Hopewell Fire Tower, French Creek State Park, PA:    On my mountain bike ride I climbed to the highest peak (950 ft altitude) in the park.  On top of this was a Fire Ranger station with a fire tower.  I saw that the gate was open so I asked the gentleman manning the nearby shed if I could climb up the tower.  It couldn’t hurt to ask I figured. 

The fire ranger who was sitting there eating his lunch says, “only with me.”   We talked for a bit and I gave him the “I’m from Hawaii” opener.  We were instant friends, birds of a feather.   We talked for a while, traded stories.  Surprisingly, he asked if my wife would like to join us on the climb up the tower.   Within a couple of minutes i was on my bike barreling down the rocky mountain side dodging rocks, branches and trunks, in record time, for an old fart.   I retrieved the Mrs., drove the Lil Coconut back up to the fire station and all three of us climbed the sucker. 

What a great view.  The buzzards must of known of my fear of heights as they circled the tower waiting for me to fall.  No chance. I dug my nails into the steel rails and made my way up to the top.   Spectacular!  From what I understand, we were quite the lucky ones to get the nickel tour.  I’m sorry I didn’t get his name, but my new friend gave us a great unexpected and rare view of French Creek State Park and the surrounding twenty miles.  Mahalo nui.