Message

from the

Chair:

A new member gifts us with a new website!

Thanks to new committee member Jackie

Kline our website has been totally revamped

and is much more presentable and

informative. Please note that in an effort to

save costs, our interpretive brochure may

now be downloaded from this site. You may

do the same for our annual newsletter

that gets mailed out to our donors.

that

COME VISIT US ON FACEBOOK: Thanks to committee member Elaine Winslow we now

have a Facebook page. Just type in Hadley Mountain Fire

Tower Committee and share your photos and

experiences with us. This site has proved most

beneficial to us as it has brought us three new

committee members and two outside contributors to this

newsletter .

FACEBOOK Message from Erica M. Hayes : I posted this photo on the FTC last month. It's actually a photo my Mom sent me as proof that they used to hike and drive up to the Hadley Fire Tower when she was a kid. The kids would hike up with my grandmother while my grandfather and the neighbor would take the old Scout. (I'm thinking this photo is over 40 years old). I was absolutely fascinated by it! (as are we ... Thanks for sharing, Erica)

Volume 24

April 2019 Published by

Hadley Fire Tower

Committee Visit us at: hadleymtfiretower.org

Contributions Are

Needed!!

Your contributions help pay for our summer steward, interpretive brochures, Hiker Cards for kids, patches and more! Send donations to: Hadley Fire Tower c/o Joe Busch, Treasurer Post Office Box 4501 Make Checks Payable to: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County with a note "For the Hadley Tower Project" Donations of $30 or more go into an annual drawing to win a $75 gift certificate to EMS.

The Winners of Our 2018

Donor Drawing are Nancy and

Harry Hanson of Tower Road

Hadley, New York.

Thanks to them and all our

donors for keeping our goals

alive!

Order Patches for $6.00 each

Many Thanks from the Hadley Fire

Tower Committee:

Jack Freeman, Founding Member Linda Champagne, Founding Member Kirstin Seleen, Forester Benjamin Thomas, Forester Tony Goetke, Ranger Linda Ranado, Chair, Newsletter Fr. Joseph Busch, Treasurer Elaine Winslow, Secretary, Facebook Steve Mackey, Trailmaster Matt Evans, Steward Coordinator Jackie Kline, Webmaster Dave Cox, Trail work Sue Howard, Jill of All Trades Jenn Shepard, trail work Judd Driscoll, general input/help Deb Nordyke, general input/help

An open and informative relationship with the

public has always been a top priority with our

committee. For years we have had two primary

avenues to utilize for this purpose - personal contact

(usually on the mountain ) and through this

newsletter that goes out to our donors. We have more

recently expanded our efforts with very positive

results thanks to you, our supporters ,who keep our

efforts alive, and to those who hike our mountain

and/or volunteer to help us maintain the trail and

structures.

At a more basic level, at Steve's suggestion, we

added a comment notebook in the tower's cab which

allows hikers to share a bit of their "Hadley experience" with us and gives us insight into the

demographics of those who ascend the mountain and

tower (see "Notes From the Tower" article). Other steps we have taken are noted on the front page of

this newsletter. Thanks to Elaine, we now have a

Facebook page and thanks to Jackie, we have a much more professional webpage. Both have been a boon

to our being able to communicate to and hear from

Hadley's visitors.

We are also grateful for the volunteers who help us

out every season, many who repeat the offer . Whether cleaning out water bars or sprucing up the

cabin for the incoming steward, their time and effort

are always appreciated. We even get added bonuses from them as can be seen in the trail work video on

our webpage in the Committee and Steward section,

thanks to Amy and Chris Bergman.

Hopefully, we will continue to keep in contact and

make new friends along the way! Thanks to all for

the continued support - and your donations (see info

to the right) that help us keep our efforts alive!

Happy Hiking ... and simply enjoy life and the great

outdoors!

Linda

Welcome Our New Members: It is with great pleasure that we welcome three new members who bring new ideas and skills to

our small committee. Deb Nordyke (Left) lives locally in the Town of Day , is a championship

racer representing the Saratoga Biathlon Club, and a frequent climber of Hadley Mountain .

Although Jackie Kline and Judd Driscoll live in Canajoharie and work in Albany, they have a camp

in Lake Desolation and are also frequent visitors of Hadley 's summit. In their own words, "We are

very honored and excited to join the committee. Hadley Mountain has been a special place to

both of us. We can't wait to help the committee on protecting and making the mountain and

fire tower a wonderful place to enjoy for others."

Trail Re-Route Still in the Works: According to Forester Kirstin Seleen, the DEC planned re-route of the trail going up to the tower is still in the works. The present target dates are for either field season 2020 or 2021. It is a 1/3 mile segment in the middle of the trail from where it becomes steep, sheer rock, just prior to where the stream flows on the trail to just below the saddle area where the trail levels off for a stretch about 1/3 mile from the summit. There are several other spots along the trail where small (less than 200 feet) re- routes or other trail solutions will be necessary. Number 4 on the trail would still be there. (See present trail below and Number 4 on the trail to the right. The stream is number 5)

:

(6)

Welcome our 2019 Steward :

Hi, I'm Jake Ganley, the new fire

tower steward for Hadley Mt.. I am

finishing up my last semester at

SUNY ADK right now, I am a part

of the adventure sports program which

concentrates on backpacking, rock climbing,

challenge course, snow sports

and whitewater sports. I am an avid outdoors -

man who loves recreation and my goal in life is

(Above) Jake celebrating to educate people about the outdoors. I am

earning his AASI excited for this upcoming summer on the

Snowboarding Level 1 mountain and eager to get out there.

certificate) See you on the summit!

Join Elaine Winslow as she

leads her annual hike up Hadley

Mountain to view wildflowers

on Saturday, May 11th.

Spring offers these mountain

delights for only a short time

and hikers will often see about

20 different species along the

trail. Interested hikers should

call Elaine at 696-5744 by 6

pm on May 10th to register for

the hike. If plans change, you

will be notified. After

registering, please meet at the

trailhead at 10:00 a.m. on the

day of the hike.

(3)

4. Natural Sculptures

Some see this rock formation as a giant sea

turtle emerging from the

earth as a protector of the mountain ...

Join Elaine on Saturday, May 11th and learn about

and enjoy the flowers as you hike the Hadley trail!