Today, I completed my Catskill 3500 on Slide. I did this exact same hike in December, and remembered it being a rather easy one overall, nothing too steep, a nice view towards and just after the top, and relatively short (5.6 miles per the maps).
It was wet. It was raining most of the day, which meant wet everything. By the time I was done, I had gone through my second pair of socks, boots were soaked through. All clothing was soaked through, and wearing cotton underwear that was the only thing that did not dry out apart from the feet.
I took the friday off to go hiking. It was a nearly perfect day to be out. Sky was cloudless, temperatures were great, humidity was low, but visibility was horrible due to Canadian wildfires. The air quality wasn't that bad though, I wasn't smelling any camp fire smell like we did in Albany a few weeks ago when the AQI was over 200. Prediction was to be around 150... so strenuous outdoor activity was advised against, but that doesn't mean it really was a bad idea.
More Lake George 12 today. I had originally planned to do the entire tongue range, but it was a hot and humid day, so I cut it short by hiking out to Fivemile and then coming back to the top of the tongue. Overall, this is a beautiful hike, and on the north end not horribly difficult. The views though, somewhat lacking. There was a slight view at Brown, nothing at Huckleberry, and you had to scramble up a rock off the trail to get any view at 5 mile. I fortunately? didn't see any of the rattlesnakes that the tongue range is known for.
I continue my work on the Lake George 12. This time it was Buck, Erebus, and Sleeping Beauty out of the Fort Anne area. First up was Buck from Shelving Rock Road. The hike was just a dream. There was a bit of steep right at the top, but I was up in no time and didn't realize how fast I was going. The views were amazing too! No wonder this is one of the hikes that "everyone" does, and I'm surprised it took me so long to get to it as it's only about an hour away.
Looking to do a short hike after working as trailhead steward, I went to do Big Crow from O'Toole road, part of the Lake Placid 9 challenge. I get to the lot, sign in at the register, and start hiking the trail next to the register. After 15 min or so I start asking myself, am I on the right trail? I thought this trail was only 0.7 miles and steep, but I've gone at least 1/2 a mile and it's been flat! I check the GPS, and yup, I'm on the wrong trail, I'm heading towards Hurricane! Oops!
Today I started on the Lake George 12 by going for a hike with Michael up Cat and Thomas. We started off at the parking area on Edgecomb Rd. The trail starts off as a dirt road and eventually you make a left turn and are on trail. The trail overall up Cat was pretty nice to hike. It was surprisingly well marked and easy to follow. It was only at the top that it got a little steep to climb. The views though were well worth it.
For my last winter hike of the year, I went back up north and decided to do a "simple" 12 mile hike, TableTop and Phelps. The weather forecast was good, but suggested weather would be moving in later in the day.
Did a solo winter hike here. Plateau has a couple ways up, and my concern was finding one that was broken out from the storm Friday into Saturday. First stop was off of 214, and that was broken out. This trail is a beast though. 1600 feet up in the first mile. I was soooo thankful for my heel lifts, but it still took me nearly 2 hours to get up to Orchard Point. Let me tell you though, the views though were well worth it. I then started across the ridge to the true peak of Plateau. This was a lovely forested, mostly evergreen, trail.
We started late for me, at 930, with the hopes that someone had been through and broken trail from the storm the friday/saturday before. We were lucky. It was broken. Overall, it was a beautiful day. Clear sky, and warm. I was sweating my ass off within a mile, and stripped down to just my long underwear top. Unfortunately, I was wearing long underwear bottoms under my insulated pants, and my bottom half was sweating all day. We made it to the col between the 2 mountains and went up Indian Head first.
