muddy) and then just went straight up the mountain. So straight up that they had to build steep wooden stairs near the top – probably for the best honestly given the propensity for erosion. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long hike and I made the summit in short order where I found a family enjoying the tower. One of them really didn’t want to go down the stairs and kept pointing out an old access road. The mother asked if I knew where the road went – which I didn’t, but I guessed that it didn’t end up back at the parking lot.
The summit was very tree covered, but with the aid of the tower, I was able to see around pretty well, though this particular day was rather hazy. Satisfied, I returned down the way I came (as did the family) and made it back to the car only hiking in the rain a little.
Jess: After Curtis returned, I decided to pass on the hike since it was hot, humid, and still raining a little. Instead, we drove South to Buttermilk Falls — a spot we had visited in March of 2023, the day before Charlotte went blind. Back then we had enjoyed seeing the waterfalls surrounded by snow; today we enjoyed being able to wander around the different viewpoints and picnic area freely without trudging through snow and slipping on ice. The waterfall is smaller in summer, but lovely in both seasons. We had a picnic lunch on a rock and let Charlotte take a little nap before returning to our campsite.
That evening, the skies cleared and the lake was still and serene, so we took the chance to go for a kayak ride. I remember living in New York 8 years ago and thinking how fun it would be to kayak on any of the many lakes in the Adirondacks, and it was certainly worth the wait. I think if you can’t hike up to the top of a peak, the best place to enjoy views of the mountains is from the water.
