imarchant
Active member
I spotted my car at the McKinley (or is that McKenley
) Hollow trail head. Wyldeflower (Kim) drove me to the Slide Mountain Trailhead where we met up with my co-worker Phil & Mudhook (Jim). We made our introductions and prepared our gear. By about 7:45 we were ready to begin.
As soon as we crossed the road and started on the frozen layer of snow we realized traction aids were required. We donned our crampons and continued. We traveled a a moderate but steady pace up the boulder strewn face. As we ascended we had good views through the trees towards Slide Mountain. In less than two hours we were at the summit of the knob named Hemlock. We stopped briefly in the col for a snack break. Kim shared her hot tea. We continued on to the summit of Spruce. We first hit a false summit a few hundred yards S. of the true summit. The summit has a small cairn built. By now it had been 2:45 minutes since we had started, but was only about 15 minutes more than I had expected.
We descended to the col between Spruce and Fir, soon after the next ascent we found a boulder strewn open area. "Catskill's Stonehenge". From this point the snow started to soften and footing began to become more difficult. There were many soft spots. especially around underlying rocks and blowdown. Every few steps ones feet would break through the 6-12" of crusty snow and throw of your balance. This made for slow going. By 12:30 we had summited Fir. This was Kim's first canister We stopped for lunch. I shared my hot chocolate. We also spent a few moments in remembrance of Dominic and could feel his spirit in the mountain air.
The descent into the next notch and ascent to Big Indian was surprisingly slow due to the conditions described on the ascent of Fir. This 1.7 mile traverse took us almost 2-1/2 hours. I was the slowest on the ascent, I was starting to get tired and we we only 1/2 way done. We knew at this point we would be out after dark. after the short herd path to the trail we were relieved the bushwhacking was over, five miles in 8 hours.
The trail was bare, but we kept on our crampons in anticipation of more snow on the northern exposure. By the time we were 3/4 of the way down every one remove their crampons. I was the only one carrying stabilicers so I put them on. There were perfect for the conditions for the rest of the trip. It was a relief to take off the crampons. We continued to the Seager-Big IIndian Trail Junction and on up toward Eagle. On the ascent it began to get more icy so the others put their crampons back on, it was getting dark so everyone prepared their headlamps. A while later everyone turned on the ligts and we pressed on to the summit of Eagle. We wasted no time at the summit and continued down the Nothern slope toward Haynes. The ascent of Haynes was, thankfully, easier than I had expected with only one short, steep section right before the summit. Now for the 2+ mile descent to the car. By this time the stars were shining brightly. In the distance we could see the Belleayre lights and hear the snow guns. It was difficult seeing the trail markers in the dark. but we kept going to the trail junctions in the col. From here we turned West for the Final descent. The trail had reflective trail markers that were much easy to see, but the trail was very steep for extended lengths. this 1.7 miles seemed to last an eternity. There were two stream crossings, the water was a bit high but crossings were successfully made by all. We finally reached the car at 8:40, just over 13 hours and 11 miles from when we had started.
For me this was 3 more Winter 300 peaks with a bonus HH. I had thought Haynes was on the HH list too, but upon checking my list I guess it isn't. I now have 9-to-go for the Catskill Winter patch. I had estimated hike to take 10 hours, Mudhook estimated 8 hours. I'm not quite sure why it took so long. The route pick by both myself and Jim were nearly identical and the navigation was flawless. No one was holding back the group, except maybe myself on the Big Indian ascent. Despite the time and difficulty of this hike every was happy and had a great time.
) Hollow trail head. Wyldeflower (Kim) drove me to the Slide Mountain Trailhead where we met up with my co-worker Phil & Mudhook (Jim). We made our introductions and prepared our gear. By about 7:45 we were ready to begin.As soon as we crossed the road and started on the frozen layer of snow we realized traction aids were required. We donned our crampons and continued. We traveled a a moderate but steady pace up the boulder strewn face. As we ascended we had good views through the trees towards Slide Mountain. In less than two hours we were at the summit of the knob named Hemlock. We stopped briefly in the col for a snack break. Kim shared her hot tea. We continued on to the summit of Spruce. We first hit a false summit a few hundred yards S. of the true summit. The summit has a small cairn built. By now it had been 2:45 minutes since we had started, but was only about 15 minutes more than I had expected.
We descended to the col between Spruce and Fir, soon after the next ascent we found a boulder strewn open area. "Catskill's Stonehenge". From this point the snow started to soften and footing began to become more difficult. There were many soft spots. especially around underlying rocks and blowdown. Every few steps ones feet would break through the 6-12" of crusty snow and throw of your balance. This made for slow going. By 12:30 we had summited Fir. This was Kim's first canister
We stopped for lunch. I shared my hot chocolate. We also spent a few moments in remembrance of Dominic and could feel his spirit in the mountain air.The descent into the next notch and ascent to Big Indian was surprisingly slow due to the conditions described on the ascent of Fir. This 1.7 mile traverse took us almost 2-1/2 hours. I was the slowest on the ascent, I was starting to get tired and we we only 1/2 way done. We knew at this point we would be out after dark. after the short herd path to the trail we were relieved the bushwhacking was over, five miles in 8 hours.
The trail was bare, but we kept on our crampons in anticipation of more snow on the northern exposure. By the time we were 3/4 of the way down every one remove their crampons. I was the only one carrying stabilicers so I put them on. There were perfect for the conditions for the rest of the trip. It was a relief to take off the crampons. We continued to the Seager-Big IIndian Trail Junction and on up toward Eagle. On the ascent it began to get more icy so the others put their crampons back on, it was getting dark so everyone prepared their headlamps. A while later everyone turned on the ligts and we pressed on to the summit of Eagle. We wasted no time at the summit and continued down the Nothern slope toward Haynes. The ascent of Haynes was, thankfully, easier than I had expected with only one short, steep section right before the summit. Now for the 2+ mile descent to the car. By this time the stars were shining brightly. In the distance we could see the Belleayre lights and hear the snow guns. It was difficult seeing the trail markers in the dark. but we kept going to the trail junctions in the col. From here we turned West for the Final descent. The trail had reflective trail markers that were much easy to see, but the trail was very steep for extended lengths. this 1.7 miles seemed to last an eternity. There were two stream crossings, the water was a bit high but crossings were successfully made by all. We finally reached the car at 8:40, just over 13 hours and 11 miles from when we had started.
For me this was 3 more Winter 300 peaks with a bonus HH. I had thought Haynes was on the HH list too, but upon checking my list I guess it isn't. I now have 9-to-go for the Catskill Winter patch. I had estimated hike to take 10 hours, Mudhook estimated 8 hours. I'm not quite sure why it took so long. The route pick by both myself and Jim were nearly identical and the navigation was flawless. No one was holding back the group, except maybe myself on the Big Indian ascent. Despite the time and difficulty of this hike every was happy and had a great time.
