Sunny 46

There were no other hikers at the trailhead that day and with three other dogs in the party, I figured I'd forego the usual "flat part leashing". Sunny appreciated that, as did my lower back. Sunny and Emma were like peas & carrots.

Sunny got along well with Marley and Ollie as well. They are very friendly and excellent trail dogs.

We started bushwhacking almost immediately, pushing directly for the Roundtop summit. There were folks there who'd been up there almost a dozen times and they said the snowmobile trail is absolutely miserable. The bushwhacking in the Catskills at elevation is a lot less strenuous than the Adirondacks and we made quick work of the elevation. It helped that there were numerous herd paths crisscrossing each other on the way up this mountian. As usual, the Catskills provided us with some awesome rock formations along the entire trail.

Sunny was so happy to be back out in the woods. I'd been taking it easy on my knee the past couple of weeks and he hadn't been hiking the entire time.

This photo is peak Catskills. Dan led the way much of the hike up. He really knows the area very well and kept us on track.

The descent down Roundtop is super steep. The folks explained this is pretty common for the Catskills for one side to be gentle and the other side steep, partially due to the direction the glaciers moved. This was quite true today; both Roundtop and Katterskill are gentle on the Northwest side and steep on the Southeast side.

The col between the mountains is absolutely a beautiful hike. We met up with a couple other party members there and continued on. There's a really cool formation here our companions called "The Ampitheater". It's a huge limestone overhang with a lovely flat bed of stone beneath it. It's like 10 degrees cooler there and we could have taken a nap then and there.

There's also supposed to be an old Revolutionary War fort up here, but I think it's the wrong location in AllTrails. Bill shared the GPS coordinates with us in the chat later so we can check it out at our leisure: 42.160942,-74.094004.

We reached the summit of Kaaterskill High Peak at noon where Adam received his patch. Congratulations, Adam!

We hiked over to the Southeast side of the mountain to enjoy the view at "Hurricane Ledge". The view was beautiful, but unfortunately someone had left a whole bunch of cans of beans and other garbage up here. Fortunately someone else had some garbage bags which allowed Sunny to hike out for us.

I'd hiked near the front on the way up to stay near Sunny. I also like charging up the mountain. On the way back down, I hung back and just followed the experts, chatting all the way. We hiked down past both summits, bushwhacking much of the way. It was largely tame except for fields of nettles which we tried to avoid. I was glad for the zip-away pants Wendy bought me.

I don't think I took a single photo the whole way down so I'm thankful someone took a shot of the group descending.

Towards the end of the hike, as we neared the trailhead, Sunny and Emma ran around like puppies which was nice to see.

Steve found this amazing pavilion in Rip Van Winkle Lake Park in Tannersville quite near the trailhead. It was a perfect spot for a celebratory picnic. Folks brought plenty of food and drink for all to enjoy. Sunny and I provided salad and some danish.

We played fetch with the dogs quite a bit during the picnic, but I could tell Sunny wanted to tackle the lake. I was able to keep him out of it the entire time, but I decided to let him in for a bit after saying our goodbyes.

Another incredible day in the books. I don't hike in large groups very often and it was a nice change of pace. These are great people. I'm looking forward to the next adventure, whenever that might be.

I was glad to find my knee was up to the task and I think Sunny and I are back in business. Tomorrow we're going on an adventure with Quinn and we have hikes planned this Summer with our usual suspects. I can't wait.