To the Fire Tower!
By Misha Marston Johnson
7 October 2008
My hometown in Vermont has a small mountain that locals and "leef-peepers" alike enjoy climbing any time of year. It is often said that it yields the best hike-to-view ratio around. In only about a 30 minute hike one can reach the top of this small mountain where a fire tower sits atop its peak.
Although no longer in use by those searching for fires on the horizon, one can still climb to the top of the tower and see a perfect panoramic view of the Green Mountains of Vermont in the west, the Granite State mountains of New Hampshire in the east, and the beautiful Connecticut River winding in between.
I have climbed this mountain many times, in every season, and each time I am amazed at the beauty spread before me. This time, I could almost hear the whisper in the wind of a man yelling "Fire! Fire!" as he looks out upon the inflamed leaves of autumn. But how quietly and subtly they do change.
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