I returned to the Catskills this past weekend for the 3500 Club’s annual Winter Weekend, hoping to knock a few more peaks off of my winter requirements. We were lucky to have beautiful weather, sunny with highs around 40. Still snowy, of course! Snowshoes were required; the snow wasn’t virgin, but not many people had been through yet.
We started at the end of Denning Road, walking 1.2 miles before turning south onto the Peekamoose-Table trail. We headed first to Table, then Peekamoose, and then back to the parking lot. This was a different route than I had taken on my previous two excursions to these peaks, requiring us to summit Table twice.
I was a little worried because I’ve been doing a lot of flat hiking recently. Sure enough, I struggled a bit - including getting some leg cramps, which is new for me. However, our group varied in speed, so I didn’t necessarily hold us up.
The peak of Table is viewless, so we ate lunch at the top of Peekamoose, looking out at the peaks of the Devil’s Path and the reservoir. The photo above is taken at this point.
On the way down, one of my compatriots took off his snowshoes after struggling with a broken binding. At this point, the snow was truly well packed. With 1.2 miles left to go, I followed his example, and my microspiked feet felt light and carefree. (It’s possible I may have done a jig.)
I've completed 8 of the 35 peaks for the winter patch. I'm averaging two a year, so I'm not racing towards completion.
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