Edelweiss
New member
I suggested one day that Dick and I should climb the Adirondack 46 highest peaks in a “serious way,” meaning we should complete them all, not just enjoy a few of our favorites. So we started a list and became 46er’s in the fall of 2004.
We vowed ever after: NO MORE LISTS!
We met Peakbagr who persuaded us to try a few of the Catskill high peaks. We started a list and finished the 39 Catskill 3500 peaks in March of 2008.
We vowed, ever after: NO MORE LISTS!
It started out as a diversion: “Let’s hike a few of those lesser-known Hundred Highest Catskill mountains while we are finishing the CAT 3500, and by the way, I HATE BUSHWHACKING!”
We started Mark Schaefer’s list.
Yesterday, some wonderful friends and I hiked Silver Hollow, my last Catskill Highest Hundred peak, and completed yet another list.
Honestly, I can’t say, “NO MORE LISTS.” My record of compliance is miserable!
What have I learned from this latest accomplishment? What lingering memories are recalled by looking at my photo journals of the Catskill Highest Hundred peaks?
The Catskills is a magical place. There are still remote places, off trail, which surprise and intrique and inspire and challenge.
Mountain views send shivers down the spine.
A hemlock forest provides respite from the annoying and sometimes exasperating prickers, nettles and beech whips.
Blankets of wildflowers stop you in your tracks.
Porcupines turn up in the most inconvenient places.
Open meadows, where they shouldn’t be, take your breath away.
Mountain laurel as far as the eye can see entice you to come back in the spring when the blooms will certainly take your breath away.
Fields of ferns taller than I which obscure my feet and the rocks and roots underneath them
“Get out of the car, Bookah, before you ..... oops, too late.”
Impassable roads peppered with deep ruts and mini-lakes: “The Subaru can get through that. Afterall, it has all-wheel drive!”
“We can get across that stream in the Subaru. These planks should hold!”
Ignore the ski-lifts and enjoy the views. We need crampons to cross those man-made ice and snow fields!
There is NO WAY we’re going to make it down the mountain before it gets dark. Do you want to make a bet? Does everybody have their headlamps?
“Stonehenge” of the Catskills
“Excuse me, sir/ma’am. We are climbing the Catskill Hundred Highest peaks. Would you mind if we .............”
“Go get it Bookah!” (“How can you hear that mouse under the snow?”)
The skeleton of an old hotel, the tale of prosperity and economic ruin
The passion for a fire tower restoration and its continued maintenance
Remnants of Boreal forests still exist in the Catskills.
Ice glistening from tree branches on a brilliant, sunny winter afternoon
Memorials to great men who made the Catskills their home
Did rock fences make for good neighbors?
Tent caterpillars EVERYWHERE!
Benchmarks
Spring water pouring from a pipe under a cliff in the middle of nowhere
“Where did these dogs come from?
“Sit in this mud puddle, Boo, and cool off!”
“My scratches are worse than your scratches!”
Stone quarries and stone seats - a great place to pause and enjoy the views
“I think the summit’s over there. No, it’s over here. No, it’s back over there!”
Fish eggs floating on the surface of a small pond
“How do you see through that green mesh bug net?”
How do I know a BIG BEAR passed this way?
“We’ll wait under this tree until the rain, thunder, and lightening stop!”
A great lake for paddling the Hornbecks! “Why don’t they repair the access road?”
Yellow mushrooms, orange lichen, puffballs, Indian pipe, jewel weed, trillium, trout lilies, bluet, aster, St. Johnswort, Indian paintbrush, buttercup, cinquefoil, day-lily, dutchman’s breeches, lady’s slipper, wild geranium, wood anemone etc.
A nest of blue eggs carefully hidden in the tall grass - leave it to Bookah to find it, to the great distress of mamma bird!
The sad stories behind plane wrecks
Alternative route down the mountain: an easy slide through a crevice after a “leap of faith.”
“Where is/are my (in no particular order) hiking pole, sunglasses, hat, rain jacket, gloves?”
Spectacular autumn foliage. I have never seen such vivid reds, yellows and oranges!
“He went THIS way. No, he went THAT way!
“I want to get a picture of the conga line!”
“WOOHOO!”
“Just one more shot, guys. I promise!!!!!!”
So, now what? There will be more hikes up mountains, along ridges, around streams and ponds, through forests, up cliffs, to waterfalls.
I might even consider adopting another hiking mantra:
“MAYBE, ANOTHER LIST.”
....... and, by the way, I've learned to LIKE BUSHWHACKING!!!!!!!
Peakbagr's photos appear in the following photo album. Thanks for everything, Alan!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLa...mail-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button
We vowed ever after: NO MORE LISTS!
We met Peakbagr who persuaded us to try a few of the Catskill high peaks. We started a list and finished the 39 Catskill 3500 peaks in March of 2008.
We vowed, ever after: NO MORE LISTS!
It started out as a diversion: “Let’s hike a few of those lesser-known Hundred Highest Catskill mountains while we are finishing the CAT 3500, and by the way, I HATE BUSHWHACKING!”
We started Mark Schaefer’s list.
Yesterday, some wonderful friends and I hiked Silver Hollow, my last Catskill Highest Hundred peak, and completed yet another list.
Honestly, I can’t say, “NO MORE LISTS.” My record of compliance is miserable!
What have I learned from this latest accomplishment? What lingering memories are recalled by looking at my photo journals of the Catskill Highest Hundred peaks?
The Catskills is a magical place. There are still remote places, off trail, which surprise and intrique and inspire and challenge.
Mountain views send shivers down the spine.
A hemlock forest provides respite from the annoying and sometimes exasperating prickers, nettles and beech whips.
Blankets of wildflowers stop you in your tracks.
Porcupines turn up in the most inconvenient places.
Open meadows, where they shouldn’t be, take your breath away.
Mountain laurel as far as the eye can see entice you to come back in the spring when the blooms will certainly take your breath away.
Fields of ferns taller than I which obscure my feet and the rocks and roots underneath them
“Get out of the car, Bookah, before you ..... oops, too late.”
Impassable roads peppered with deep ruts and mini-lakes: “The Subaru can get through that. Afterall, it has all-wheel drive!”
“We can get across that stream in the Subaru. These planks should hold!”
Ignore the ski-lifts and enjoy the views. We need crampons to cross those man-made ice and snow fields!
There is NO WAY we’re going to make it down the mountain before it gets dark. Do you want to make a bet? Does everybody have their headlamps?
“Stonehenge” of the Catskills
“Excuse me, sir/ma’am. We are climbing the Catskill Hundred Highest peaks. Would you mind if we .............”
“Go get it Bookah!” (“How can you hear that mouse under the snow?”)
The skeleton of an old hotel, the tale of prosperity and economic ruin
The passion for a fire tower restoration and its continued maintenance
Remnants of Boreal forests still exist in the Catskills.
Ice glistening from tree branches on a brilliant, sunny winter afternoon
Memorials to great men who made the Catskills their home
Did rock fences make for good neighbors?
Tent caterpillars EVERYWHERE!
Benchmarks
Spring water pouring from a pipe under a cliff in the middle of nowhere
“Where did these dogs come from?
“Sit in this mud puddle, Boo, and cool off!”
“My scratches are worse than your scratches!”
Stone quarries and stone seats - a great place to pause and enjoy the views
“I think the summit’s over there. No, it’s over here. No, it’s back over there!”
Fish eggs floating on the surface of a small pond
“How do you see through that green mesh bug net?”
How do I know a BIG BEAR passed this way?
“We’ll wait under this tree until the rain, thunder, and lightening stop!”
A great lake for paddling the Hornbecks! “Why don’t they repair the access road?”
Yellow mushrooms, orange lichen, puffballs, Indian pipe, jewel weed, trillium, trout lilies, bluet, aster, St. Johnswort, Indian paintbrush, buttercup, cinquefoil, day-lily, dutchman’s breeches, lady’s slipper, wild geranium, wood anemone etc.
A nest of blue eggs carefully hidden in the tall grass - leave it to Bookah to find it, to the great distress of mamma bird!
The sad stories behind plane wrecks
Alternative route down the mountain: an easy slide through a crevice after a “leap of faith.”
“Where is/are my (in no particular order) hiking pole, sunglasses, hat, rain jacket, gloves?”
Spectacular autumn foliage. I have never seen such vivid reds, yellows and oranges!
“He went THIS way. No, he went THAT way!
“I want to get a picture of the conga line!”
“WOOHOO!”
“Just one more shot, guys. I promise!!!!!!”
So, now what? There will be more hikes up mountains, along ridges, around streams and ponds, through forests, up cliffs, to waterfalls.
I might even consider adopting another hiking mantra:
“MAYBE, ANOTHER LIST.”
....... and, by the way, I've learned to LIKE BUSHWHACKING!!!!!!!
Peakbagr's photos appear in the following photo album. Thanks for everything, Alan!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLa...mail-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button
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