MT. SAM

	Grid Reference	EU 503991
	Department	DEPI
	Work Depot	Swifts Creek
	Region	Gippsland
	Grading	Primary
	Elevation (ASL)	1206m
	Height	33m
	Construction	Steel
	Cabin size	2.25m x 2.25m
	Public access to site	Yes
	In use since	1961 - 198? (old) 198? - current
	CFA Region	11 - Eastern

Photo taken in 1989 and supplied by Rocky Marsden (DSE)
This tower is known as Mt. Sam although in some documentation it's named as Sam Hill.

I received the following info from Wayne Hedrick in May 2010:
I would like to add that Mt Sam lookout was first manned by my dad, Harold James (Curly) Hedrick who worked for the Forest Commission for many years. I reckon Dad started working on the tower in 1961/62, after first helping to build it. I used to stay with him during the holidays and have great memories of staying in the hut and climbing the ladder. The views were the greatest from Kossy (Mt. Kosciusko) to the High Plains. The road up was fairly rugged and tested the Austin A40 a few times. No need for a fridge; it was always cold. One of the lighter moments at Mt Sam was when the chimney on the hut caught fire and dad had to call it in and leave the tower to put it out. Another story is dad was sitting up in the tower and a huge eagle crashed into the glass trying to attack his head, frightened hell out of him. I had many good times there, I found that the beetles and other insects were totally different than where we lived in Benambra.

The tower received a new cabin in Dec 2011 and the ladder system was updated in the winter of 2013

Please click on thumbnails for enlargements


current Mt Sam in 2011 with old cabin supplied by Matt O'Brien	Un-used hut @ Mt Sam supplied by Matt O'Brien	current Mt Sam in 2014 with new cabin supplied by Andre Belterman

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