Tremper Mountain

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Tremper Mountain: 6 miles (CAD)

Continuing my Catskills After Dark series (CAD). So cue the jazz and put on your smoking jacket. (Thank you Jim Bouton for telling me what these hikes are officially called.)
It’s a bit chilly this week so maybe that smoking jacket would indeed have been a good idea. The trail has some spots with puddles, but there’s rock or firm ground beneath them so you don’t actually sink into a muddy mess. The bugs weren’t bothersome at all after I put on my bug spray. (They do kind of flock around your headlamps, though.)
Ascending in the dark can be kind of spooky. It’s gets increasingly dark and the canopy of trees worsens that. You kind of look at your map and say, “Wow, that’s a ways to go.” When I’m alone I have to wrestle with not wanting to turn back and run away. When I’m with somebody, I don’t even think about it. (This wasn’t as bad as West Kill in terms of creepiness factor, though.)
I arrived at the summit and there was one person in the lean-to. That must’ve been a bit frightening for him to suddenly hear noise and see a light. Or maybe I was just projecting my own fears because he just waved to me like it was no big deal.
The fire tower seems kind of short—like I could barely get a view above the trees. How is someone supposed to warn of a fire when they can’t really see much?
No IPA today. I kind of missed it, though. But I had to get home to grade last minute work from seniors that were blowing up my phone. Perhaps, CAD hikes deserve a different type of beverage, like brandy or champagne, but I love my IPAs.







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