As I’ve said several times over the last week and change, if you get the chance to stay a night or two in a fire lookout tower, take it. But one thing I didn’t tell you is that you might want to leave the dog at home.
We took Copper, our 80-pound golden retriever. It started out great. The day we got to the tower, we spent a lot of the day exploring the area after we’d gotten all our gear schlepped up the trail and the steps into the tower. Copper trotted along at our sides as we hiked, and he investigated thousands of smells he’d never experienced before. He was in doggy heaven.
When we were in the tower, though, I think he just wanted to get back out there in the woods to see what was making all those smells. The tower had a narrow deck that ran all the way around it, and he spent hours just doing laps around the tower. He probably trotted a total of 10 miles around and around the tower.
As it was getting dark, though, we brought him inside, and he settled down pretty quickly. The wind was howling outside at probably 50 miles an hour, but the tower was solidly built, and all was fine. Until that wind died.
It didn’t die down until about 11:30, but when it did, the silence was absolute. For a while. Amy and I were sleeping soundly when some owls started hooting. That set off the dog. He has a booming bark that levitated us both straight out of bed. We got him calmed down from that, then the coyotes kicked in. More barking from the dog. And then the elk started bugling. Yet another reason for Copper to sound the alarm. And this kept up all night long. Just as we’d start drifting off after calming the dog down, something else would set Copper off again.
So definitely go spend a night in a fire tower. But maybe leave your dog at home.
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