catskills

Never judge a mountain by its elevation

Mountain: Catskill Mountains

Altitude: 4,180 ft | 1,270 m

Location: Catskill Mountains, USA, 42.2146° N, 73.9595° W

Some would not classify Catskills Range as a mountain range, and some would even call them “high hills”. But after hiking all 35 mountains over 3500 feet in the region I have learned that elevation is not the most important aspect of mountaineering.

My first official hike in Catskills range was with a friend in preparation for a “big-mountain expedition” (we have completed the three summit cluster known as Blackheads — Black Dome, Blackhead and Thomas Cole in a couple of hours). During the hike he casually mentioned that there is “Catskills 3500” Club — if you complete 35 climbs of mountains over 3500 you become a club member and get a badge. And just like an extreme collector obsessed with completing collection, I knew I had to climb every mountain in the region. A few google searches led me to a two-page pdf with instructions how to mail application together with a tally sheet of summits. I immediately wrote down my first three mountains in the allocated slots, but the list looked very empty...

For the next 14 months I have embarked on a journey of filling out white spaces. Fed by stories of other hikers, I was excessively optimistic and I might even day arrogant, about the effort required. But after a couple of hikes, I was forcefully humbled, learning that low elevation does not equal easy. In fact, I came across challenges that are not encountered on high glacial mountain ranges: confusing landscapes, bushwhacks and wildlife. My first big reality check occured when I tried to complete Slide-Cornell-Wittenberg 17 mile loop by myself in the middle of January. Cocky and confident, without crampons or snow-shoes, I hit the trail at 6am. The beginning did not have any snow but things have changed in 3 hours when the trail turned into an ice-skating rink. I have ignored the red flags and after making the summit of Slide prepared to continue the descend to Cornell. Descend turned out to be steep and after a couple of steps I fell down with a rushing speed. I looked up — I slid about 30 feet down. I took a deep breath and tried to descend again. But the descend proved to be too steep. I had to sadly admit to myself without an axe or crampons I could not descend — so I started clumsily climbing up on the wall using my polls as a replacement to a grabber. My descend down Slide was even more shameful — without microspikes or crampon in some sections the only way down was on all fours.

Catskills baffled me multiple times: unexpected rain storms/snow blizzard caught me a couple of times in the middle of the hike (in fact one of my most vivid memories involves seeing a rain cloud moving fast across the range). Frequently upon completing mountains without trails (bushwhacks — Catskills has 16 of those) I would show up to work Mondays with “Harry Potter” marks all over my face. My navigational illiteracy was revealed numerous times by stumbling on high-drop ledges, when you start questioning whether you are hiking or free solo climbing. While my journey was personally safe, I have been a witness to numerous casualties — mostly with people getting lost and forced to spend the night alone in the forest until found by rangers. In fact during my last Catskills hike me and my friend stumbled upon a couple that lost it’s way in the woods and was forced to spend a night in the forest without gear, food and no clue, until they met us on their route. And I am not even mentioning spruce traps and bears that have legendary stories in hiking community.

But mental determination trumps obstacles. I spent weekends of winter of 2017 waking up at 3 am and rushing to the rental car pick up, just to ensure that I hit my next goal trail at the sunrise. I would spend the night before diligently studying maps and reading other hiker’s descriptions. And while I was driving in complete darkness on I-87 I frequently questioned my motives, but i just could not stop. The endorphin rush and intoxication of accomplishment when filling out another blank space on the tally sheet was even more addictive than sugar.

In the middle of April 2017 I mailed my completed application form but it did not feel triumphant, but actually kind of prosaic, like I just dropped off laundry. It was always about the experiences whether shared in the joyful company of friends or by myself. It was about lessons learned, the most important being to never judge a mountain by elevation.