Off the beaten path

Howie and I hiked up Sherrill mountain in the Catskill mountains. There was no trail to the summit, so I used my GPS to navigate. It was open woods for the most part.
Near the top, we saw a deer that froze in his tracks when he spotted us. Tried to get closer for a better photo, but he took off down the mountain.
Got to top, found the Catskill 3500 cannister and signed in. There were no views to be had on the wooded summit.
Next, we followed the ridge over to Balsam - just a small bump and another non-descript Catskill peak. After a quick break, headed back down to the parking area.
Didn't see anyone else in the woods on this warm, partly sunny day. This approx. 5 mile walk in the woods tooks us around 5 hours (longer than usual but we were off-trail). There were only a few traces of snow left in the woods.

Summit Elevation: Sherrill 3540 ft, Balsam ~3345
Round-trip Distance: 5.0
Elevation Change: 2100 ft












Can you spot the deer?












Howie napping on Sherrill mountain














Self-portrait on Balsam













The route we took