Queen of the Catskills

Windham High Peak (winter 13/33) I got to work remotely today and tomorrow I have off for Lunar New Year, so I’m taking this chance to check off some peaks. After work, I drove to Windham High Peak. I drank a #torquewrench #IPA , which is DELICIOUS and headed up on a sunset tour. The coverage is decent for the Catskills but, once again, jagged rocks lurk right beneath the surface. Fortunately, @dpsskis have the sturdiest bases I have ever known and my skins add an extra barrier of protection. For an English teacher, I’m not someone who really works at memorizing famous lines. But for some reason, whenever I’m skinning, a quote relevant to my personal life will pop into my head and I’ll meditate on it. One of the most famous misquoted / misinterpreted poets has to be Robert Frost. Because of him, many people think you’re supposed to follow the road less traveled exclusively, but that’s not what I think he is saying in “The Road Not Taken.” The narrator in the poem stumbles u...

 Big Indian (winter 12/33) We passed so much carnage this morning on the way to the trailhead. On 296, three cars were in ditches all within 20 feet of each other. We notified the police for them. When we arrived at Biscuit Brook around 10, there were three cars in the lot. A group of women were headed to Fir and then we didn’t see a single soul for the remainder of the time on Big Indian—just the way I like it. From the turn off to Fir, I broke trail to the summit. While the coverage visually appeared to be good, the scratches I heard under my feet reinforced that looks can be deceiving. Since the snow wasn’t as dense as the last storm, the rocks weren’t coated as well. The trek up to Big Indian was long, but mellow. The last half mile to the summit was so incredibly beautiful that I couldn’t stop raving about it. I sounded just like the neighbor in American Beauty, “Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave...

  Blackhead Mountain We got to the Blackhead trailhead between 8 and 8:30. That was just in time as there was a large group that pulled up looking like a funeral procession within 10 minutes of our arrival. This was Deborah’s first time on snowshoes and watching her walk reminded me of what my dogs do when I put those balloon booties on their feet. Just kind of walking as though they don’t know how to use their feet anymore and not enjoying the new sensation. While the coverage was still decent for the Catskills, it wasn’t rock free. There’s still a lot there that can really damage your skis. About midway up the summit push from Lockwood Gap, I transitioned to crampons due to a couple of ledges. The large group from the parking area caught up with us and it reminded me of the line at the Hillary Step on Everest—or a Vail resort, albeit this moved MUCH faster. I kept the crampons on the rest of the way to avoid wasting time transitioning back and forth. On the way down, I used my M...