Rob S
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2003
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A Tale of 2 Mountains ....... nah, a tail and 2 mountains ...... 
Alan (Peakbagr), Bookah, and I met at the Biscuit Brook trailhead at 9am. During the week we had talked about doing either Doubletop or Fir, or both if we had the time and energy. We ended up deciding to climb Fir, a Catskill 35er, and Spruce, number 48 on the Cat100 list. I was pretty stoked to be climbing Fir as my last attempt from Big Indian was unsuccessful after banging my knee on some rocks.
The weather was nearly perfect as we began our hike with blue skies, some passing clouds, and temps around 40 degrees. Bookah, Peakbagr’s chocolate lab, was donning her orange safety vest, which I thought was a great idea since it is muzzleloader season in the Catskills. Shortly after signing the register, we passed 2 guys we had seen in the parking lot, and never saw another soul all day.
Streams were running fairly high, much more so than my last visit to this area in August. Despite that, we managed to rock hop without getting our feet wet. Shortly after passing the Biscuit Brook lean-to, we initially took a northeast bearing and dove into the woods. However, 10 minutes into the bushwhack, rather than following a tributary of Biscuit Brook, (which I believe is one of the “traditional” ways to climb Fir), we were scrambling our way through some cliff faces. The going was not difficult, and Alan picked perfect lines up the steeper sections. The going was so easy in fact, that I mentioned to Alan what a nice route he chose and getting most of the elevation gain out of the way early in the hike. Funny thing was that he had not really intended to veer that far to the east, and the “route” that I had thought was genius was actually a mistake. But what a terrific mistake! I would definitely recommend our route as a fun alternative to the normal route. The icing on the cake was the easy, flat ridge walk we had once we had gained height-of-land.
The last push to the summit consists of climbing a series of “shelves”, each one bringing us up another “level”. This type of geology is very common in the Catskills and you can often see the layers of shale and/or sandstone among the cliffs and rock-bands. Bookah loved every minute of these shelves - - - climbing up a level, back down to us by a different way, and then back up again behind us. I joked about how she would have hiked at least twice as many miles as we would by the end of the day.
Before long, a herdpath appeared in front of us, and we saw the canister about 30 yards away. The summit of Fir is not unlike many of the nearby trailless peaks such as Big Indian, and consists of a small clearing in an otherwise wooded forest. There was a touch of snow on the ground, which only enhanced the beauty of the forest. We signed the register, ate lunch, and took a few summit pics. A chilly wind kept us from lingering too long; and it was time to begin the trek over to Spruce.
After entering a waypoint for the Spruce summit, and another for the col that we were about to aim for, we set off. The walk over to Spruce would be a classic case of “threading the needle” to avoid losing too much elevation. We were fortunate to have plenty of visual cues with most of the leaves off the trees. Our handrails were obvious as the very narrow ridge connecting Fir and Spruce dropped off quickly on either side. Once we had dropped down to the col proper, we happened upon a small, but very pretty alpine “meadow”. It was gorgeous. We weren’t the only ones to think so, however. I have never seen so much bear scat. In fact, the entire climb up Spruce was a virtual minefield peppered with piles of seed-filled bear poop!
Bear doo-doo aside, the climb up Spruce was fairly straightforward, and we only paused briefly to examine a vast variety of moss and lichen growing on just about everything. It was fairly obvious when we reached the summit. Despite this, a small rock cairn confirmed we were at the highest spot. (And yeah, we did walk all over the broad flat summit, just to be sure that we actually did step on the highest point, and to confirm we are both obsessive compulsive!)
With the late October sun slipping toward the horizon, we wasted little time marking a few waypoints on each of our GPS’s, and began the downhill journey back to our cars. On the way down, I slipped on some wet, slippery leaves and ended up flat on my back! Ironically, I had been thinking just minutes before that I had actually hiked all day without falling. Oh well, at least I’m consistent!
Other than my spill, we made great time following a ridge down to Route 47 (Slide Mountain Road). Once on the road, Bookah was leashed and we began the final leg of our journey. As we walked, nearly every home along the road had either a generator or sump pump (or both) operating. Not sure if this area was without power or not, but it was evident by the rivers and streams that quite a bit of rain had fallen.
Back at the cars, after 10 miles of hiking, we changed our clothes and prepared for the drive home. We each had about 2 hours driving time ahead of us, so after chatting a bit we parted company. For me, the drive to and from the Catskills is almost as fun as the hike itself as I meander the back roads through the southern Catskills, western Shawanagunks, and finally the Kittatinnies. An awesome day in the woods with a great friend, it just doesn’t get much better. A very happy, peaceful, and content sensation filled my being as only a great day in the mountains can.
PICTURES HERE.
Alan (Peakbagr), Bookah, and I met at the Biscuit Brook trailhead at 9am. During the week we had talked about doing either Doubletop or Fir, or both if we had the time and energy. We ended up deciding to climb Fir, a Catskill 35er, and Spruce, number 48 on the Cat100 list. I was pretty stoked to be climbing Fir as my last attempt from Big Indian was unsuccessful after banging my knee on some rocks.
The weather was nearly perfect as we began our hike with blue skies, some passing clouds, and temps around 40 degrees. Bookah, Peakbagr’s chocolate lab, was donning her orange safety vest, which I thought was a great idea since it is muzzleloader season in the Catskills. Shortly after signing the register, we passed 2 guys we had seen in the parking lot, and never saw another soul all day.
Streams were running fairly high, much more so than my last visit to this area in August. Despite that, we managed to rock hop without getting our feet wet. Shortly after passing the Biscuit Brook lean-to, we initially took a northeast bearing and dove into the woods. However, 10 minutes into the bushwhack, rather than following a tributary of Biscuit Brook, (which I believe is one of the “traditional” ways to climb Fir), we were scrambling our way through some cliff faces. The going was not difficult, and Alan picked perfect lines up the steeper sections. The going was so easy in fact, that I mentioned to Alan what a nice route he chose and getting most of the elevation gain out of the way early in the hike. Funny thing was that he had not really intended to veer that far to the east, and the “route” that I had thought was genius was actually a mistake. But what a terrific mistake! I would definitely recommend our route as a fun alternative to the normal route. The icing on the cake was the easy, flat ridge walk we had once we had gained height-of-land.
The last push to the summit consists of climbing a series of “shelves”, each one bringing us up another “level”. This type of geology is very common in the Catskills and you can often see the layers of shale and/or sandstone among the cliffs and rock-bands. Bookah loved every minute of these shelves - - - climbing up a level, back down to us by a different way, and then back up again behind us. I joked about how she would have hiked at least twice as many miles as we would by the end of the day.
Before long, a herdpath appeared in front of us, and we saw the canister about 30 yards away. The summit of Fir is not unlike many of the nearby trailless peaks such as Big Indian, and consists of a small clearing in an otherwise wooded forest. There was a touch of snow on the ground, which only enhanced the beauty of the forest. We signed the register, ate lunch, and took a few summit pics. A chilly wind kept us from lingering too long; and it was time to begin the trek over to Spruce.
After entering a waypoint for the Spruce summit, and another for the col that we were about to aim for, we set off. The walk over to Spruce would be a classic case of “threading the needle” to avoid losing too much elevation. We were fortunate to have plenty of visual cues with most of the leaves off the trees. Our handrails were obvious as the very narrow ridge connecting Fir and Spruce dropped off quickly on either side. Once we had dropped down to the col proper, we happened upon a small, but very pretty alpine “meadow”. It was gorgeous. We weren’t the only ones to think so, however. I have never seen so much bear scat. In fact, the entire climb up Spruce was a virtual minefield peppered with piles of seed-filled bear poop!
Bear doo-doo aside, the climb up Spruce was fairly straightforward, and we only paused briefly to examine a vast variety of moss and lichen growing on just about everything. It was fairly obvious when we reached the summit. Despite this, a small rock cairn confirmed we were at the highest spot. (And yeah, we did walk all over the broad flat summit, just to be sure that we actually did step on the highest point, and to confirm we are both obsessive compulsive!)
With the late October sun slipping toward the horizon, we wasted little time marking a few waypoints on each of our GPS’s, and began the downhill journey back to our cars. On the way down, I slipped on some wet, slippery leaves and ended up flat on my back! Ironically, I had been thinking just minutes before that I had actually hiked all day without falling. Oh well, at least I’m consistent!
Other than my spill, we made great time following a ridge down to Route 47 (Slide Mountain Road). Once on the road, Bookah was leashed and we began the final leg of our journey. As we walked, nearly every home along the road had either a generator or sump pump (or both) operating. Not sure if this area was without power or not, but it was evident by the rivers and streams that quite a bit of rain had fallen.
Back at the cars, after 10 miles of hiking, we changed our clothes and prepared for the drive home. We each had about 2 hours driving time ahead of us, so after chatting a bit we parted company. For me, the drive to and from the Catskills is almost as fun as the hike itself as I meander the back roads through the southern Catskills, western Shawanagunks, and finally the Kittatinnies. An awesome day in the woods with a great friend, it just doesn’t get much better. A very happy, peaceful, and content sensation filled my being as only a great day in the mountains can.
PICTURES HERE.
