Double Bow
New member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2005
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Well, I'm back home in NH now kicking back a few cold ones and trying not to think about work tomorrow. I appreciate everyone's concern and I think you've been in suspense long enough so now I'll share "the rest of the story".
As Kevin shared in his thread, Shamie and I met up with hime and Rich to climb Peekamoose and Table. I was excited about this as I only get to the Catskills once a year and I'm trying to work on the 3500s (no surprise there). Going into the day, I had nine under my belt.
Hiking with Shamie, Kevin, & Rich was all well and good and I enjoyed hiking those first two peaks, but I wanted to knock off some more. I was tempted by the thought of going over Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, and Friday as I needed all four of those, but I thought that a bit much.
Leaving Table, I pushed through some thick stuff at first but was then treated to fairly open woods. Unfortunately, I had made a mistake when setting my bearing. I had gone off of a star on the map which indicated a viewpoint, not the summit. Needless to say, I was going off of the mark. Fortunately, I realized that I was skirting around the peak too much and was able to swing back to having Lone in my sights and then made a direct assault. As one might expect, this directional mishap costed me some time. I reached the cannister and signed in, but I was embarressed at what a stupid rookie mistake I had made and I felt the need to redeem myself.
So off I went towards Rocky. I was able to follow a bit of track for a little ways and it matched my bearing perfectly. The woods here too were very open, except for near the top where I had to push through some thick stuff. Then, I popped out in a pretty open area near the summit. This cannister too was easy to find. 45min after leaving Lone, I signed in then poked around for a little bit taking pictures before heading down toward Neversink.
Heading down, I came to an area with a great view at around 3200'. I went to take my camera out of the case on my shoulder strap and found that it was gone! Obviously, a branch had grabbed the lanyard and yanked in out of the velcro closed case. I climbed back up toward the summit trying to go back the way I came, poking around looking for my camera. Not only did I not find it, but while doing that, the bite valve and clip on my hydration bag came off! I lost most of my water before I realized. Fortunately, I had a Nalgene bottle with me too... just in case. Looks like Rocky was unlucky #13.
Back at the summit, I entered a note into the log stating that I had lost my camera, offering a REWARD, and leaving my email address. This is the second digital camera with photos of the Catskills on it that I've lost on the trail (the first was lost on Waumbek last year).
Heading down again now, I finally reached the Neversink. It seemed to take FOREVER for me to get out to the trail and it that time it got dark. Fortunately my headlamp was up to snuff. At 9:30 (12.5hrs into my hike), I reached the Denning TH. As my luck would have it, Shamie left there minutes before I arrived. Confused and distraught, I started walking down Denning Rd with the thoughts of trying to walk back/hitch back to Phoenicia.
2hrs into the dark, lonely road walk, I looked at the map to check my direction and I realized that it would be faster to get back to the motel in Phoenicia by going back up the trail, over the ridge and out to the Slide Mtn trailhead. I also thought that maybe Shamie was there. Six hours after turning right at the fork, I was taking the left.
Between 5-5:30a, I reached the Slide trailhead. There was no one there. Again, I started walking the road. At times, I would stop for a second, close my eyes and fall asleep on my feet. It was only my starting to fall that would snap me out of it. Still, I pressed on. The traffic was almost non-existent but, I stuck my thumb out for every car. Finally, at 8:30a (23.5 hrs into my hike) a good Semaritan from RI picked me up and drove me back to the motel. Shamie had been calling everyone and was about to drive around to the various trailheads when I arrived.
I laid down and got a few hours of rest while she called everyone back letting them know I was safe. We then went out for brunch & ice cream and kept the day low-key after that, aside from getting maragritas and Mexican food.
Today, before driving back, I had an uneventful beautiful climb of Plateau and Sugarloaf. At least my trip back to the Catskills ended on a positive note and I managed to pick up six peaks total for the weekend and am little worse for the wear. Thank you very much to all who kept my in their thoughts and who prayed for my safety. Clearly, the lesson here is to know how long things are going to take and to make sure all your bases are covered. Had we known how long things were going to take, I would have been heading back to the motel at 9:30a, not 8:30a. Again, thank you all!!
As Kevin shared in his thread, Shamie and I met up with hime and Rich to climb Peekamoose and Table. I was excited about this as I only get to the Catskills once a year and I'm trying to work on the 3500s (no surprise there). Going into the day, I had nine under my belt.
Hiking with Shamie, Kevin, & Rich was all well and good and I enjoyed hiking those first two peaks, but I wanted to knock off some more. I was tempted by the thought of going over Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, and Friday as I needed all four of those, but I thought that a bit much.
Leaving Table, I pushed through some thick stuff at first but was then treated to fairly open woods. Unfortunately, I had made a mistake when setting my bearing. I had gone off of a star on the map which indicated a viewpoint, not the summit. Needless to say, I was going off of the mark. Fortunately, I realized that I was skirting around the peak too much and was able to swing back to having Lone in my sights and then made a direct assault. As one might expect, this directional mishap costed me some time. I reached the cannister and signed in, but I was embarressed at what a stupid rookie mistake I had made and I felt the need to redeem myself.
So off I went towards Rocky. I was able to follow a bit of track for a little ways and it matched my bearing perfectly. The woods here too were very open, except for near the top where I had to push through some thick stuff. Then, I popped out in a pretty open area near the summit. This cannister too was easy to find. 45min after leaving Lone, I signed in then poked around for a little bit taking pictures before heading down toward Neversink.
Heading down, I came to an area with a great view at around 3200'. I went to take my camera out of the case on my shoulder strap and found that it was gone! Obviously, a branch had grabbed the lanyard and yanked in out of the velcro closed case. I climbed back up toward the summit trying to go back the way I came, poking around looking for my camera. Not only did I not find it, but while doing that, the bite valve and clip on my hydration bag came off! I lost most of my water before I realized. Fortunately, I had a Nalgene bottle with me too... just in case. Looks like Rocky was unlucky #13.
Back at the summit, I entered a note into the log stating that I had lost my camera, offering a REWARD, and leaving my email address. This is the second digital camera with photos of the Catskills on it that I've lost on the trail (the first was lost on Waumbek last year).
Heading down again now, I finally reached the Neversink. It seemed to take FOREVER for me to get out to the trail and it that time it got dark. Fortunately my headlamp was up to snuff. At 9:30 (12.5hrs into my hike), I reached the Denning TH. As my luck would have it, Shamie left there minutes before I arrived. Confused and distraught, I started walking down Denning Rd with the thoughts of trying to walk back/hitch back to Phoenicia.
2hrs into the dark, lonely road walk, I looked at the map to check my direction and I realized that it would be faster to get back to the motel in Phoenicia by going back up the trail, over the ridge and out to the Slide Mtn trailhead. I also thought that maybe Shamie was there. Six hours after turning right at the fork, I was taking the left.
Between 5-5:30a, I reached the Slide trailhead. There was no one there. Again, I started walking the road. At times, I would stop for a second, close my eyes and fall asleep on my feet. It was only my starting to fall that would snap me out of it. Still, I pressed on. The traffic was almost non-existent but, I stuck my thumb out for every car. Finally, at 8:30a (23.5 hrs into my hike) a good Semaritan from RI picked me up and drove me back to the motel. Shamie had been calling everyone and was about to drive around to the various trailheads when I arrived.
I laid down and got a few hours of rest while she called everyone back letting them know I was safe. We then went out for brunch & ice cream and kept the day low-key after that, aside from getting maragritas and Mexican food.
Today, before driving back, I had an uneventful beautiful climb of Plateau and Sugarloaf. At least my trip back to the Catskills ended on a positive note and I managed to pick up six peaks total for the weekend and am little worse for the wear. Thank you very much to all who kept my in their thoughts and who prayed for my safety. Clearly, the lesson here is to know how long things are going to take and to make sure all your bases are covered. Had we known how long things were going to take, I would have been heading back to the motel at 9:30a, not 8:30a. Again, thank you all!!
