Cruised up Red Hill and down in an hour from Dinch Rd . Nice stretch of the legs to start the day. Didn't climb the tower. Cab was locked. Minimal picture taking as well as I was trying to make good time to start the day. Still nice to check off the list after one hell of a drive out there from Saratoga. Farthest one away from me, check!
Quite a very long while later...
Pull up to the Dry Brook trailhead of Balsam Lake Mt. Get set, get signed in, get walking. Maybe a quarter mile in I have my head down just trying to make some decent time and BAM! Thirty or so feet from me is a full grown big a$$ mama bear and four cubs foraging in a huge lush green patch of ferns. They immediately spook and take off, except one cub who jumps up the tree right there and starts climbing. Now I'm like totally shook and this bear was large. She runs off about a hundred feet and up a pretty steep embankment looking down on the trail I'm standing on. I stand there for a second, pull out the phone, take a quick breath, grab short video and try to figure out what to do now. The one cub is still in the tree and mama is watching me and the area that cub is still in. See, I never got in between them though. All of them were on the right hand side of me so I was thankful for that as she was watching me intently. She was most likely coming back down that hill for that cub soooo in (I'd say about a minute) I decided too risky, come back another day, maybe another trailhead, who knows but I didnt wanna have that monster lurking around me for the next three miles. No biggie I guess, even though that drive was massive and I was there for all of twenty minutes.
But.....
I did see my first ever bear and her cubs and I wasn't all hurt or dead from having to throw down with a bear and I got a quick little video. Not my best, but pics or it didn't happen! Cubs were cute as hell too, fat chubby little guys just out with mom for lunch. Scary as ever for me but cool too once I was way away from her. Sixty-one legitimate hikes it took me to see one. Always thought it'd happen in the ADK somewhere. Strange day so far, lol.
TikTok - Make Your Day
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdDsnmcw/
Now onto Overlook. Was going to do Tremper but didn't have the same allure to me as Overlook as I'd been to the trailhead of Overlook before but never hiked it. Nice hike. Relentless but easy and doable, just doesn't stop till basically the top. Saw the ruins, didn't explore much because of dark looming clouds and false weather reports all week but was really cool nonetheless. Hit the two mile mark very fast, scooted up to the tower, climbed up, got some shots and briskly headed down. Took two hours round trip.
TikTok - Make Your Day
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdDsg5TM/
So that was that, made it out alive. Wanted to get 4 today, got 2, thats okay. First time in the Catskills was definelty one to remember. I can't lie it is some beautiful country out there and the roadsides are filled with a million things to see or check out. It was cool. The other two exit 20ers soon and then Hunter by itself soon after to finish off the challenge.