This photo brings back memories, and there is a story behind this picture.
Let us go back in time to when I was younger and much, much, much skinnier. It is June 2018, and Charlene and I are touring the area. Our goal was to see my sister’s new cottage, but we first had to view the sights around the Dorset, ON, area.
The last time I was in Dorset was in grade seven for a school science field trip. It was my first overnight trip away from my parents. It was a good experience. There was canoeing, hiking, little science experiments, and a fire tower. We were allowed to climb it. A teacher led the way straight up the ladder, with children following behind. Today, no child would be allowed to climb something like this. I was given the option, and that is when I learned I feared heights.
Who knew? I certainly didn’t, and as much as I wanted to, there was no way I was making that steep climb to see the view.
Too bad.
For the decades that followed, I have been thinking about how I could not climb the Dorset Tower. When I learned that it was not too far from my sister’s cottage, I had to go.
It was free to climb the tower but not to park. There is a path that leads to the tower, but it requires a hike through the woods and up the sometimes steep hill. I chose the path because it was more of an adventure than driving up.
Dorset Tower has changed a lot since I was a kid. Instead of a steep ladder, there is now a comfortably wide staircase. Easy peasy, I thought. I began lumbering up the steps, stopping occasionally to admire the view. Then the tower changed. The comfortable stairs on the inside of the tower moved to the outside of the tower and were now much narrower. I could no longer blindly walk up a flight of steps, but now I had to see where I was placing my feet. I was wearing hiking boots at the time, and the steps were not big enough to accommodate what Charlene calls my “Fred Flintstone Feet.”
On this current visit as an adult, I discovered again that I was terrified of heights. I could see through the steps and noticed just how high I was. It was a sturdy tower, so it did not sway with our steps or from the wind, but it was getting higher and higher, and those see-through steps were getting steeper and narrower.
Finally, we reached the top. I could not hide my fright when I entered the enclosure. Others who made it up with no issues looked at me. I did my best to ignore them. I put on a brave face and peered out to see the view.
We were here in the summer. The view is nothing short of amazing. I can see why this place gets packed during the fall colour season. It is breathtaking.
But not as breathtaking as the descent.
My big boots made it most difficult.
My beloved, supportive wife took a video of me struggling to get down. Check it out on Facebook. It was very hard to step down and try to give her directions on how to film this embarrassing moment. Thankfully, no one was behind me trying to pass.
When we finally and safely got down, I found this shirt in the gift shop. I was so happy to have gotten down from the Dorset Lookout Tower of Terror!
- Parking is limited. We choose to park in town and walk up the hill along the trail to the tower.
- The tower is sturdy and safe, even for a chicken like me.
- Find this location on my favourite map, All The Place We Have Been.
- There is a nice gift shop at the base of the tower.
