Take a hike on fire towers

Hiking enthusiasts have a new guidebook to exploring North Carolina. Author Peter J. Barr, director of the NC Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association will visit the Morganton Public Library on Saturday to offer a presentation of his newly-released book, "Hiking North Carolina's Lookout Towers."
The presentation starts at 1 p.m. and through a discussion of his book and slideshow, Barr will challenge readers and attendees to reach new heights through hiking destinations at one of 26 lookout towers described in his book.
With nearly 122 remaining N.C. towers, Barr has hiked many mountain trails.
"I have visited every remaining tower in the State of North Carolina and the ones in the book are still in good condition and accessible," he said.
At one time there were more than 200 in the state and a little more than 80 in Western North Carolina, where only 41 remain today, he added.
As a young boy, Barr's love for hiking spurred during numerous mountain daytrips with his family after they relocated to the state from Pennsylvania. As a youngster Barr created his own trails behind his house. His love for the outdoors grew and while completing the requirements for the Congressional Award Gold Medal that included a four-day outdoor excursion, he and a college friend happened upon a fire tower.
"We climbed to the top of one mountain and at the summit we found an old fire tower," Burr said.
Some-what afraid of the rickety structure, he climbed.
"At the top there was this breathtaking view of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and where we would be heading over the next several days," he said.
"That particular experience stayed with me, not only the view, but also the historic significance of the structure."
He said the historic significance of the towers being used as tools to protect the national forest and the views interested him.
"I tried to visit as many towers as I could, but I couldn't find much information at all," he said.
To find the towers they had to be located on a typographical map and about half of those had been removed, he added.
The project took Barr a little more than three years to complete.
"About two years into the project I got the idea of a book. I figured if I wasn't able to find a whole lot of information and if I enjoyed this surely others would be interested too," he said.
Viranya Filipiak, adult program coordinator at the Morganton Public Library, came across Barr's book while searching for programs geared toward the outdoors.
She said, "We have had programs with the youth pertaining to hiking, but never adults. We thought this would be a great opportunity to do more than just read a book."
Of interest to Barr was learning about those who manned the fire towers during fire season.
"In WNC only two lookout towers are still staffed during fire season four months of the year," Barr said.
He described it as a lonesome and romantic occupation. "There are the most beautiful views, but at the same time you're in an isolated location and it must be lonely looking at the horizon for fires during eight to 10 hour days," Barr said.
According to Barr about half of the towers are accessible by car and most in the western part of the state are within an hours drive from Morganton. Morganton actually has the tallest fire tower situated atop Walker Top Mountain.
The book contains detailed information from the history to the size and construction of each tower as well as trails and maps.
Barr also is involved in a tower restoration project. Shuckstack, a steel tower built in 1934, is in the most dire condition and in need of restoration, Barr said. He is working with the National Park Service in a cost share program matching dollar for dollar monetary contributions, supplies and volunteer labor.
Since the books release in early April, Barr has traveled across North Carolina promoting his book during private signings, library presentations and guest appearance on a number of radio shows and outdoor television spots. For more information on his book go to http://www.nclookouts.com/
"I think this will be an interesting program we have a lot of people who enjoy the outdoors in this area," Filipiak said.