Jay H, Winter 35er

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MattC

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Jay finished his winter 35 today on Kaaterskill High Peak. We had quite a crew. I met up w/ Fu Jow Pai in Phoenicia and we took his truck on up to Platte Clove w/ his famous Jack Russells (Trixie and Dino) in tow. There we met w/ T-max, Zero-G and Catskill Climber. In due time Dax, Chip and Jay arrived, fresh from a wet day on Windham High Peak and a cold night at Devil's Kitchen leanto.

Most of us barebooted at first, and then had crampons on and off at various points. After yesterday's rains there is a lot of running water in the Catkills, particularly on this notoriously poorly drained section of the Long Path. Over this stream bed of a trail there were thin sheets of ice, w/ lots of rocks everywhere, and 2-3 inches of powder in places. Just enough of everything to make for some interesting walking. :rolleyes:

And then there was the wind. Lots and lots of wind. Face protection was needed for much of the day. It wasn't quite as bad in the hemlock-lined areas as in the leafless hardwoods, but it never really let up all day. Needless to say, motion was the order of the day, w/ very few and very brief stops.
As we climbed we could see Indian Head and Twin through the trees, and later the Blackheads and Escarpment as we went round to the north side. As last we hooked the left up to the snowmobile loop, took the short jog over to the unofficial blue trail and ground on up. A fair amount of ice, only a couple somewhat iffy ledges, but nothing too scary. The last 250' or so was just a tough, steep climb. As a reward, the vistas of the Blackheads and Kaaterskill Clove continued to open up behind us, although they were still a little blocked by trees.

By the time T-Max and I approached the summit, most of the others were headed back, except Jay himself and Catskill Climber. It was cold, so most didn't want to linger too long. Jay took a few quick shots and I threw on a layer since I wanted to go check out Hurricane Ledge. Catskill Climber had never seen that view, so he came along. I lost the trail for a minute on the way down but eventually found the Ledge, where we had a stunning vista of peaks from Overlook to Plateau, w/ the southern Catskills and the Shawangunks in the background, the mighty Hudson off to the east and the Highlands in the far distance. It was one of those really clear views you seldom get in any season but winter. Good stuff.

We then headed back to the summit and back down, since everybody else was on their way. We carefully picked our way down the steep slopes of High Peak and then cruised when we hit the Long Path. Back at the lot, Catskill Climber, Fu Jow Poi and I ran across the road for a quick look at Plattekill Falls, then it was back to Phoenicia for Jay's celebratory dinner at Brios. Ralph and Maddy were there, having just climbed Ashokan High Point. We enjoyed a delicious meal, traded hiking stories and raised a toast of sparkling apple juice in honor of Jay's accomplishment. Here's to great friends, great mountains, great times. Okay, so the trail conditions were a little lousy, what are you gonna do...

Matt
 
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Congratulations Jay!! :) I was thinking of you today as I crossed the Hudson, the views must have been terrific from KHP. Glad I was able to join you on at least 1 of your W35. Was hoping to join you today, but it didn't work out. :(

Nice report Matt.
 
mcorsar said:
Here's to great friends, great mountains, great times. Okay, so the trail conditions were a little lousy, what are you gonna do...
Matt
I second that emotion!
(But I must say, those small teases of sunshine were enough to keep the psyche up
and legs moving!):D
I'm so glad I was able to join you today Jay! Congratulations.
 
Congratulations Jay
Wish I could have been there.
I am gald you had a good crowd.
I guess you won't get the number you want.
This doesn't mean you will lose your horns, does it?

Al
 
Hey Matt, nice report and congrats to Jay! Wind was something huh? Still a great day to be out with beautiful clear skys. Let's hope for some consistent winter weather from here on...oh please, oh please!
 
There we met w/ T-max, Zero-G and Catskill Climber. In due time Dax, Chip and Jay arrived, fresh from a wet day on Windham High Peak and a cold night in at Devil's Kitchen leanto.

Umm, we never got the leanto. It was a wet rain->freezing rain->sleet->4" of snow night in Chip's Tent. But at least doing Windham on saturday was much better weather than expected, it actually only was raining at the start and then it cleared up and the sun actually made a cameo. We had some decent views from the summit of WHP. Sunday, on the other hand was colder than I thought it would be. Believe it or not, it went from like 52deg on saturday to like 11 degrees on sunday. This was the tale of two seasons, spring and winter and I'm happy and glad to have hiked with so many great folks on this and all my previous hikes.

Thanks for all the good times and great company, it was a blast to meet some of you for the first time, my last two catskill winter peaks was Chip's first two (here's to 33 more!) and it was also great to meet Ryan and Ronny. Thanks to Carol, Terri, Matt, Josef, Ralph, Maddi, who I've hiked with before who were there yesterday and to all the others I've hiked with in the catskills who couldn't make it, you know who you are!

I've got a few summit shots on my camera which hopefully will be online tonight.

BTW, the flat spots on the trail to KHP are lakes, even in the cold, the ice on top was very thin and not to be depended on. However, crampons were the tool of the day, snowshoes were used by some but in my opinion, not needed.

Looking forward to hiking with all of you soon.

BTW, I emailed Chip, but coming down from KHP, I found a yellow Grivel front-antibot which looked very recently lost so if you used Grivel G-10s yesterday and now missing one, I have it at home, just in case it's not Chip's.
 
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Made a typo in my original post, Jay-should be "at the leanto, as opposed to in the leanto." I knew you guys tented, having seen you dragging the frozen tent up the road to the parking lot!

Anyhow, it certainly was a memorable way to finish the W 35. Both of the mountains named High Peak, in almost absurdly different conditions, w/ a tough night in between.

Matt

P.S. Congrats to Chip on the 1st two Catskill peaks.
Sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to Chip or Ronnie more-next time.
 
Great trip report Matt, as expected. Congratulations again Jay. I'm glad I could be there.
Ryan
 
Once again Jay Congrats on your winter 3500. It was another great weekend in the Catskills. BTW, it wasn't bad in the tent. In fact, I was quite comfortable. Putting on frozen gear and getting out the tent the next morning was a different story.
 
What a feat for the feets!!!! Way to go everyone!!! CONGRATS to Jay H!!!
...Jade
 
Congratulations JayH! I'ver never hiked with you but I feel like I know you from this board as well as the Subaru board. Great job!

:)
 
Jay H said:
BTW, I emailed Chip, but coming down from KHP, I found a yellow Grivel front-antibot which looked very recently lost so if you used Grivel G-10s yesterday and now missing one, I have it at home, just in case it's not Chip's.
:D Yes it's mine. Some good LNT karma there after I had picked up the cleat, beer bottle and wrappers on WHP. Thanks Jay.

PS: I just finished drying and putting away the gear. The tent was QUITE comfortable after sitting under the tarp in the freezing rain cooking and eating Saturday night.
 
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