Leesa picked this hike for Saturday. It's a nice choice for a family hike and the fire tower is great. We started about 10:30 or so. The parking lot at the trailhead holds maybe 10 cars, and we took the last spot before people began parking on the shoulder of the road.
It was a beautiful day out. We passed a couple families on the way up and reached the summit at just about noon. Great views of lakes and mountains. A couple seaplanes flew over en route to Long Lake. We stayed on the summit to have lunch. There were 3 other groups up there when we arrived, but we soon had the summit to ourselves. We could have just taken naps on top, it was so nice. Unfortunately, our dog Rev, is not one to sit still for very long, so once the food was gone, it was time to move.
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| The tower is in great shape, and feels nice and sturdy. |
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| The hatch was open to the cab. I don't know if it is ever locked. |
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| A seaplane heading for Long Lake |
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| USGS summit disc |
On our way down, there were lots of people on the way up. I think a combination of the weather and the proximity to Long Lake, made for a big crowd.
We chose to take the side trail to Lake Eaton as well. We arrived quickly at the lake and followed the old jeep road trail clockwise around the lake until the trail started to veer away from the lake. We saw one nice but illegal campsite (too close to the water), and a legal site (not as nice) a little farther down the trail.
After we turned around, we were back to the trail head in about an hour. Some folks had paddled Lake Eaton to the south shore, then tied their boats and climbed the fire tower. Another nice option.
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| Lake Eaton |
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| Beaver Dam near the trail on the west shore of Lake Eaton |
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| Our route for the day |
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| Long Lake and Owls Head Mountain |
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 9.2 miles
Hike Time: 5 hours
Total Vertical Gain: ~1800'
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