TR-In tower training, Thanks John!
Submitted by Jeff on Mon, 05/26/2008 - 05:31.
Trip Report of hike to Slide Mountiain may 24, 2008
Thanks John for the In-Tower training. I met him at the gate a little later than the scheduled 4:30am time. I was there at 4:50am. I wasnt sure if we would go up as the clouds were thick above us. John asked if I wanted to go up, I didnt drive all that way to turn around. So we drove off at the gate around 5am. I believe we ditched the vehicles around 5:40am. The hike was awesome little chilly but great hiking weather. I had to ask John a couple times that he was sure he knew where he was going. Got to the tower just before 7:30am, and it was 37 degrees with 100% humidity. Winds were 7 mph, during the day gusts were up to 30mph. Clouds lifted around 10am; finally I was able to get a view. The layer stayed above us, to never show blue skies. Started hiking back down around 1:30pm. It was a great first day. Thanks John for the training, and Hot cocoa.
Here is a link to a couple snap shots I took during the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepingjeffro/sets/72157605259234275/
In Tower at Slide
Jeff, enjoyed hiking with you and let me know when you want to go up again.
To all others who would like to in tower at Slide, please let me know when you would like to go. I know meeting at 4:30 am is real early, but the heat on that trail to the tower is not enjoyable to hike in. This past Sat. we started at 5am instead of 4:30 and when the sun came up it got warm. When we reached the West Side of the mountain, now we were in the shade and it was a great hike the rest of the way. After your in tower, if the heat doesn't bother you, than start later. Just be real careful. Heat stroke can hit you a few days later.
We have 8 working Lookouts for Slide this year. That's four times more than we had last year. The pictures that Jeff posted are your view. As far as visitors in the 5 years I have worked the tower, there have been 15 total. The order of the day at Slide is, peace and quite.