Tom Rankin
Well-known member
After the Rusk hike, it was only 1:00, so we headed off for another 'whack in the Catskills. We drove to the Slide P.A., but turned around from what most people do and crossed the road a short distance up towards 'the club', and headed up Winnisook. It was warming up, and wearing long pants and long shirt made me a little sweaty going up hill, but it was better than getting all scraped up like last weekend's activities! 
We followed the state blazes up at about a 40 degree angle from the road. It was a little bit of sidehilling, but it made navigating very easy. After about a half hour, we started coming into Catskill ledges. What a surprise! We made it up and through the rocks and were treated to a nice view of Slide and his buddies. But we were not quite done yet.
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01719.JPG - Ledges
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01720.JPG - More Ledges
At this point Laurie stopped and said "OH MY GOD, LOOK!". I thought there must be a huge snake in front of her, but it turned out to be a Ruffed Grouse sitting on her nest only a few feet away! It didn't fly away, so we took a video and a few pictures of her. As we started backing away, she flew off, using the 'broken wing' technique to try to fool us into following her! What a cool moment with nature!
Can you find mama? http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01725a.jpg
A few more minutes and we found a summit bump to both the right and the left. So of course, we went to both of them. The right bump turned out to be just a few feet higher. We sort of saw the 'Stonehenge' effect that others had mentioned.
Coming back down was easy. Back down the property line more or less, sometimes wandering to the right for a better track. The whole hike took less than 2 hours.
Afterwards, I treated Laurie to a Mother's Day 'feast' at Keegan Ales!
We followed the state blazes up at about a 40 degree angle from the road. It was a little bit of sidehilling, but it made navigating very easy. After about a half hour, we started coming into Catskill ledges. What a surprise!
We made it up and through the rocks and were treated to a nice view of Slide and his buddies. But we were not quite done yet. http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01719.JPG - Ledges
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01720.JPG - More Ledges
At this point Laurie stopped and said "OH MY GOD, LOOK!". I thought there must be a huge snake in front of her, but it turned out to be a Ruffed Grouse sitting on her nest only a few feet away! It didn't fly away, so we took a video and a few pictures of her. As we started backing away, she flew off, using the 'broken wing' technique to try to fool us into following her!
What a cool moment with nature!Can you find mama? http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC01725a.jpg
A few more minutes and we found a summit bump to both the right and the left. So of course, we went to both of them. The right bump turned out to be just a few feet higher. We sort of saw the 'Stonehenge' effect that others had mentioned.
Coming back down was easy. Back down the property line more or less, sometimes wandering to the right for a better track. The whole hike took less than 2 hours.
Afterwards, I treated Laurie to a Mother's Day 'feast' at Keegan Ales!
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