Catskills Peak Bagging trip - April 17-1 9

“Marko, a side note.. he meant the VERB 'hash'...

'32oz”

“No, he didn't!”

“Tree, no need to hash anything out. I've got an older one I can bring I was just wondering if anyone else would have one, so I didn't need to bring mine.

It's gonna be good to see you and Maple again, I don't think I have seen you two since Overlook Mtn and the mysterious flashing lights in the sky.”

“True dat! Maybe I will bring the telescope again. This way we can sit in the middle of the road moon-gazing, completely oblivious to any traffic that may come our way! :)”

“OMG I remeber that. you fools were lucky the monks did not run you over.

i think twinks is still hung over from that trip...”

“Holey Crap!!

Monks??

duh monk, duh monk...............duh monk?”

“Reminds me of the time my sons and I were driving down Skyline Drive and there was a guy laying down on Skyline Dr getting his picture taken...

I slowed down wondering what they were doing. He got up and I noticed that he was darked skinned. I still couldn't figure out what was going on, until I looked in my review mirror and saw that he had been in the road by the sign for Turk Gap...

'32oz”

“Saturday afternoon, when summiting Halcott, we're going to say a few words for a fallen climber than Pennsy, Crazypace, Capn Bobo, Gremlin and myself met while attempting Rainier in 2007. We will build a small rock cairn in his memory and that night in camp, with the campfire ablaze, will will hoist our beverages high. He was a good dude, a good climber and a good familyman.

We only hung out with him that weekend, but he was the kind of dude, I wish I had the chance to hang out with more. You're missed Fede!!”

“I'll Hoist one for him! Did he die while climbing? If so at least he went doing what he loved.”

“Speakin' of Kapitan Bobo........”

“He died on Aconcagua, highest mountain in the western hemisphere, just below the summit. He was one of our guides on our Rainier trip.”

“How did the guy die?”

“The rescuers went up with out proper rescue gear thinking they were going to find him dead, instead they found him alive. It is very tragic.”

“there is even a video about it
[url]
http://tomasdinges.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/death-and-the-mountain-video-of-mountain-guide-dying-on-aconcagua/[/url]”

“Any thoughts on what you'd like to do for our dayhike?”

“hey timbewolf, I was thinking about Big Indian Wilderness Area.
thru hike on the Beaver Kill Ridge.
but if any one has another suggestion i am open to ideas :)”

“Hey you guys should seriously look at Bagging Graham and Balsam lake. The Mileage is about the same as BK Ridge and the elevation is relatively Gradual. You could Bag Graham and then bag Balsam Lake on the way back. It'd be two 35'ers including one (Technically) trailess peak. Plus it has views on both. The trail head is just north of where you were looking.”

“What ya gonna cook?”

“Hey, I think I still have your Dutch oven.”

“Still thinking about it. I was thinking dutch oven if there is time. Thanks for reminding me. I'd gone crazy looking for it.”

“Gone......................crazy?”

“Ok ya got me already there.”

“I shoulda brung it last month to West Virginia.”

“hope u can make this trip.do you have any of the peaks they're planning yet?”

“hmm bagging not one but two peaks?
not sure if tree would be up for it but I will talk to him and see what he thinks. plus we have some novice coming... it would be very cool to at least get one. that would only leave me the rest of my life to get the rest LOL”

“hey DORK, check the map. if you go for Graham first, the other on is a little bump on the way back. also the elev gain is spread out. ask ENS . he already has these two”

“what number?”

“I have none of those peaks.

Let us take a peek.”

“42 or 43. the trailhead is right near the north end of the trail u were planning to hike.”

“ok I will look at it at lunch :)”

“Wasn't there a Big Indian in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest??”

“marko are you coming on this trip? or just here to harrass us?”

“Sumuvich”

“My suggestion is hike up to Giant Ledge and if everyone is feeling good, try Panther. Giant Ledge is a nice climb and leads to some of the best views in the Skills, great place to chill out on top and it is a destination unto itself.

Graham isn't that spectacular, nor is Balsam Lake unless the firetower is open and it is not usually open.

Giant Ledge isn't a 35er, but Panther is, even tho GL isn't, it's an important hike in the Skills.”

“If you have enough cars you could park one at the Giant Ledge parking lot then go back to the trail head north of Panther. This way you could go up panther then basicaly down to Giant ledge then to your cars.”

“would the GL trail be easier south to north. looks like a hefty climb right off going south”

“Is this hike gonna go south on us?”

“I've never hiked north of Panther on that trail, I don't know what it is like. I think the real prize on that hike is Giant Ledge, beautious views on both sides, great places to just lay out on the ledges, good gushing spring to refill the water bottles and it's not an easy hike to get up there, but it's not too hard either. Getting from GL to Panther isn't too hard either. But that can be dded on if you feel like it.

Giant Ledge is one of the best hikes in the Catskills, but it is also one of the best hikes in the east (IMHO).

MO YGM
last edited: 4/08/09 9:49:04 AM”

“I remember 3 boneheads climbing up there with fosters lager on ice. Sure it was heavy and people stared and said wtf? as we hiked by, but ahhhhhhhh what a sunset from the ledge drinking ice cold beer in the middle of summer !!”

“that is a classic bonehead catskill memory.”

“and we got pictures to prove it. darn shame they only had the really big beers left at the store”

“Oh yeah, dang shame about those BIG beers.”

“I don't know if I've ever seen those pictures. Are they in your webshots?

I remember the time we night hiked up to Giant Ledge, me and crazypace, expecting to find jackstraw camped at the top. It was a warm winter weekend. It was very windy. We never found jackstraw until the next morning.”

“Just signed up to join in on the peak bagging this weekend. I won't be up there till Saturday morning so I'll meet up with everyone at the trailhead. Which peak are you starting with and at what time?”

“-
last edited: 4/08/09 3:15:52 PM”

“that would be awesome to have you on this hike.

We're going to do Double Top first and then Halcott.

I want to be hiking by 7am Saturday morning at the latest. Probably be good to meet around 630.”

“Cool, I need this trip I haven't been to the Cats in 2 years. 6:30 not a problem. How far is the hike into camp at the end of the day? Need to know how much crap to bring.”

“What to bring:


one, no, two sweet potato pies!”