Privy Building in the Catskills
On Saturday, June 12 several volunteers and DEC staff built a privy for the newly rebuilt John Robb Leanto (read about rebuilding that leanto here). The day's weather didn't exactly cooperate with the rain starting just as we got to Spruceton to begin the drive up the mountain.
The privy had been built before hand and then broken down into several large pieces that we had loaded into the trucks. The pieces were brought over to the leanto and then the privy site, which wasn't too far from the new leanto itself.
Amazingly we actually found a spot where we were able to dig a few feet down for the privy hole.
From there we put the base of the privy down, creating a rock foundation around it so that the wood didn't rest directly on the ground. Then the privy was built up from that base, each piece being attached to the next and finally the roof going on. The final touches were the seating inside and then the building itself was wrapped with chicken wire to help keep the porcupines from too quickly eating the wood.
When we finished up with the privy, we went up to the Fire Tower and the Observer's Cabin to do some work on them. Well, mostly on the cabin since there's going to be some upcoming refurbishment for the roof and the like so we were getting ready for that.
There was of course some time to go up the Fire Tower itself and get into the cab. Though with the weather the way it was, the view was only about 50 feet, if that. You could barely see the ground from the top it was so foggy.
The video gives you a better idea of how thick the fog was and how windy it was.
The privy had been built before hand and then broken down into several large pieces that we had loaded into the trucks. The pieces were brought over to the leanto and then the privy site, which wasn't too far from the new leanto itself.
Amazingly we actually found a spot where we were able to dig a few feet down for the privy hole.
From there we put the base of the privy down, creating a rock foundation around it so that the wood didn't rest directly on the ground. Then the privy was built up from that base, each piece being attached to the next and finally the roof going on. The final touches were the seating inside and then the building itself was wrapped with chicken wire to help keep the porcupines from too quickly eating the wood.
When we finished up with the privy, we went up to the Fire Tower and the Observer's Cabin to do some work on them. Well, mostly on the cabin since there's going to be some upcoming refurbishment for the roof and the like so we were getting ready for that.
There was of course some time to go up the Fire Tower itself and get into the cab. Though with the weather the way it was, the view was only about 50 feet, if that. You could barely see the ground from the top it was so foggy.
The video gives you a better idea of how thick the fog was and how windy it was.
For More Information on Catskills Hiking and Outdoors
Check out our Catskill Mountain Information Page for hikes, advice and planning information. Need a hiking map for the Catskills? The Trail Conference publishes the Catskills Trails Map Set
, which is the best set of maps available for hiking in the Catskills. 
How about a guidebook? Both AMC
and ADK
publish Trail Guides to the Catskill Region
Check out our Catskill Mountain Information Page for hikes, advice and planning information. Need a hiking map for the Catskills? The Trail Conference publishes the Catskills Trails Map Set
, which is the best set of maps available for hiking in the Catskills. How about a guidebook? Both AMC and ADK publish Trail Guides to the Catskill Region
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