With Kim.

Still chipping away at the Catskill winter list I started oh hum… 11 years ago.

Hooked up with Kim at the park & ride at exit 21 at 06:00, she tossed her gear in my car & away we went.

Reached the trailhead (18° & windless) around 07:00 to two other cars at Mink Hollow, one occupied, one not. The owner of the unoccupied vehicle exited the woods just as we were finishing gearing up, noting that he did not believe snowshoes were necessary. We opted to leave them on, and the couple in the other car stayed put - we did not see them again.

We moseyed up the mashed potato trail crossing the small stream with no issues a few times, then poked our way across the side-hill after the junction to where the real climb began. Trail conditions were mixed and unfavorable - sometimes mashed potatoes, sometimes nearly no snow & rocks underneath. As we picked our way upward a particularly gnarly ice floe on the ledges warranted us stopping to switch to spikes. Snow globe effect up high with no wind, maybe low 20’s for temperature, and clear blue skies. We made the summit & sat and chatted for a bit and had our beers.

We opted for a lot of semi-controlled butt sliding on the seat of our pants on the descent as the downhill was simply too steep & icy in many places to stay upright safely. Gonna feel that tomorrow!

The only other hikers we saw today were a pair of young men we bumped into just above the junction on our way out, who told us they were trying for the entirety of the Path in a day who wanted trail conditions from us, which we provided.

We haphazardly tossed our gear into the car & headed into town for a nice brunch & chai lattes at The Pantry on Main as Last Chance wasn’t open yet for the day. Nice day out with my favorite winter sports companion!