IATNL Directors Visit AT Southern Terminus

On March 15, IATNL Directors Arne Helgeland and Paul Wylezol visited the Appalachian Trail Basecamp in Amicalola Falls State Park near the southern terminus of the AT at Springer Mountain, Georgia. They took advantage of an opportunity to detour while traveling between New Orleans, LA and Tampa Bay, Florida.

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Night on Deasey Mountain

The historic Deasey Mountain Fire Lookout is unusual in many ways. First, it is a “ground cab” lookout meaning that, rather than perched on top of a 20- or 30-foot metal tower, it sits directly on the ground. The cab is anchored in place by four heavy steel cables attached to large eyebolts set in the bare granite knob of the mountain’s summit.

As the full moon sets to the west, dawn approaches to the east

The cab offers a spectacular 360-degree view that includes Katahdin and other peaks in Baxter State Park, five miles to the west, as well as Mars Hill on the Canadian border fifty miles to the northeast. In essence, a hiker can see the entire route of the IAT in Maine from the Deasey Cab.

The cab is also unusual in that it’s the original 8 x 8-foot building constructed in 1929 by the Maine Forest Service. The cab has been lovingly maintained for 15 years by members of the Maine Chapter of the IAT, who have replaced siding, doors and windows, and have re-roofed the building twice. In 2016, a group of IAT’ers, led by Earl Raymond, installed a replica of the original alidade that was used by wardens to pinpoint the location of forest fires from the summit. Read more on that here.

Orion shines over the Deasey Fire Lookout

It’s a wonderful experience to spend the night in the cab, especially in clear weather with a full moon. Do be aware, though, the nearest reliable water supply is a half mile away down the mountain!