Blown Away by Fire Tower Experience

We recently spent a night at the Squaw Mountain Fire Tower to celebrate my Sweetpea's birthday.  Between the remote location, views, and incinerating toilet (more on that later), I was as excited as a kid heading to Disneyland.  If you were a raven in the clear blue skies that day, you may have even witnessed a little happy dance when we arrived.

It's only a two-mile hike up to the tower (one mile in the summer), but at least 1,000-foot elevation gain.  Since we read that you can only get there by snowshoes or cross-country skis in the winter, we took snowshoes, although they really weren't needed this time.  Looking like complete tourists, we snowshoed up the mountain with loaded packs.  We are NOT backpackers.  Even for just the one night, we carried 35-45 pound packs.  You have to bring your own food and water, and they recommend winter camping gear.  Since we are both photographers, we just couldn't leave home without the most basic of camera gear - (2) digital SLRs, (3) lenses for SLRs, (1) medium format camera, (4) lenses for medium format, (1) pinhole camera, a full-sized tripod, a gorilla-pod, and loads of film (some that expired 42 years ago).

The sky was deep blue and it was unusually warm for January in Colorado.  Stunning views surrounded us on the way up.  When we approached the summit, we passed the last two people we would see until almost noon the next day.  The mountain was ours.

It was uncharacteristically calm at the summit when we first arrived.  After dropping off our packs, we bouldered around the top ridge.  Shortly, the strong breeze that we expected at 11,000 feet caught up to us.  We made our way back to our 14'x14' home for the night.


The fire tower was surprisingly clean and well-stocked.  On a future visit, we may even take our chances and dine on the leftovers from previous guests.  We could have feasted on penne pasta and marinara, pancakes, tuna, chana masala, and even beer!  Since there is only a small window facing South in the downstairs room, we cooked our dinner and headed upstairs to enjoy it with a view.  The upstairs room is surrounded by windows, and it is actually difficult to decide which way to face, since it is spectacular in all directions.

By dinnertime, the summit breeze had become a stiff wind.  Overnight, that wind rivaled tornadoes.  It doesn't help that we had read the history of the fire tower in the provided guide book, and discovered that the roof had to be replaced after it had blown off during a storm.  Neither one of us got any sleep that night, but I have new respect for the windows and new roof!  You can watch the ceiling shake from side to side, while the windows actually lifted up in the frames.

We set the alarm to wake up before sunrise, but it wasn't necessary.  When the room started to brighten, my Sweetpea nudged me and pointed to the East.  Under a thick band of clouds, the sky was blazing orange on the horizon.  We have hundreds of pictures of the view from the following hour, but almost every one of them is marred by reflections in the windows.  Finally, I decided to brave the wind and ran around the catwalk snapping pictures as fast as I could.

I promise, it was a blizzard

Once the rising sun slipped behind the clouds, we tried again to get some sleep.  I must have dozed off, because when I woke up it was a blizzard outside.  The wind was as strong as ever, and fat flakes were zipping past the windows - sideways and upward.  This continued for most of the morning, and we were cursing ourselves for not bringing the coffeepot upstairs.  The only way to get between floors is to go outside, go completely around the building on the narrow catwalk, then down a flight of stairs and around the corner.  The guide book warned against venturing out to the catwalk during high winds, for risk of blowing over the rail, so we stayed put.  I was wondering if we would have cell phone signal to contact our petsitter to let her know that we would have to stay another night.

Sketchy scramble to the "incinolet"

Finally, Mother Nature paused between breaths and we were able to go downstairs for coffee and breakfast.  Afterwards, we were packing up our gear and preparing to hike back to the car when a head popped up into view.  Nicole with the Forest Service had hiked up to check on the place in between storms.  Luckily, this also meant that we wouldn't have to deal with the required maintenance on the incinerating toilet (the "incinolet", according the guide book).  I have to admit, my excitement to use the incinolet had waned after reading mixed reviews in the guest log.  I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the outhouse actually was for our visit.  Nicole said that she wouldn't go as far as saying that it smelled like a campfire, but that was what I thought.

Even with the schizophrenic weather, we both agreed that it was one of the best things that we have ever done.  It definitely ranked in one of the top three places that we have stayed.  Five-star hotels have nothing on a hundred-billion-star fire tower on top of Squaw Mountain.

View of the Big Dipper out one of the windows

For more pictures, click here.

More Than Skiing

There's not much else besides skiing and snowboarding to do outdoors in Colorado in the wintertime, right?  Wrong.   There are lots of outdoor activities you can do, and most of the time you will warm up quite nicely doing them, too.

Apex

Go for a hike.  Traction devices come in quite handy during winter hikes.  They range from $15 yak-trax to $60+ ice blades (and then there are the full-blown crampons, for some serious ice hiking / climbing) to keep your footing secure on slippery trails.  With a little added traction on your feet, your options are endless.   There are trails all around town.  On the West side, there is Apex trail, Eldorado Canyon, Alderfer / Three Sisters trails, and lots more.  On the East side, there is the Platte River trail, Cherry Creek trails, Castlewood Canyon State Park, Barr Lake, etc.  Want to get out of town?   Hanging Lake is amazing to see when the falls are partially frozen and the winter wonderland surrounds you between the red walls of the canyon.

 

Try snowshoeing.  Did you know that snowshoeing burns almost 500 calories an hour?  That's about as much as cross-country skiing.  You don't have to go far to snowshoe, either.  There are multiple places around town where you can rent snowshoes, or check Craigslist for deals, too.   While the roads are mostly empty on a snowy day, you can just walk down your street to the nearest park and walk around.  Take the pups, they will thank you for it.  Deer Creek trails are popular with the snowshoeing community after some of the fresh, white stuff falls.  The views from the summit are worth the extra effort it takes to get there.  Even if you don't make it all the way to the lookout point, there are breathtaking scenes all around.  Just remember to look up from your feet every once in a while to take it all in.  For a shorter trek, Green Mountain is just a little over one mile to the summit, but it is steep.  Want to go a little further from the city?   Head to Kenosha Pass near Bailey, or Mayflower Gulch near Breckenridge.

Take a spin on ice skates.  When was the last time you went iceskating?  There is no place better for iceskating than Evergreen Lake.  They have both figure skates and hockey skates for rent, and eight acres of groomed ice on this 40-acre lake reserved for skating.  Check with them before you go, since they are known to close on occasion when the ice warms up too much to be safe.   Otherwise, they are mostly open from November until the end of March.  (Opening this year is scheduled for December 19th, due to the late arrival of winter.)  Bring your own skates and save.

Options to play outside in the Colorado winters are endless.  State parks tend to be less crowded this time of year, too.  Whether your thing is cross-country skiing through Rocky Mountain National Park, or ice fishing on gorgeous Gross Reservoir, just get outside.  This beautiful state has so much more to offer in winter than just skiing and snowboarding, so why not give it a try?  Wear layers and bring sunglasses and get out and explore!