Went hiking today to join a friend on his quest for his 3500.  This hike was South West Hunter, my third time up the mountain.  We started at the end of Spruceton bright and early with a light drizzle and chilly temperatures.  I was the only one that didn't put on a long sleeve shirt or rain gear, and I was right to not do that as I warmed up by the time we hit Diamond Notch falls.  We hiked in at a relaxed pace and found ourselves at the falls in no time.

This hike I did in reverse of what I did last time.  I parked at the big lot on Spruceston and started up the bridal path.  When I reached the hairpin turn, turned left and went up the ridge to the top of Rusk.  This has a stupidly steep section, but with microspikes and a bit of fresh snow, it wasn't that bad to get up and find the canister.  At this point, the tracks ended, so on went the snowshoes and over to Hunter I went.  I mostly went along what the likely herd path is, but there were a few places, mostly coming off East Rusk that I went a little awry.

This time I was able to get up Halcott as I got there earlier in the morning.  Also, this time I knew that the herd path is not straight up the mountain from where you park, but off down the road a little bit further, and I ended up leading a couple people and a lovely dog over to it.  This is the first time I've gone up this way, so I didn't realize how steep it was.  Started with microspikes but once the climbing began considered switching over to the shoes.

I went to go hiking and didn't plan on an early start in the Catskills, and never expected it would be a problem to find parking.  My goal was Halcott.  Well, I get there about 10 in the morning and the lot is full.  So I go down to Shaft road to think and come up with doing Sherill.  I had plans in the evening, so I only planned on doing one peak.

Making it 2 days in a row, I went and hiked Thomas Cole and Blackdome from Barnum Road as I didn't want to go up Big Hollow again.  This approach is longer, but only has one real steep section as you are going up the caudal.  It was icy, but it wasn't really anything I was worried about.  By the time I reached the big tree on Camel's Hump, I put my shoes on as it was getting more and more snow coverage, and it helped with the heel lifts going up Thomas Cole.

To start the year off, Windham High Peak for my first Winter 3500 of the year.

This time, I took the escarpment trail up and down.  I hadn't done that direction last time, so this was a new experience for me.  No need for snow shoes most of the way, just microspikes as it was a bit icy once you reached the lean-to.  On top though, it was melting snow, and I put the shoes on just for the top on my way down.  The eerie part of the hike though was just how there were so many trees that were down that I dubbed it a "tree graveyard".

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.

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.