coolest trip to the catskills, so far th is year TR

“for most of you it has been a balmy weekend. When I walked my stuff out to my car early Friday morning the temps were in high 40s. Even today it feels like spring outside.

A bunch us drove to the Catskill Mountains in midstate NY (near Albany) to seek out winter and we found it. We had single digit temps and lots of snow, but that did not stop us from having a super time.

I hope everyone made it home safely and enjoyed their time out in the empire state backcountry.

This trip really lived up to it's name. It seriously was the coolest trip to the Catskills so far this year! ;)

The playas:

Jackstraw
Pennsy
Lt Hiker
CrazyPace
Sacco
ENS

I have some pics in which I will post tonight. I will post this pic, while descending Hunter Mountain, I had to fend off the scariest alien monster ever seen since alien vs predator. Luckily no one was hurt.


last edited: 1/09/06 12:52:34 PM”

“I'll likely post a TR tonight.”

“Boneheads
8)”

“As usual I have never had a bad backpacking trip and this was definately a great one!
Awesome winter weather with the bluest blue sky I have ever seen on Saturday.”

“I gotta say, he does look like Joe Cool with the shades.

Sounds like it was as cold as a brass toilet seat.”

“Marko actually I think the seat was enameled steel and it was pretty dang cold.”

“One Inch Wang would have been soooooo sad.”

“Great trip. I'll post more later. 370mi. Rob +36, not bad. Home around 930p.”

“giddyep!

hey CP, how was the flick?”

“Can't wait for the pic's. The snow covered trees look beautiful.”

“hey CP, how was the flick?”
sacco
6:30:26 PM

I came home to an empty house. They went ice skating and then my daughter brought one of her little friends over. So we never went to the movie.
See what happens when I get home on time !!
(well, for the first time anyway)”

“Kudo's CP. "It's tough to be a man, Baby". (Says JS struggling desperatly to mimic Al Pacino.)”

“well that sucks.

{cue ENS to post pics of what CP missed}”

“...and here are my photos from the trip. Trip report later.”

“Sweet pics!! The Tower on Hunter looks almost sureal with all the snow!”

“Pics turned out great. Yea, I missed a peak, but I had a good time anyway. My solo hike out was kinda neat. Between the snow, the sunrise and the stillness, I felt like the only person on the mountain.”

“How deep was the snow? Those are some really nice pics.....love the snow-laden evergreens.”

“Awesome picture! You definitly had some spectacular views.”

“a trail conditions report (partial) from VFTT:

The Southwest Hunter herd path along to old logging railroad starts in the right place but eventually leads to several dead ends, most of them created by me. I never found the canister today.

In addition to the usual winter gear I wish I had taken my GPS. While I staggered in circles through the dense brush on top of the mountain for an hour, it sat at home with the waypoint for the SWH canister comfortably nestled in its memory.

Anyone hoping to tag the summit of SWH this week should carry a functional GPS, a functioning brain or (preferably) both. Too bad I didn't have either with me today.

I was afraid some poor sap would follow our tracks into the middle of no-where. Woops.
last edited: 1/11/06 5:43:25 PM”

“LOL

it's true, you did call it pennsy”

“I'm an assistant scoutmaster for a scout troop in MD. We were looking for a good 3 day, 2 night snowshoe trip with camping available (we're prepping for an Alaska trip).... Moderate difficulty, something 15 year old's (and grumpy old men) can make in three days.

Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated!

Thanks.....

(Who keeps turning up the gravity?)”

“West Rim trail, Ansonia PA. north to south. Moderate terain. Awesome views. Plenty Bail out points. Usually Plenty snow. 5-6 Hours from DC.”

“?

photo courtesy of ENS”