A Panoramic View of CTS's Surroundings, Number 02

A Thought…

What’s the difference between a lawyer and pond scum? There’s an ecological niche for pond scum.

— via FGWaiss, Non Sequitur comic letters

A View of Our Beautiful Area From Overlook Mountain's Fire Tower

View from Overlook Mountain 02

This view is looking west from Overlook Mountain, towards the central Catskills. These include the highest peaks, including Slide Mountain (4190 feet/1276 m) just to the left of center. Visible in the center of the photograph are the empty concrete shell of the Overlook Mountain House and the former transmitter tower for WTZA/WRNN TV (channel 62 infomercials). It is currently unused, and the town of Woodstock would like the tower torn down (it's considered an eyesore).

This was to be the third Mountain House to stand on this site (the previous two burned down). Its construction was begun in the 1920s, well after the Catskills had passed their peak as a vacation destination^[1]. It was never completed, with construction coming to a halt during the Great Depression, and weather, fire, and local scavangers taking their toll. Similar fates befell the other Mountain Houses scattered around the Catskills, and today only the Meads Mountain House (lower down the mountain and not visible here, part of the KTD Buddhist monastery in Woodstock) and the Mohonk Mountain House ^[2] (and its associated nature preserve) remain.

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View from Overlook Mountain 02 with annotation

Overlook Mountain House
WTZA/WRNN transmitter tower
Cooper Lake (Woodstock)
Peekamoose Mtn., 3843 feet (1171 m)
The Wittenberg, 3780 feet (1152 m)
Slide Mtn., 4190 feet (1276 m)
Mt. Tobias, 2550 feet (777 m)
Friday Mtn., 3694 feet (1125 m)
Panther Mtn., 3730 feet (1136 m)
Tremper Mtn., 2740 feet (835 m)

^[1] President US Grant is not buried here, but he did visit once. By the way, the illustration used in the article appears to be of the former Catskill Mountain House, further north in Greene County.
^[2] Yes, technically the Shawangunks are geologically considered not to be part of the Catskills (they are part of the Appalachians), but they're adjacent to the true Catskills, so that's good enough.