rhihn
New member
Peakbagr completes Catskill HH - 8-31-08
It was a pleasure to be a part of the largest hiking group I’ve ever been with (26) to accompany Alan (‘peakbagr’) and 4-legged hiker Bookah on a picture perfect day to celebrate their completion of the Catskill Highest Hundred mountains. The cast of characters included Alan & Boo, wife Barb, son Matt and s.o. Megan, daughter Gillian, Jay, Cindy (Snickers), George (doodles), Heather (halia) & Tom (flammeus) (from VFTT) and their two pooches, Kim (wyldeflower), Peter (mountainmeijin), David and Carol, Tom and Laurie, Tony (rockysummit) and daughter Nicole, Mark and Nancy, Ralph (hermit) and Maddy, Moonray and Rachael, Joanne (edelweiss) and Dick. Whew! I’m sure Alan may want to describe more of his overall 100 venture, so I’ll start off with this day’s hike only.
Alan had selected Stoppel Pt. to be his final (102nd) mountain, a trailed peak with nice views along the way. The Schutt Road parking lot was already half filled when we arrived. We later learned that it was OK to park along the side of the road – or at least people did so with impunity. After introductions and group photo, we invaded the North-South Lake Campground on foot to avoid the parking fee, and sauntered down to the Mary’s Glen trailhead. As we hiked people started to spread out, and some groups stopped to chat, which was to be the order of the day. Carol and David hiked the Rock Shelter trail and met up with the group at the first junction. There were lots of other groups of various nationalities on the trail as well.
One can’t help but pause at North Point for some picture taking, which offered fine views of the lakes and the Hudson valley. Kim arrived late, but caught up to us here. Moving on, we made our mostly level way to Stoppel Point and through one of the longer and more beautiful hemlock and balsam forests I’ve been through! What was predominately a rocky trail changed to soft pine needles under foot. At the summit we all waited for Alan to make his “grand entrance”. Mountainmeijin suddenly appeared, huffing and puffing from running to make the event. Finally, with cap, sunglasses, shorts, hiking boots, and a costume change into a white dress shirt and tie, Alan joined us, grinning from ear to ear. After singing “Happy Highest Hundred to You” we enjoyed champagne, brownies and confab. A post-lunch walk to the site of an airplane crash followed. Some of us took a detour along the way to tag the true summit, a short bushwhack off trail.
The group became a little smaller on the descent, as some left early, some took different route back along the escarpment trail to soak in the incredible views of the Hudson Valley. After discussion and vote, we decided to take the side trail to Lookout Rock/Sunset Rock, with David’s and Carol’s assurance that we wouldn’t have to backtrack. The views were fabulous. Avoiding the backtrack involved a short, tricky scramble down a 20-30 ft. chute, with a “leap of faith” for shorter people. A couple of spotters were placed to help out in these places. The effort brought us back to the main trail. Whether getting 20+ people through that crack saved us any time is questionable, but it was fun and saved the backtracking.
Carol, having returned the same path we ascended, picked up her car and met me at the picnic area lot, while others walked out. The game plan was to have her drive me to the Schutt Rd. lot to get my car and return to pick up the road walkers. We picked up Alan along the way, and met Nancy at the lot, who had descended with Carol. The gatekeeper allowed the three cars in at no charge, so we could pick up the hikers. A few decided to walk, and one (Kim) decided to run back (!) Though a few had to leave, a sizeable number convened at O’Neill’s in Tannersville for dinner and final celebration.
Congratulations, Alan!
It was a pleasure to be a part of the largest hiking group I’ve ever been with (26) to accompany Alan (‘peakbagr’) and 4-legged hiker Bookah on a picture perfect day to celebrate their completion of the Catskill Highest Hundred mountains. The cast of characters included Alan & Boo, wife Barb, son Matt and s.o. Megan, daughter Gillian, Jay, Cindy (Snickers), George (doodles), Heather (halia) & Tom (flammeus) (from VFTT) and their two pooches, Kim (wyldeflower), Peter (mountainmeijin), David and Carol, Tom and Laurie, Tony (rockysummit) and daughter Nicole, Mark and Nancy, Ralph (hermit) and Maddy, Moonray and Rachael, Joanne (edelweiss) and Dick. Whew! I’m sure Alan may want to describe more of his overall 100 venture, so I’ll start off with this day’s hike only.
Alan had selected Stoppel Pt. to be his final (102nd) mountain, a trailed peak with nice views along the way. The Schutt Road parking lot was already half filled when we arrived. We later learned that it was OK to park along the side of the road – or at least people did so with impunity. After introductions and group photo, we invaded the North-South Lake Campground on foot to avoid the parking fee, and sauntered down to the Mary’s Glen trailhead. As we hiked people started to spread out, and some groups stopped to chat, which was to be the order of the day. Carol and David hiked the Rock Shelter trail and met up with the group at the first junction. There were lots of other groups of various nationalities on the trail as well.
One can’t help but pause at North Point for some picture taking, which offered fine views of the lakes and the Hudson valley. Kim arrived late, but caught up to us here. Moving on, we made our mostly level way to Stoppel Point and through one of the longer and more beautiful hemlock and balsam forests I’ve been through! What was predominately a rocky trail changed to soft pine needles under foot. At the summit we all waited for Alan to make his “grand entrance”. Mountainmeijin suddenly appeared, huffing and puffing from running to make the event. Finally, with cap, sunglasses, shorts, hiking boots, and a costume change into a white dress shirt and tie, Alan joined us, grinning from ear to ear. After singing “Happy Highest Hundred to You” we enjoyed champagne, brownies and confab. A post-lunch walk to the site of an airplane crash followed. Some of us took a detour along the way to tag the true summit, a short bushwhack off trail.
The group became a little smaller on the descent, as some left early, some took different route back along the escarpment trail to soak in the incredible views of the Hudson Valley. After discussion and vote, we decided to take the side trail to Lookout Rock/Sunset Rock, with David’s and Carol’s assurance that we wouldn’t have to backtrack. The views were fabulous. Avoiding the backtrack involved a short, tricky scramble down a 20-30 ft. chute, with a “leap of faith” for shorter people. A couple of spotters were placed to help out in these places. The effort brought us back to the main trail. Whether getting 20+ people through that crack saved us any time is questionable, but it was fun and saved the backtracking.
Carol, having returned the same path we ascended, picked up her car and met me at the picnic area lot, while others walked out. The game plan was to have her drive me to the Schutt Rd. lot to get my car and return to pick up the road walkers. We picked up Alan along the way, and met Nancy at the lot, who had descended with Carol. The gatekeeper allowed the three cars in at no charge, so we could pick up the hikers. A few decided to walk, and one (Kim) decided to run back (!) Though a few had to leave, a sizeable number convened at O’Neill’s in Tannersville for dinner and final celebration.
Congratulations, Alan!
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