Second weekend in the Catskills. Last Sunday we did Plateau. Before this, the last time we hiked was when we climbed Mount Marcy in the winter time in early March. So we are trying to shed the hiking rust.
My buddy and I went up Friday. We left even later than I thought we would at 3pm. Stopped at the Saugerties McDonald's for a third lunch! Started hiking from Barnum Road. I think it was 5:45 p.m.
Obviously everybody was headed out and we were headed in. Last weekend we did Plateau Mountain from 214 on Sunday morning. This weekend it was an evening affair.
Basically a training hike/Sunset hike.... although the sunset portion was a kind of failed affair. We had to haul a$$ to Black Dome. I wanted the big viewpoint of Blackhead but I wasn't sure if it would be good enough because it wasn't exactly Westernly facing. Clouds rolled in and on top of that it wasn't the best direction for a sunset and hence it was a failed Sunset Affair but we still had fun.
A third guy was supposed to come with us and we were going to do Witt & Corn then we called an audible at the last minute when he cancelled. And chose the blackhead range. We scratched Blackhead after we barely made it to Black Dome in time for the sunset. We could have done it but I don't want to go all the way to Blackhead in the dark and then all the way back. We had four miles out in the dark as it was. We set up our helinox chairs on the ledge and had ourselves a bit of fun hanging out.
We were on that ledge all alone from about 8:30 to 9:30 when we finally packed it up. Back at the car @ 11:05pm.
After eating a third lunch at McDonald's I didn't bother with dinner. After getting home after 1am and showering, I had a nightcap and hit the hay at 3am! A rarity for me these days. Wife and kids were sound asleep at that point.
Oh yeah and somewhere on the trail there was a porcupine in front of my buddy we were walking and following it and then we began slowly jogging after it....it stayed on trail for a while and eventually peeled off into the brush. I think we were on Camels Hump.
What more could you want from a from a hike? No other people, darkness, cool air, a strong breeze, porcupines, and camels.