Sunday, December 30, 2007

Hunter

Howie and I did a short hike in the Catskills today. We climbed Hunter mountain via Becker Hollow trail. There wasn't a lot of snow left after the melting last weekend ... and what was left on the trail was packed down. Near the top, I donned stablicers for better traction (they are like flip flops that velcro to your boots and have screw heads to bite into ice/packed snow). At the top there was a couple who had snowshoed over from the top of the chair lift at the ski center. They wanted to know if there was a short-cut to go back. Umm yeah...

Summit Elevation: Hunter 4040 ft
Round-trip Distance: 4.6 mi
Elevation Change: 2200 ft
Hunter

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Xmas Hikes

I did several short hikes over the Christmas holiday (also taking advantage of my new waterfall book). The first was to Carpenter Falls with Anne and Tom on Christmas eve. We did about 1.5 miles of walking.
Carpenter Falls
On the day after Christmas, Howie and I stopped at a couple other parks with waterfalls on the way back to Albany. The first stop was Pratt's Falls. I followed the Falls loop trail down to the base of the falls and then back up to the overlook area. Did about 0.6 miles of walking.
Pratts Falls
The second stop was Chittenango Falls. The Gorge trail was closed for the winter, so I could only see the falls from the top. Walked around 2 miles on various trails and roads in the park.
Chittenango Falls

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Ready for a nap

Howie and I did a hike in the Catskills today in the North Lake area. I parked near the end of Mountain Turnpike Rd off of Bogart Rd. Started out walking up the old road (Sleepy Hollow trail). This was the former stage coach route for guests of the Catskill mountain house (old hotel). Reached the Little Pine Orchard Picnic Area and took a short break. Continued on to the Escarpment trail and the former site of the hotel (burned to the ground by the state in the 1960s). Went over to Boulder rock and checked out a small plane wreck just off the trail. Reached the junction with the horse trail which I took back to my car. Just made it out by sunset. Only saw two other hikers on this partly cloudy day.

Round-trip Distance: 10.5 mi
Elevation Change: 1900 ft

Catskill Mountain House