Indian Head Loop (All Trails Challenge NYNJTC Map 141)

 Indian Head Loop (All Trails Challenge NYNJTC Map 141)

I made it a point to do this hike so that I could rescue a fellow hiker’s beloved pink sunglasses that he dropped on the trail. I was excited to pay forward the good deed that another hiker did for me when she found my lost car keys a couple years ago. Unfortunately, I failed. I even took the route clockwise, which is a bit more challenging on the ascent, because I thought I’d best find them that way. If there is a hero among you doing this trail in the future, just leave them at the sign in register.

Everything is dry in the Catskills and there weren’t many bugs. I started the hike a little after 5. I kind of do my own solo tailgate in that I prefer to have my beer in the lot before the hike instead of at the end. It makes more sense to me this way for a number of reasons.

I’ve become addicted to having a portion of my hike in the dark. It’s become kind of a ritual, like my pre-hike beer. I feel like I’m having tremendous intimacy with something during that time. It’s just me, alone in the woods, with maybe something else that I can’t see, but I’m curious to know. I get the same feeling when I’m backcountry skiing in the Catskills because it’s just me in the middle of a snow-filled, silent forest with something I can’t see, but can feel.

I also like to hang out in the parking lot after my hikes just to watch the night sky and look at the stars. It was getting kind of cloudy and gloomy during the first half of my hike yesterday, but when I arrived back to my car the stars were out. I felt really lucky to see that because it was like a clearing had opened up just for me to appreciate.

The beer of choice was Fiddlehead’s Second Fiddle DIPA. For some reason it tasted better than previous times I’ve had it. Solid beer choice.