Weekend backpacking adventure

I went on my first backpacking adventure in a year and a half this past weekend - three days in the Catskills.

There aren't many places in the Catskills where one can get off of a bus and hike without a really long roadwalk/arranged ride to a trailhead, but the northern end of Dry Brook Ridge is one of them. The plan - which we successfully executed - was:

• Day 1: Take the bus up to Arkville, hike up German Hollow, then camp by Pakatakan Lean-To
• Day 2: Leave our gear and hike the 14-mile Huckleberry Loop counter-clockwise, returning to the shelter
• Day 3: Hike out Dry Brook to Margaretville.

So this was something of a "cheat" backpack, since there was no need to carry all our gear for the long day. Originally, I had planned to hike alone, but a friend who is keeping in shape for an upcoming CDT section hike was looking for trips, so I invited him along. This worked out great, as I don't think I would have made it through the second day by myself. But when I say "we" didn't need to carry our gear, I mean "me," since he chose to carry it for training purposes.

The hike up German Hollow is short, even with the roadwalk, but steep, gaining 1,500 feet over 2.5 miles. On the second day, we lost all that elevation going down the loop (it seemed preferable to ending the day by going up that hill!), then regained it. The next five miles were modest ups and downs through very overgrown trail, followed by a smaller descent/ascent. That day finished up along the Dry Brook Ridge, with our only views of the day. The final day was relatively easy - all downhill - with one nice viewpoint.

We did have to make a few adjustments. One, we had planned to tent near the shelter, but this proved impossible due to wild overgrowth. We stayed in the little-used shelter, which actually worked out well, as it rained the second night. It was nice not to have to put away wet tents in the morning! Two, the Margaretville bus stop has moved since the 2018 NYNJ Trail Conference maps were published. It's actually much more convenient to the trailhead (right where Fair St. crosses 28), but we didn't know it ahead of time and had to figure it out on the fly. If I were doing it again, I would probably take the early afternoon bus, rather than the second afternoon bus. One could even do the morning bus, if one didn't want to be leisurely on the way out.