Ranger Hal Sends Us On An Important Mission

In Memory of Harold "Hal" Graham

Ranger Hal from his fire tower perch atop Mt. Belknap

Ranger Hal was a giant figure in NH Outdoors Life, in particular of the Belknap Range where Little Bean and I encountered him a few years ago in his perch as a fire tower watchman atop Mt. Belknap.

Harold "Hal" Graham passed away peacefully at his home is Sanbornton on Monday. He was 84.

His life and contributions to Belknap Range trail maintenance is legendary, but in particular his memory serves as a shining example of how one coincidental meeting and an adventure to find rose petals on a mountaintop can leave a lasting impression on a young hiker.

In honor of Ranger Hal and our one encounter with him, I’d like to present an excerpt from our book, “Where There’s Smoke: On the Trail of New Hampshire’s Fire Towers” for you all today. As far as I remember, this excerpt has never been published before, but hopefully the book will be published before too long. I hope you enjoy this little window into the fire tower life and remember the final line in Ranger Hal’s obituary: "In lieu of flowers, take a day and do some trail work."

We call this, “The Guardian of the Belknaps”

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Ranger Hal is in no mood for our shenanigans.

          And who could blame him? On the day we climb up to Belknap Fire Tower, thrilled to discover another open cab to explore, New Hampshire is experiencing an elevated, level 4 fire danger. That's why Ranger Hal is here and that's why he's busy. We had noticed on the way up how dry the trails were.

          Little did we know then that we were in the presence of one of the most celebrated fire wardens in the state. Harold “Hal” Graham’s contributions to the Belknap Mountains and to trail and forest preservation in general are the stuff of legend. Ranger Hal was the past president of the Belknap Range Trail Tenders (BRATTS), an organization of trail maintainers. He’s been involved for years in the state’s Trail Wrights organization, on top of his duties as a ranger. And to top it all off, there’s a trail named after him!       

          But my little climber seems to have a knack for showing up in the right place at the right time, and an open cab is just too rare to ignore

          She politely explains to Ranger Hal that she's a Junior Fire Ranger, seeking common ground with the man. I know my daughter well enough to understand what's happening here, she's showing him that she's one of them, she's a ranger as well, so darn it, I can help! Recently, this designation was bestowed upon her by lookout Kelley Brown over at Red Hill. This is a title she wears, along with a badge, proudly and will tell literally anyone about it whether they ask or not.

          Ranger Hal is amused - or entertained - enough to humor her.

          She wants to know if he's spotted any fires? He has, several small ones over the last couple days.

          She wants to know if he has a dog and if he does why is that dog not here? He does, and he normally brings his pup but it's been so busy lately that today she's resting at home.

          She wants to know if he has had lunch and if not, he's welcome to have lunch with us. He has not, but he did have oatmeal for breakfast warmed up in the tower microwave and thank you very much for the offer, but he has to stay up in the cab.

          After a few minutes of interrogation and before I'm able to pull her away, Ranger Hal says, "Say, I think I do have a job for you."

          Her eyes light up.

          "Look out the window over there, down that path, do you see the orange things on the stone?"

          Down the ridge trail, maybe a hundred yards away, there's a pile of orange-something scattered on a rock. We wouldn't be able to see it from below.

          "I've been looking at it in my binoculars, but just can't figure out what it is," Ranger Hal tells Uma. "I need somebody to go collect samples for me."

          "We can!" Uma shouts. "We have a sample bag!"

          It's true. We carry a big Ziploc with us on all our hikes.

          "All right then," Ranger Hal says.

          It's all I can do at that point to keep my daughter from leaping over the rail on her new quest. We leave our lunches on the higher platform, right below the cab, and scurry back down the stairs. I grab a baggie and we're off.

          After a bit of searching, we discover the pile is a collection of bright orange rose petals. We would learn later that there had been a photo shoot up at the ridge a few days ago and the couple had scattered some rose petals for the pictures.

          Little Bean delicately plucks a couple off the rock and drops them into the bag. "All set," she says, "let's go!"

          We run back up the tower stairs and Uma presents the bag to Ranger Hal.

          "Huh, rose petals," he says. "Well, what do you know. Thank you!"

          He hands her a wooden Smoky the Bear token as a reward and we retreat to the lower deck to eat our lunch.

          There is no tower on the list like Belknap. Situated near the Gunstock Mountain Ski Resort, Belknap sits atop a popular string of “little” mountains overlooking the south-western side of Winnipesaukee, the state’s largest lake. There are campgrounds, bed and breakfasts and even a Belknap Range Patch a hiker can attain for climbing 12 mountains in the area. One of those mountains, Mount Major is among the most popular and crowded in the state and the first mountain I carried Little Bean up when she was a baby.

          This is all to say that Belknap Fire Tower, a version of which was built all the way back in 1915, has played a critical role in forest preservation for more than a century. This feels appropriate that this place should be our penultimate hike on our list.

          But my daughter is unaware of the connection this tower represents, unaware of its role.  

          She knows only that the wind blows and the tower creaks. She knows only that as we devour jerky and granola and PB&Js there above the trees, Ranger Hal's radio squawks above us, and Uma looks up over the rail, gazing toward the distant horizon, looking for the first wisps of smoke

One happy junior fire ranger

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