Balsam Cap

"Six of us enjoyed a nice saunter of The 6 from Moonhaw road to Peekamoose road. We heard that the crossing was quite doable without snowshoes so we left them in our cars and carried only micro spikes. Started off with bare ground then along the woods road snow/ice began to accumulate and become steady coverage. On the last pitch up to The Couch on the ridge we put on the spikes to avoid slipping and wasting energy. The spikes stayed on until Reconnoiter Rock on the far side of Peekamoose were encountered bare ground again. We ran into two solo hikers one between Friday and Balsam Cap who was the 6 as an out and back from Moonhaw, an ambitious hike of 23 miles. The other we met on our way up Rocky and he was doing the 9 for the first time, starting from Peekamoose road. A nice sunny warm day that made the snow soft but not sticky." — Nimblefoot • Feb 26, 2024

"Second mountain for Tina’s Catskill 3500 finish. Scraggly trees everywhere! The wind picked up at the top. The trail was packed snow and an easy climb after the trees. Signed in at orange canister, celebrated quickly, then booked our way down! " — lfrancois • Feb 24, 2024

"Joined Richard, Victoria and husband Rick and Sherri for a traverse of the bushwhack range from Moonhaw Rd to Peekamoose Rd. Nice Fall day with sun and minimal wind. The seasonal temps, though normal, were cooler than we are used to at home and kept us moving all day long. Only met two other hikers on Rocky while we were engaged in having our lunch break." — Nimblefoot • Nov 8, 2023

"Did The Six with Richard, Donna and Mimi from Peekamoose road to Moonhaw road. Nice cool day with a good breeze on or near the summits made the day feel more like early Fall rather than August." — Nimblefoot • Aug 19, 2023

"Peter, Mimi, Barbara and I engaged in a traverse of the Six from Moonhaw Rd to Peekamoose Rd. Beautiful day but didn’t encounter another soul, nor the Easter bunny, until more than half way down from Peekamoose where we passed a couple with two dogs heading out. Snow rapidly disappearing, remaining 6” mostly above 3500’ and between peaks." — Nimblefoot • Apr 9, 2023

"Peter, Mimi, Barbara, Francine and I had a wonderful saunter across the Six starting from Moon Haw and ending at Peekamoose rd. Under a clear blue sky we bare booted up to Friday and over Balsam Cap then on our way over to Rocky Peter and Francine decided to put on their snowshoes for ease of travel. After lunch on top of Rocky the rest of us put on the big shoes which would stay on until way down off of Peekamoose where it was too many rocks showing through the thin snow. Lovely warm day where the only other hikers we saw was a small group doing the Nine in the opposite direction. " — Nimblefoot • Jan 28, 2023

"A loop of the 6 peaks, including the bushwhack 4, from Denning PA. After the summer-like temps last week it’s right into Fall with temps starting and ending in the 20’s this week. Took the fisherman’s path all the way out to do a whack up to the canister on Friday then it was mostly herd paths across the range to reach the Peek-Table trail. Out and back to Peekamoose then up to Table before the descent down to the P-E trail and back to Denning PA. Motored all day, with only a brief stop at the 4 canisters, chasing the clock and the pending sunset now an hour earlier. No headlamp was harmed on this venture and only one small pinky puncture from a stray branch stub." — Nimblefoot • Nov 14, 2022

"Getting Friday and Balsam Cap from Moonhaw under blue skies in the morning. Finished the day getting Sugarloaf from Mink Hollow under cloudy skies. Got rain for 15 - 20 minutes on my descent back to col then it gradually stopped as I got back to the car basically soaked to the skin. Didn’t see a single hiker out today." — Nimblefoot • Sep 19, 2022

"A twosie of Friday and Balsam Cap from Moonhaw PA in the AM then headed further up Peekamoose road to hit Ashokan HP in the afternoon. Nice blue sky in the morning that slowly transitioned to fully overcast by late afternoon with light sprinkles falling. The warmer temps brought out the black flies." — Nimblefoot • May 20, 2022

"Getting Friday and Balsam Cap for the month of February. Ran into two friends, Yong Ae and George, on my way up Friday. George had already done BC so was heading out then I caught up with Yong Ae again on BC. As always she offered me half her sandwich, smoked salmon/avocado/jalapeño peppers on a bagel, and her warm tea. Dull Hillsounds were just barely enough on the ice at upper elevations otherwise mostly bare ground or patches of old ice. Had time to do a quick ascent of Overlook afterwards and get home at a decent time prior to the big storm. Plenty of ice on the trail but was able to dodge most of it so the Hillsounds stayed in the pack." — Nimblefoot • Feb 24, 2022