11/25/12
Lambs Hill, Bald, South Beacon, Breakneck, Bull Hill (Hudson Highlands, NY)
january 21st, 2012. i took the train to beacon early in the morning. i hiked the fishkill brook trail and the fishkill ridge to the north of north beacon. lambs hill is the first summit. I hiked all of the peaks between Fishkill, Beacon and Cold Spring. The only thing left out would be the front ridge of Breakneck and Sugar Loaf. It was an awesome day. I saw one other person on Bull Hill who seemed happy in the thickly falling snow. It was dark as I walked out on the Nelsonville side. I called my mom in the streets above Whistling Willies. It was her birthday.
Balsam, Haynes, Eagle Mountains (Catskills, NY)
November 24th, 2012:
I was home for Thanksgiving and knew I wanted to walk something. Alex who I haven't seen in years drove up from Brooklyn to my parent's house. By 10am we were sitting in his car unsure about the drive up to the Catskills. It'd be a two-hour drive. I said I'd like to go up there and 'get something.' So we picked Balsam because it only looked like it'd be a short and steep hike. With the late start we only had 4 or 5 hours of daylight to work with. At the McKinley Hollow trailhead we put on our packs around 12:30pm. There's a large wood bridge at just before the register. We walked on the trail on an embankment above the stream, then descended crossed the stream and again and recrossed it. At this point we've walked maybe a quarter of a mile to where the steep ascent begins in the valley.
This red blazed trail is named Oliverea Mapledale. The land to right of the trail falls off into a sharp gully. Clear icy sounding water fell in the bed. The surrounding land looked dry. A few huge pines cling above the eroding earth. The trail is covered in stones and dead leaves. The sparseness of the vegetation seems to be the catskill trademark. A thin forest of slender, strong looking trees covers the mountain sides. The hollow expansiveness of the woods substitutes for the eerie, dense remoteness you might find in the Adirondack preserves. Add the steady howl of the wind and the experience becomes sufficiently haunting and lonely, an inspiring atmosphere to cut through at a steady pace. There are snow showers in the forecast. A few trees are rolled over and smashed on the trail. Eventually the grade eases and strays from the river valley. The snow begins trickling through the naked trees. I saw a Blue Jay and felt terribly comforted by the brief glimpse of bright color in the drab forest. 1300' above our car Alex peered up at three wooden signs marking the junction of the Mapledale and Pine Hill - West Branch. I'm not sure at what time this was. We hooked a right for Balsam, walked over the summit to a lookout facing the Hunter and Slide mountain wildernesses. We ate here and returned to the junction by 2:20pm. Confirming that at least one of us had a headlamp, we immediately committed to Haynes and Eagle mountains via the opposite section of the Pine Hill trail. The summit of Eagle was a clearing in the woods with a cairn and a fire ring on it. The summit of Haynes was unidentifiable to us as we never once rested on the way to Eagle. We saw only two people our whole time in the woods and they were a well outfitted couple in the falling snow on the Pine Hill stretch somewhere near Haynes' summit. Our peak-bagging side journey to Haynes/Eagle took about an hour and twenty minutes, but now I'm not sure, so maybe longer.
The difference from before was that it had snowed steadily in that hour. Having not seen Alex in years, I had already exhausted all my questions on his early hiking career, accomplishment of the AT and PCT, summits in the Whites, Smokies, Adirondacks and Europe, South America and let him steadily ease ahead of me back into the valley. The walking was now on a half inch of snow, a full blanket of dead leaves, and hand sized stones. My North Face Shoes didn't have much grip to them. I fell several times, jamming and cutting my hand once. Then I fell one final time just before the trail completely flattened out. We were in the car at 5pm. I was in my apartment in Brooklyn showering by 830pm and very appreciative of Alex for making the quick adventure happen. My first Catskill peaks!
I was home for Thanksgiving and knew I wanted to walk something. Alex who I haven't seen in years drove up from Brooklyn to my parent's house. By 10am we were sitting in his car unsure about the drive up to the Catskills. It'd be a two-hour drive. I said I'd like to go up there and 'get something.' So we picked Balsam because it only looked like it'd be a short and steep hike. With the late start we only had 4 or 5 hours of daylight to work with. At the McKinley Hollow trailhead we put on our packs around 12:30pm. There's a large wood bridge at just before the register. We walked on the trail on an embankment above the stream, then descended crossed the stream and again and recrossed it. At this point we've walked maybe a quarter of a mile to where the steep ascent begins in the valley.
This red blazed trail is named Oliverea Mapledale. The land to right of the trail falls off into a sharp gully. Clear icy sounding water fell in the bed. The surrounding land looked dry. A few huge pines cling above the eroding earth. The trail is covered in stones and dead leaves. The sparseness of the vegetation seems to be the catskill trademark. A thin forest of slender, strong looking trees covers the mountain sides. The hollow expansiveness of the woods substitutes for the eerie, dense remoteness you might find in the Adirondack preserves. Add the steady howl of the wind and the experience becomes sufficiently haunting and lonely, an inspiring atmosphere to cut through at a steady pace. There are snow showers in the forecast. A few trees are rolled over and smashed on the trail. Eventually the grade eases and strays from the river valley. The snow begins trickling through the naked trees. I saw a Blue Jay and felt terribly comforted by the brief glimpse of bright color in the drab forest. 1300' above our car Alex peered up at three wooden signs marking the junction of the Mapledale and Pine Hill - West Branch. I'm not sure at what time this was. We hooked a right for Balsam, walked over the summit to a lookout facing the Hunter and Slide mountain wildernesses. We ate here and returned to the junction by 2:20pm. Confirming that at least one of us had a headlamp, we immediately committed to Haynes and Eagle mountains via the opposite section of the Pine Hill trail. The summit of Eagle was a clearing in the woods with a cairn and a fire ring on it. The summit of Haynes was unidentifiable to us as we never once rested on the way to Eagle. We saw only two people our whole time in the woods and they were a well outfitted couple in the falling snow on the Pine Hill stretch somewhere near Haynes' summit. Our peak-bagging side journey to Haynes/Eagle took about an hour and twenty minutes, but now I'm not sure, so maybe longer.
The difference from before was that it had snowed steadily in that hour. Having not seen Alex in years, I had already exhausted all my questions on his early hiking career, accomplishment of the AT and PCT, summits in the Whites, Smokies, Adirondacks and Europe, South America and let him steadily ease ahead of me back into the valley. The walking was now on a half inch of snow, a full blanket of dead leaves, and hand sized stones. My North Face Shoes didn't have much grip to them. I fell several times, jamming and cutting my hand once. Then I fell one final time just before the trail completely flattened out. We were in the car at 5pm. I was in my apartment in Brooklyn showering by 830pm and very appreciative of Alex for making the quick adventure happen. My first Catskill peaks!
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