Lookout tower offers great autumn vista

The Mountain Lookout Tower offers spectacular views of the surrounding
national forest in northeast Wisconsin.

Mountain lookout Tower Trail topo map.
Click for larger version.

Day hikers not bothered by heights can enjoy a spectacular vista of autumn leaves from Wisconsin’s Mountain Lookout Tower.

The 0.26-miles round trip hike sits in the vast Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The tower is at an elevation of 1,254 feet.

To reach the trailhead, in Mountain on County Road W just east of Wis. Hwy. 32, take National Forest Road 2106 (Old 32) north. In about 2.25 miles, turn right/southeast onto Mountain Tower Road. Pull off to the side of the road so you’re not blocking traffic. Hike the road up to the tower.

The road heads through a classic North Woods setting that is beautiful any time of the year but particularly so in autumn. A September walk takes you past sugar, red and mountain maples, white, red and black oaks, paper, yellow and river birch, aspen, beech, basswood, and sumac. Various green conifers – including pine, spruce, fir, and juniper – dot the hardwood forest.

At the end of the road is the Mountain Lookout Tower, which rises 100 feet high. An Aermotor tower, it is one of the few remaining lookouts in the eastern portion of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. When erected in 1935 by the U.S. Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, it was part of an extensive system of more than a dozen towers in Nicolet National Forest.

The tower closed in 1970. After years of falling into disrepair, it was restored in 1994 then refurbished again in 2016. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Today, it’s the only tower in the old lookout system that people can go up into it. First you’ll have to climb 132 steep steps. At the top is a 7-by-7 foot cab, from which you enjoy a 360 degrees view above the tree canopy for miles around. During autumn, you’ll see an array of harvest colors, from gold and sienna to honey yellow and crimson.

Most of those trees were planted during the 1930s by the CCC. Logging during the early 1900s wiped out the old growth forest, of which only isolated remnants remain in the national forest.

The lookout tower is open about mid-May through the end of October daily from 8 a.m. until sunset. There is no charge to enter the tower, but donations to help keep up the tower are welcomed.

Parking is available at the tower, by the way, but if you drive right up to it, then you wouldn’t be hiking, right?

How to avoid lightning when day hiking

To avoid lightning, get away from the places it is most likely
to strike. Photo courtesy of NOAA.

Lightning provides a spectacular show for free, but it’s also potentially quite deadly.

Once you hear thunder, lightning is not far off. Thunder is the traveling ripple caused by lightning’s shock wave as it darts through the sky.

Rain need not be falling for lightning to hit you. An electrical storm is a major cause of lightning strikes.

To avoid lightning, you want to get away from places where it is most likely to strike: above the tree line on mountains; the mouth of a cave; a solitary tree; depressions; and ledges or wet ground.

If on a mountain, immediately descend to below the tree line. A thick tree grove is the best form of natural shelter. Remove metal from your body and sit on your backpack to keep you separated from the ground. Crouch as low as you can, shielding your head with your arms.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

How to find drinkable water if lost in wilds

Avoid directly drinking water from a stream, pond or lake.

Use spring water; always boil, filter

If you’re lost or forced to stay a night in the wilds, avoid using local sources of drinking water. Still, sometimes you must take a calculated gamble or dehydration will set in.

The first challenge is to find a source of local water. Spring water is the best discovery, as it runs the lowest risk of being contaminated. Your next best bet is finding flowing water from a stream that is high in the mountains or hills, as it’s more likely than not to be clean as it is close to its source, which is melting snow. Flowing water at the bottom of a mountain or hill is your next best choice. Still water on low-lying land is your worst.

Finding water in a desert
If you’re not lost but simply stuck in the wilds for a night due to an injury, check your topo map. Well-known springs often are marked on them.

In a desert, finding water at all can be nearly impossible, but it is out there if you know where to look. On seasonal waterways, the thicker and greener the vegetation the more likely the chance that you’ll find standing water nearby. A grove of cottonwoods and willows almost guarantees that ground water is nearby. If there isn’t any, dig in the cool sand under a willow, and you may find water only a few inches down. Puddles also may exist under large overhangs and in shaded rock crevices, particularly if they are on a hill’s north side.

To collect the water, simply use one of your canteens or water bottles. Don’t dump out good water that you’ve carried in, however, but combine it with water in another partially filled canteen. If the water source is too shallow for a canteen, spread your handkerchief across the water surface. When the handkerchief has absorbed the water, wring it out into your canteen.

Once you’ve collected water, you need to “clean” it before imbibing. There are three options: use water purification tablets, boil it, or use a water filter.

Boil at least 5 minutes
A variety of water purification tablets are available for sale, so follow the instructions on each packet for the best results. Generally, though, tablets have to sit in the water for at least 30 minutes – and if the water is cold, the tablets may need to mix in it overnight. Tablets always will leave a little aftertaste, ranging from iodine-like to a tart flavoring. Be aware that if you or your child has thyroid problems, water purification tablets may contain iodine and probably should not be used.

If boiling, do so for at least 5 minutes. This will kill Giardia and all but the hardiest microscopic bugs. Boiling won’t remove chemical contaminates, however. In addition, if water is cloudy and you can’t see any life such as fish or amphibians in it, boiling probably won’t make it safe. When boiling water, do not do it in your plastic canteen or water bottle. The plastic likely will melt, or you won’t be able to touch it when hot. Given this, you may want to add “cooking pot” to the list of items for your backpack, but I’d only do so if you’re planning a long hike into the backcountry.

A number of water filters exist, all using different filtration systems and coming in different sizes. Whichever one you choose, make sure the filter pores are smaller than 0.2 microns. Anything larger will allow nasty bacteria to get through and remain in the water.

What are the advantages of each filter over the other? One that lacks iodine won’t remove viruses, so you’ll need to use water purification tablets or iodine anyway. A carbon or charcoal filter will remove chemicals that purification tablets and boiling won’t get rid of. Reverse osmosis filters are best of all, removing almost everything bad and even desalinating sea water. Unfortunately, they’re bulky and expensive, and you probably aren’t going to carry one on a day hike let alone a camping trip.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.