funkyfreddy
Well-known member
This past Sunday Gail and I met Ralph/Hermit at the end of Moonhaw Rd. in the Catskills. We were thinking of hiking the recent slide on Dink Mt. but decided not to due to the rain that was forecasted. Ralph suggested we climb Friday and Balsam Cap instead, which was fine with us since Gail had never hiked in this part of the Catskills before and I'm always up for hiking with Ralph, especially in his backyard! I had hiked these 2 mountains with Jay H, Ralph, and Josef quite a few years ago in the winter and looked forward to climbing them again.
We started up the east side of Friday, circumventing the very steep ledges which jut out from that side of the mountain, hoping to make it to the viewpoint before it got socked in or started to rain. We got a very nice view of the Ashokan reservoir when we got up to the top of Friday's cliffs. Soon after Ralph took us to the canister on Friday and we all signed in. Ralph knows these woods like no one else and we easily skirted the ledges and blow downs that might have hung up those less familiar with the area.
As we climbed down a bit from Friday's summit it started to rain lightly. we donned our rain gear and moved along just below one of Friday's massive ledges. We got glimpses of Balsam Cap Mt. thru the forest as the sky start to fog over quickly, the moisture adding a nice glow to the flowers and trees. The Catskill forests are coming alive with spring, and from our elevation we could see the wave of green that was climbing from the valley towards the ridge lines of the surrounding mountains.
We soon got to the summit of Balsam Cap, where had a quick lunch in the rain. We headed down the slope of BC, hoping to find the wreckage from the 1948 plane crash that happened near the col between Friday and Balsam Cap Mts. We carefully negotiated the steep slope of loose rocks and soil, soon coming upon the crash site at about 2500 feet.
The crash is the largest I've ever seen in the woods, and quite a contrast to the forest around it. I felt sad for the four crew members that lost their lives in the service of our country. Ralph told us that the Catskills have 23 plane crash sites and I've come across more than a few in my travels, 2 on Kaaterskill High Peak and 2 on Van Wyck among others. It started to rain pretty hard as we explored the area and tread carefully around the wreckage.
After we left the crash site we headed north to hook up again with the herd path, which took us by some massive boulders. We heard a pair of owls calling to each other across the hollow as we walked the woods road to our vehicles, where we encountered a sleeping Matt in his car. Matt had climbed Slide earlier that afternoon and decided to head over to where we were in order to catch up with us.
After the hike we went over Ralph's house and hung out together. Maddy served us salad and some delicious venison stew, and we sampled some good beer as well, lol. It was great to see Maddy, Matt, Ralph and catch up and extremely nice to hike with Ralph again after a year and a half! We'll all have to hook up again soon for some more great hiking! Thanks very much, Fred
Photos/slideshow from the trip are here
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/563534424MeTMjY
We started up the east side of Friday, circumventing the very steep ledges which jut out from that side of the mountain, hoping to make it to the viewpoint before it got socked in or started to rain. We got a very nice view of the Ashokan reservoir when we got up to the top of Friday's cliffs. Soon after Ralph took us to the canister on Friday and we all signed in. Ralph knows these woods like no one else and we easily skirted the ledges and blow downs that might have hung up those less familiar with the area.
As we climbed down a bit from Friday's summit it started to rain lightly. we donned our rain gear and moved along just below one of Friday's massive ledges. We got glimpses of Balsam Cap Mt. thru the forest as the sky start to fog over quickly, the moisture adding a nice glow to the flowers and trees. The Catskill forests are coming alive with spring, and from our elevation we could see the wave of green that was climbing from the valley towards the ridge lines of the surrounding mountains.
We soon got to the summit of Balsam Cap, where had a quick lunch in the rain. We headed down the slope of BC, hoping to find the wreckage from the 1948 plane crash that happened near the col between Friday and Balsam Cap Mts. We carefully negotiated the steep slope of loose rocks and soil, soon coming upon the crash site at about 2500 feet.
The crash is the largest I've ever seen in the woods, and quite a contrast to the forest around it. I felt sad for the four crew members that lost their lives in the service of our country. Ralph told us that the Catskills have 23 plane crash sites and I've come across more than a few in my travels, 2 on Kaaterskill High Peak and 2 on Van Wyck among others. It started to rain pretty hard as we explored the area and tread carefully around the wreckage.
After we left the crash site we headed north to hook up again with the herd path, which took us by some massive boulders. We heard a pair of owls calling to each other across the hollow as we walked the woods road to our vehicles, where we encountered a sleeping Matt in his car. Matt had climbed Slide earlier that afternoon and decided to head over to where we were in order to catch up with us.
After the hike we went over Ralph's house and hung out together. Maddy served us salad and some delicious venison stew, and we sampled some good beer as well, lol. It was great to see Maddy, Matt, Ralph and catch up and extremely nice to hike with Ralph again after a year and a half! We'll all have to hook up again soon for some more great hiking! Thanks very much, Fred
Photos/slideshow from the trip are here
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/563534424MeTMjY
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