catskillclimber
New member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2005
- Messages
- 82
- Reaction score
- 4
After years of injuries (mountain biking) family obligations, and medical issues I have finally completed the Catskill 35 three days before a surgery that will keep me from hiking for some time thanks to the kind hearted gesture of Tom and Laurie Rankin.
I was highly motivated to finish the club list and had my last hike, Sherrill and North Dome, all scheduled to attend with the 3500 Club next week led by Tom and Laurie when I found out that I was going to need a surgery this Wednesday and would not be able to attend. Not trusting my own navigation skills I posted a somewhat pleading request to the VFTT community for anyone interested to lead me on the final two peaks so I could complete before surgery. I posted my request on VFTT of Friday and barely an hour later Tom Rankin called me to say he and his wife Laurie were interested in helping me out and that they could take me the next morning.
The next morning at 7:00 we met at the trailhead and Tom and Laurie were joined by Cindy (Snickers) and her husband Brian. The plan was to ascend Sherrill from 42 (Shaft Rd parking area) continue on to North Dome, then back over Sherrill and out. The mountains had other ideas. By the time we reached the summit of Sherrill three of the group were not interested in continuing to North Dome and I could not blame them. The hiking was slow, the weather was incredibly humid, and the nettles were simply everywhere. By the time we reached Sherrill's summit poor Cindy looked like a wild cat had attempted to amputate her below the knees. There was just no way of escaping the pain of the nettles because they were simply everywhere. At the news that the group would not be bagging the second peak due to the conditions and time restraints (They all had a 3500 Club Board meeting at there house that afternoon and needed to return before others arrived) I became a bit discouraged that I was not going to complete after all. I then began to wish I did not have the extra weight of the champagne in my backpack. At this point Tom decided that he was going to continue on with me to North Dome so I could complete and the others could pick us up and shuttle us back from the Devil's Path to the parking area on Shaft Road. Considering the horrible nettles and humidity, an elbow that looked busted, and the pressure of getting to the afternoon meeting on time Tom still selflessly led me on to North Dome where he surprised me by pulling out my 3500 patch and presenting it to me right there on the summit.
Thank you so much to Tom and Laurie for doing this. Hiking these mountains this time of the year can be very unpleasant and these two have to do it again with the club next week so volunteering to take a stranger the week before and suffer twice so I could complete truly shows the big hearts they have. So now that the mad dash over the past month or two to complete the bushwack peaks is complete I would like to thank those leaders who put up with us and get us to the top. Thank you to Danielle Besso, Jim Malumphy, Joe Bogardus, Edna Blanchfield, Cindy, Brian, Tom, and Laurie for all of your assistance and good memories. Now I can relax, recover, stare at my patch and think about the next challenge to take on when I'm healed.
Happy Hiking.
I was highly motivated to finish the club list and had my last hike, Sherrill and North Dome, all scheduled to attend with the 3500 Club next week led by Tom and Laurie when I found out that I was going to need a surgery this Wednesday and would not be able to attend. Not trusting my own navigation skills I posted a somewhat pleading request to the VFTT community for anyone interested to lead me on the final two peaks so I could complete before surgery. I posted my request on VFTT of Friday and barely an hour later Tom Rankin called me to say he and his wife Laurie were interested in helping me out and that they could take me the next morning.
The next morning at 7:00 we met at the trailhead and Tom and Laurie were joined by Cindy (Snickers) and her husband Brian. The plan was to ascend Sherrill from 42 (Shaft Rd parking area) continue on to North Dome, then back over Sherrill and out. The mountains had other ideas. By the time we reached the summit of Sherrill three of the group were not interested in continuing to North Dome and I could not blame them. The hiking was slow, the weather was incredibly humid, and the nettles were simply everywhere. By the time we reached Sherrill's summit poor Cindy looked like a wild cat had attempted to amputate her below the knees. There was just no way of escaping the pain of the nettles because they were simply everywhere. At the news that the group would not be bagging the second peak due to the conditions and time restraints (They all had a 3500 Club Board meeting at there house that afternoon and needed to return before others arrived) I became a bit discouraged that I was not going to complete after all. I then began to wish I did not have the extra weight of the champagne in my backpack. At this point Tom decided that he was going to continue on with me to North Dome so I could complete and the others could pick us up and shuttle us back from the Devil's Path to the parking area on Shaft Road. Considering the horrible nettles and humidity, an elbow that looked busted, and the pressure of getting to the afternoon meeting on time Tom still selflessly led me on to North Dome where he surprised me by pulling out my 3500 patch and presenting it to me right there on the summit.
Thank you so much to Tom and Laurie for doing this. Hiking these mountains this time of the year can be very unpleasant and these two have to do it again with the club next week so volunteering to take a stranger the week before and suffer twice so I could complete truly shows the big hearts they have. So now that the mad dash over the past month or two to complete the bushwack peaks is complete I would like to thank those leaders who put up with us and get us to the top. Thank you to Danielle Besso, Jim Malumphy, Joe Bogardus, Edna Blanchfield, Cindy, Brian, Tom, and Laurie for all of your assistance and good memories. Now I can relax, recover, stare at my patch and think about the next challenge to take on when I'm healed.
Happy Hiking.
