It took about a year of planning the route and the places to stay for this fire tower (FT) attempt. Nancy and I wanted to be the get the most efficient route, get the most amount of sleep possible, and be fully supported. Serena thankfully stepped up and was more than helpful by cooking meals and getting hotels/Airbnb's ready for us to eat, shower, and sleep.
Clock starts: 6:15 am 8/14/2026
- Day Zero: Red Hill, Balsam Lake, Tremper, Upper Esopus (the visitor Center), Overlook, Hunter
We woke up in the Catskills at 4 am and it was torrential raining out, so we decided to wait it out and postpone our start time until 6:15 am when it looked like the rain was going to stop. Our first tower was Red Hill FT and we only got rained on a little bit. After RH we headed to Balsam Lake FT when the rain finally stopped, and we were going to have great weather for the rest of the day. Nancy and I made great time of the towers this day: Red Hill, Balsam Lake, Tremper, Upper Esopus (the visitor Center), Overlook, and finished the day on Hunter. We had Serena join us for Overlook and Sam came and joined us for Hunter, having the company was much needed. We had about six hours of driving between the towers on this day. We finished up on Hunter around 9:30 pm and then headed to the hotel to great ready for the next day.
- Day One: Utsayantha, Bramley, Kane, Spruce, Hadley, and Black
4 am wake up call, get ready, and drive to the next tower - that's how our mornings started. There are two new FT's that were added to the Catskill List in 2026 and for the sake of the challenge we added them to our list: Utsayantha and Bramley FT's. They were on our way to the Adirondacks, where our next tower was. It was a 2.5-hour drive from Bramley to Kane and seemed to take forever. Kane was a rather quick hike and then were headed off towards Lake Geroge where our buddy James was waiting to do the next three hikes with us. We got done Black, the last tower of the day, around 9:30 pm again and headed off to the Airbnb where Serena had dinner waiting for us. We had about another 6.5 hours of driving on this day too.
- Day Two: Swede, Gore, Snowy, Makomis (visitor center), Pillsbury
Waking up on this day was difficult, the lack of sleep was getting to us, but we knew to just get thru the day and we would be fine. Swede is another super quick tower and then we headed off to Gore. Thankfully Nancy and I did some scouting for Gore, so we found a better, more direct way to go up. It's a marked hiking trail and totally legit. We were on our way to Makomis when we realized we were driving by Snowy and decided to get that hike done with since we both consider it one of the hardest towers. It was a great game time decision. Makomis holds a special place in my heart so that's why we included it on our challenge. When we got to Pillsbury, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that what we thought was going to be a 5.5-mile hike was only 3.6 miles (my figure was wrong). This was our shortest amout of driving with around 4 hours.
- Day Three: Wakely, Woodhull, Bald, Stillwater, Blue
It was 47 degrees out when we started hiking this morning, it was a tad chilly. Wakely has a little approach and then it goes uphill, so we warmed up pretty quick. Sam and Serena joined us for Wakely. We drove out to Woodhull after, which is probably the worst tower of them all - Sam and Serena walked out a little bit and then turned around due to prior plans. We used the Remsen Falls trailhead which cuts off about five miles off the hike (okay and allowed). Bald and Stillwater were both really quick hikes and then off to Blue. Blue, we made great time of and headed down in the dark. We got to the car around 9pm and then in for the night. We had around 6 hours of driving this day.
- Day Four: Adams, Vanderwhacker, Goodnow, Owl's Head, Buck
This was the best crappy day we have ever had. We got poured all pretty much all day, but Nancy and I had so much fun. Adams was as rugged as usual and I was really hoping to see the view from here, since I never have, but it didn't work out. The road to Vanderwhacker is now open so we were able to drive right to the trailhead. Nancy and I forgot how long this how rugged this trail was and we were pretty sure someone moved the tower (haha) since it was a never-ending trail. Goodnow was probably the worst tower of the day, for no real reason, we just wanted it over with. Owl's Head we were in the rain the whole time, but it was still a great trail and we made great time. Buck was the last tower that I had never done, and we took a second to enjoy the view.
- Day Five: Arab, Cathedral Rock, St. Regis, Azure, Loon Lake
We did so much driving on this day, six hours of driving. Serena was by our side for Arab, Cathedral Rock, and Azure. St. Regis, we felt super slow by Serena was there to remind of how well we were still moving. Nancy and I headed off to Loon Lake and made better than expected time there and then headed to the Airbnb where we had chicken parm waiting for us.
- Day Six: Lyon, Poko, Hurricane, Belfry
We knew this day was going to hurt but it wasn't as bad as we expected. We got to the trailhead of Lyon and Andrew was there waiting for us. He would continue on to do the remaining towers with us. Serena also joined us for the whole day. We took the long trail up and down Lyon because we didn't want to slip on the old trail. Heading home to Poko and Hurricane was a welcome sight, and we couldn't wait for Belfry to come. Thankfully it worked out that we saved one of the easiest hikes for last! We only had about 2 hours of driving on this day.
End time: 5:47 pm 8/20/2026