Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Wanting to save my last W35 for a nice day, I Was Watching the Weather forecast constantly. A feW days ago, I saW that the forecast on Saturday for the Catskills Was very favorable for Winter hiking, so I started planning my final Winter 35 Hike. The destination Was Westkill, a fairly short hike of 6 miles, With only 1800' of climbing.
Yesterday, it all came together. The Weather Was perfect, With the temps in the teens, sunshine all day, and virtually no Wind. My girl friend Laurie Was there, along With my 3 kids, David (20, a budding peakbagger), Jon (18, athletic, but not much of a hiker), and Christine (16, track star, but not a peakbagger). The kids had all been on hikes before With me, even in Winter, and With neW boots on David's and Christine's feet, We set off at 9:00 from the Eastern end of Spruceton Road With Rick, Ed, and Carl, friends Who had joined us for the day. 4 other people Were just starting out too, a W46'r from Albany, a friend from Poughkeepsie, and their respective offsprings. At first the group of 4 Was ahead of us. When We caught up to them at the bridge that crosses the Westkill Stream at Diamond Notch Falls, We chatted about each other's patches. I mentioned that I Was getting my "W" today for the Catskills. They continued on ahead at first, 3 With Wooden shoWshoes. One said, "If these (the shoes) Were good enough for my grandfather, they're good enough for me!".
After our group passed the bridge, We started to overtake the group of 4. Actually, some of our group Went on ahead of them, and some stayed behimd at first. Eventually We Were all ahead of them. AnyWay...
We had about 10" of fresh soft poWder on the trail, and I Was actually hoping to do a lot of trailbreaking, but 2 things happened that changed my mind. My daughter Was not having a good day, and even though she is in good shape, she Was struggling to keep up With the group. Also, Rick and Ed Went blasting up the trail, and We didn't see them for at least 2 hours. I Wanted to run up With them, but I also Wanted to stay With my family, so I chose the latter. At one stop, Christine mentioned that she had not eaten in 4 hours!
After getting some more food and Water, and a 2nd pole, she felt better, and made better progress.
By 11:30, We had passed the cave(s) (? ), and Were going up and over the small bumps before the summit. The trees Were covered in a snoW/ice mixture and Were gorgeous, framed across the bright blue sky.
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/trees.jpg
At this point, Ed and Rick Were Waiting for us, so I took over trailbreaking, at a sloW enough pace that everyone could folloW me comfortably. (Who am I kidding, I Was Winded too, since I had to run up to the front to take over the lead! )
By 12:00 We had reached the marvelous VieWpoint called Buck Ridge. You can see the Blackhead range, Hunter (With the iced over firetoWer glistening in the sun, and the Moon rising directly above it! I took a picture of the toWer,
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/tower.jpg
but it Was before the moon rose, Dang! ), most of the Devil's Path, the Burroughs range, and a tiny slice of the Ashokan reservoir. We dropped packs, and made the short trek to the true summt, Which although it is the only Catskill peak With a Wooden sign, it has no vieWs. We took a feW pictures
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/two.jpg
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/top.jpg
and headed back to the vieW point for lunch.
By this time, the group of 4 had arrived, and a bottle of champange Was produced (Which Was almost IMPOSSIBLE to open!!! Does the cold affect the bottle/cork size ratio ? ), along With the coveted
Patch handed to me by my kids, but doubtless procured by Laurie ( ? She says she'll never tell! ).
We enjoyed the vieWs, and the bubbly, and the friends and family for a While, and then sped off for the cars. Ed led the Way, and he, my sons, Rick and I Were back at the cars in just over 1 hour. Just for kicks, We bushWhacked/trailbroke over the stream Where the trail meets the Watercourse, and met up With the Diamond Notch Trail on the other side. After another 1/2 hour, everyone Was back at the cars. While We Waited, David and Jon read in the car, and David Walked around the parking lot barefoot! Both children Who recieved neW boots said their feet felt fine at the end of the day.
We changed, and headed off to a celebration at the Hickory BBQ grill, in West Hurley. We toasted my success With a feW pints of Keegan Ales. Mmmmmm!
This is my first "W", but hopefully not my last! I hope to get the W46 someday and maybe some others, Who knoW?
Yesterday, it all came together. The Weather Was perfect, With the temps in the teens, sunshine all day, and virtually no Wind. My girl friend Laurie Was there, along With my 3 kids, David (20, a budding peakbagger), Jon (18, athletic, but not much of a hiker), and Christine (16, track star, but not a peakbagger). The kids had all been on hikes before With me, even in Winter, and With neW boots on David's and Christine's feet, We set off at 9:00 from the Eastern end of Spruceton Road With Rick, Ed, and Carl, friends Who had joined us for the day. 4 other people Were just starting out too, a W46'r from Albany, a friend from Poughkeepsie, and their respective offsprings. At first the group of 4 Was ahead of us. When We caught up to them at the bridge that crosses the Westkill Stream at Diamond Notch Falls, We chatted about each other's patches. I mentioned that I Was getting my "W" today for the Catskills. They continued on ahead at first, 3 With Wooden shoWshoes. One said, "If these (the shoes) Were good enough for my grandfather, they're good enough for me!".
After our group passed the bridge, We started to overtake the group of 4. Actually, some of our group Went on ahead of them, and some stayed behimd at first. Eventually We Were all ahead of them. AnyWay...
We had about 10" of fresh soft poWder on the trail, and I Was actually hoping to do a lot of trailbreaking, but 2 things happened that changed my mind. My daughter Was not having a good day, and even though she is in good shape, she Was struggling to keep up With the group. Also, Rick and Ed Went blasting up the trail, and We didn't see them for at least 2 hours. I Wanted to run up With them, but I also Wanted to stay With my family, so I chose the latter. At one stop, Christine mentioned that she had not eaten in 4 hours!
After getting some more food and Water, and a 2nd pole, she felt better, and made better progress.By 11:30, We had passed the cave(s) (?
), and Were going up and over the small bumps before the summit. The trees Were covered in a snoW/ice mixture and Were gorgeous, framed across the bright blue sky. http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/trees.jpg
At this point, Ed and Rick Were Waiting for us, so I took over trailbreaking, at a sloW enough pace that everyone could folloW me comfortably. (Who am I kidding, I Was Winded too, since I had to run up to the front to take over the lead!
)By 12:00 We had reached the marvelous VieWpoint called Buck Ridge. You can see the Blackhead range, Hunter (With the iced over firetoWer glistening in the sun, and the Moon rising directly above it! I took a picture of the toWer,
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/tower.jpg
but it Was before the moon rose, Dang!
), most of the Devil's Path, the Burroughs range, and a tiny slice of the Ashokan reservoir. We dropped packs, and made the short trek to the true summt, Which although it is the only Catskill peak With a Wooden sign, it has no vieWs. We took a feW pictures http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/two.jpg
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/top.jpg
and headed back to the vieW point for lunch.
By this time, the group of 4 had arrived, and a bottle of champange Was produced (Which Was almost IMPOSSIBLE to open!!! Does the cold affect the bottle/cork size ratio ? ), along With the coveted
Patch handed to me by my kids, but doubtless procured by Laurie ( ? She says she'll never tell!
).We enjoyed the vieWs, and the bubbly, and the friends and family for a While, and then sped off for the cars. Ed led the Way, and he, my sons, Rick and I Were back at the cars in just over 1 hour. Just for kicks, We bushWhacked/trailbroke over the stream Where the trail meets the Watercourse, and met up With the Diamond Notch Trail on the other side. After another 1/2 hour, everyone Was back at the cars. While We Waited, David and Jon read in the car, and David Walked around the parking lot barefoot!
Both children Who recieved neW boots said their feet felt fine at the end of the day. We changed, and headed off to a celebration at the Hickory BBQ grill, in West Hurley. We toasted my success With a feW pints of Keegan Ales. Mmmmmm!
This is my first "W", but hopefully not my last! I hope to get the W46 someday and maybe some others, Who knoW?
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