Fire Tower Steward
Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine
1745 Main St, Keeseville, NY 12944
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"For my internship, I manned a fire tower on a very popular hike in the Adirondack Park: Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain. This summer was a particularly special season for the fire tower because it was the one hundred year anniversary of the fire tower. There was a large celebration for the centennial on July 30th which included a local group of folk singers performing at the summit, an art auction to benefit further work to protect the mountain. Many Adirondack magazines, newspapers, radio stations, and TV channels covered the fire tower’s 100th birthday, with a camera crew even hiking up the mountain to interview me and capture the essence of the mountain. I am absolutely honored and privileged to have been the fire tower steward at a mountain with such a rich history and be a part of the efforts to preserve the fire tower for future generations to enjoy as much as I did."
Organization: Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine
The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine is dedicated to the preservation of Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain and its fire tower, improving and maintaining its trails, and to interpreting the natural and cultural history of the mountain. Since 1997, the Friends has been a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental conservation, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, the Town of Chesterfield, several Adirondack Mountain Club chapters, and hundreds of people who enjoy this special place.
Website: http://www.pokeomoonshine.org/about
Contact: David Thomas-Train, badtts@gmail.com, (802) 989-6134
About the Internship:
As Fire Tower Steward, my duties included hiking up Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain five days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Once at the summit, it was my job to unlock the fire tower and bring hikers up into it in order to educate them on the mountain and fire tower’s natural history, human history, flora/fauna, geology, Leave No Trace practices, and the surrounding region of the Adirondack Park. It was also my job to maintain the trails and perform minor trail work whenever necessary.
http://www.pokeomoonshine.org/interpretation