Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Having done Panther last weekend in the DAX, Laurie and I led a 3500 Club Hike to Panther in the Catskills, on 1/27. There was almost no snow at the base of the mountain, but it was doing something between snow and sleet as we got ready to hike. It was windy on and off all day. Temps were in the 10's- 20s. A total of 6 hikers showed up. 1 other had to cancel, and 2 who said they would be there were tardy, so instead of freezing our buns off, we left without them at 9:05, knowing that they were capable winter hikers if they did arrive.
The choice for the men (4) on the trip was Stabilicers. The women wore bare boots. No one ever had any problems, but there were some icy spots that had to be skirted by the bb's. This was my first time on stabilicers, so I boldly walked up the ice flows, and fortunately, did not make an a$$ of myself!
We reached Giant Ledge after about 1.5 hours. The views were limited but we could make out Wittenberg, Cornell, and maybe Slide. The snow had stopped by this point.
Down we went the other side of Giant Ledge and into the col with Panther. It was windy here. We met 1 lone hiker coming back down, and chatted briefly. By 12:00, we had reached the summit of Panther. 0 visibility! Oh well. The snow depth here had risen to a whopping 1"-2". 2 hikers came up the other path at just about the same time. We chatted, had some food and tea, and then headed back down.
We met 5 people and 2 dogs coming down. There were also 2 men descending who had just done Giant Ledge. They were wearing formal overcoats, leather Oxfords, and a top hat! The other was bald, and hatless. They seemed to be in good spirits, and were moving almost as fast as we were, so we skipped any lecturing! They made it back to the trailhead, much to our relief! At the trailhead we ran into our 2 tardy companions. They settled for Giant Ledge as well.
From there, we went off to the Catskill Club's Winter Gathering in Jewett. We had a great time meeting fellow club members, chatting, eating an excellent dinner, and imbibing fine spirits! Y'all missed it!
The choice for the men (4) on the trip was Stabilicers. The women wore bare boots. No one ever had any problems, but there were some icy spots that had to be skirted by the bb's. This was my first time on stabilicers, so I boldly walked up the ice flows, and fortunately, did not make an a$$ of myself!
We reached Giant Ledge after about 1.5 hours. The views were limited but we could make out Wittenberg, Cornell, and maybe Slide. The snow had stopped by this point.
Down we went the other side of Giant Ledge and into the col with Panther. It was windy here. We met 1 lone hiker coming back down, and chatted briefly. By 12:00, we had reached the summit of Panther. 0 visibility! Oh well. The snow depth here had risen to a whopping 1"-2". 2 hikers came up the other path at just about the same time. We chatted, had some food and tea, and then headed back down.
We met 5 people and 2 dogs coming down. There were also 2 men descending who had just done Giant Ledge. They were wearing formal overcoats, leather Oxfords, and a top hat!
The other was bald, and hatless. They seemed to be in good spirits, and were moving almost as fast as we were, so we skipped any lecturing! They made it back to the trailhead, much to our relief! At the trailhead we ran into our 2 tardy companions. They settled for Giant Ledge as well. From there, we went off to the Catskill Club's Winter Gathering in Jewett. We had a great time meeting fellow club members, chatting, eating an excellent dinner, and imbibing fine spirits!
Y'all missed it! 
