Gandalf
New member
Only a few patches of snow remaining, mostly in shadier spots and/or above 3500'. No stabilicers or crampons needed. I used a hiking pole for the first hike (in case ice turned out to be a problem) but left it behind for the second.
I looped over Balsam from Rider Hollow in the early AM, and saw no other people. There were a few minor blowdowns, mostly on the upper half of the Rider Hollow (red) trail and in the vicinity of the summit. I had breakfast on the nice lookout over the village of Big Indian a bit north of Balsam. The Mine Hollow trail made for an enjoyable descent and seems to be in excellent shape.
By the time I arrived at the Rt. 47 hairpin turn at 10 AM, temperatures had warmed considerably. Giant Ledge featured outstanding views, though I was glad that a little northeastern breeze had picked up when returning from Panther. These trails were a little wet in spots, but not too bad. There was still something of a snow/ice spine under the spruce/fir forest covering Panther's summit, but this presented no difficulties. I ate lunch while enjoying the northeastern view. In total I encountered a half-dozen people or so (plus a couple of dogs) on this second hike. The temperature was in the 70s by the time I returned to the trailhead.
3 hours for Balsam, 4 hours for Panther - a great day to be in the Catskills!
I looped over Balsam from Rider Hollow in the early AM, and saw no other people. There were a few minor blowdowns, mostly on the upper half of the Rider Hollow (red) trail and in the vicinity of the summit. I had breakfast on the nice lookout over the village of Big Indian a bit north of Balsam. The Mine Hollow trail made for an enjoyable descent and seems to be in excellent shape.
By the time I arrived at the Rt. 47 hairpin turn at 10 AM, temperatures had warmed considerably. Giant Ledge featured outstanding views, though I was glad that a little northeastern breeze had picked up when returning from Panther. These trails were a little wet in spots, but not too bad. There was still something of a snow/ice spine under the spruce/fir forest covering Panther's summit, but this presented no difficulties. I ate lunch while enjoying the northeastern view. In total I encountered a half-dozen people or so (plus a couple of dogs) on this second hike. The temperature was in the 70s by the time I returned to the trailhead.
3 hours for Balsam, 4 hours for Panther - a great day to be in the Catskills!
