Editor's note
We are pleased to be hosting the 7th Annual St. Regis Fire Tower Lighting Benefit Dinner with the Friends of St. Regis Fire Tower and a host of local businesses on Saturday, August 31st, beginning at 6:00 PM with a host of activities and food capped off by the lighting of the tower! (Rain date Sunday, Sept 1, 2024)
We’ll have Stagecoach Rides from Lucky Clover Farms through our nature trails to the beach, the Myths & History of Octoberfest Beers Tasting, a Taste of Octoberfest dinner, a history slide show of the Fire Tower by the Friends, a raffle, and more all leading up to the lighting of the tower!
How do they light up the fire tower?
As fortune would have it, our neighbor, Bob Brand, has been involved since New York State began allowing the fire towers to be lit in an annual celebration across the state.
From Bob:
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The first time the Saint Regis Mountain Fire Tower was lit was in 2017, and I stood on the shore of Lake Clear gazing up at the mountain with excited anticipation just before 9:00 PM. I didn't want to miss the light turning on. Well, the magic hour arrived and passed with no light. Eventually, the clear light came on. Wow - cool! Then it turned off. A half-hour of on-and-off light followed - more off than on. Right then and there, I decided to volunteer to do the lighting the following year. And I've been doing it ever since.
The Lights
So, in 2018, fellow Friends of Saint Regis Mountain Fire Tower board member Ed Hixon told me he had many lights I could choose from for the lighting. A whole bunch, indeed. I picked three from a box full of probably a dozen LED lights of various sizes and shapes. And I've used the same lights and a propane-fired double-mantle Coleman lantern each year since then. So, I carry up my four lights, and one or two other tower lighter friends carry one each.
The Hike
We hike up late in the afternoon to enjoy some time on the summit and hopefully see a nice sunset. I string up a stout rope to hang all the lights in the tower's cab. There are usually one or two other non-lighter folks up there to experience the lighting close-up. It seems they are always photo enthusiasts and shared some spectacular pictures of the event. As dusk turns to darkness, dots of light representing homes, camps, and other points of civilization appear. Some light sources are obvious - the airport, for one. But most are hard to remember where they come from, with the usual lake orientations being invisible.
The Lighting
I talk via cell phone to my wife, Mary, who is on the Lodge beach, and atypically point my single flashing little headlight in what I assume to be the Lodge direction. Can you see the flashing light, I ask. She always can. Amazing. At the appointed hour, we turn on all the lights, although in the last couple of years, I've added the twist of a flashing single light countdown 10 - 9 - 8 ... to the full illuminating blast.
We've been fortunate weather-wise for the most part. There was a brief, intense shower one year, and another time, dense clouds rolled in for a short time, obscuring the light, I'm sure. Once, we saw lightning off in the distance, instilling some concern. Was it coming our way? We did not want to be part of a new tower lighting variant. A quick check of a weather app on my phone showed the storm in Canada and not moving toward us. Whew!
At 9:30, we turn off the lights, take them down, pack them up, and start our hike down the mountain in the dark. It's like walking down a tunnel of light, but, with good headlights, it's not particularly difficult.
For me, this is fun! There is the camaraderie of my fellow tower lighters, watching the 360-degree transition from day to dusk to dark and the mild challenge and uniqueness of hiking down in the dark. But most importantly, the tower lighting serves as a reminder of the role fire towers and their observers played in protecting the surrounding communities and forests.
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We want to give a special thanks to Bob and Friends for climbing Saint Regis Mountain so that all of us can enjoy the unique sighting of a light on top of Saint Regis.
We hope to see everyone for the Fundraiser Dinner, stagecoach rides, presentations, and Lighting of the Tower from our beach on Lake Clear.