674 - Mount Beacon Fire Tower
Today we did all the right things.
Copy/paste yesterday’s adventure, except with actual content. The format was exactly the same- a fire tower hike with an abandoned feature on the way up. But this time we arrived early like goddamn professionals.
It was 5 miles with 1,700ft of elevation gain, which is in the tax bracket of “kinda gnarly but doable.” I say that because after yesterday’s fire tower, our legs were feeling it.
But nonetheless, we prevailed.
The photography began once we arrived at an abandoned power house about 2/3rds of the way up. There used to be a mountain house casino up here in the early 1900s, but it burned down like every other building in this era.
All that remained was a series of machines that were used to pull railcars full of guests up the mountain. They were (shocker) all metal. Here’s some pics:
“Inner Workings of the Machine”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 1000 ~ 12mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/250s]
God I love that wide angle lens. Shooting 12mm is just so fun.
Anywhoo, we kept going up the mountain until we inevitably reached the fire tower. And this time my drone was more than ready to go. He was itchin’ to get in the air:
“Tower’s On Fire”
Taken on DJI Mavic Mini Pro III
[ISO 100 ~ 6.72mm ~ f/1.7 ~ 1/100s]
What a tasty sunset. I should add that this fire tower is tall. It’s not a joke when you’re climbing it. You can feel every creak and groan as it steadily sways in the wind.
And despite the fact that it is supposedly secure, it feels like it’s about to topple over at any second. But the magnum opus of this place is that you can see a silhouette of New York from the top waaaay off in the distance… over 60 miles away.
Check this out, I snagged this bad boy on my Sigma 100-400:
It’s not everyday I use this lens, but this finally felt like an appropriate use. What can I say? I’m just not a tall boy.
Which leads me to my final statement. I’d recommend this place. And I don’t say that lightly. There’s a lot of opportunity for a variety of photography styles on the hike.
And you’re welcome for the original NY composition.
