So, originally, I was supposed to run the Cranberry 50 on Halloween, but all my friends cancelled the hike on me, and so I decided to put a plan in motion I've been thinking about for a long time. I wanted to run the 8 fire towers listed in this challenge on the NYS website (https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hiking/catskills-fire-tower-challenge). As of this year, they added 2 new towers, both pretty far from one another, which created a great challenge. (including climbing each of the towers when I got to them!)
So, being from all the way in on Long Island, I got myself an Airbnb, and on October 31st I hit the trail at 5 am with a full tank of gas and a trunk full of snacks/water and went to work!
I took on Overlook Fire Tower first in the dark and quickly made my way back to the car. Next up was one of my favorites (as they always leave the top of the tower open), this being Tremper Fire Tower. This tower was a bit longer of a hike, but I quickly made my way up and down this trail. Next, the Upper Esopus tower is located at the Catskills visitor center, a quick half-mile walk, and a climb up the tower. Hunter Mountain was up next; this being a longer trail, I drove there and quickly ascended the trail, up the tower, and ran back down. Got back in the car, and drove 40 minutes to the next tower, this being one of the new ones called Mount Utsayantha, which is a steep climb up a dirt road; I climbed the tower and ran back down. Bramley Mountain Fire Tower was next, yet another new tower added to the challenge this year, this was a bit of a drive, and once there, I made my way to the trail, ascended, got to the tower, climbed it, and went back down. Next up, a fire tower I have done before, but from the south; this time, from the north, I took this trailhead and climbed till I got to the tower, quickly ran up the tower, took some pictures of the setting sun, and flew back down the mountain. From here, I had over an hour drive to the final tower, Red Hill. By now it was pitch black outside, and I knew I had 3.6 miles there and back, so I went as fast as I could, ascended 1000 feet to the tower, climbed it, and made my way back down.
The strava link, is total time, total miles with driving. https://www.strava.com/activities/20811304761
The garmin link: https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/24958626450 with proper running miles/Elevation minus driving