Hiked with my favorite winter sports companion, Kim.

Started out from the trailhead on Rte 23 to hike the Escarpment Trail. We were the only car in the lot at 07:00, & it was about 30° out, grey and cloudy.

We scurried across the highway like a couple of frightened deer, walked past a nice little beaver pond on some beautifully crafted wooden bridges. Signed in and away we went!

The trail was very hard frozen packed dirt with a little bit of ice here and there to start - around .75mi in we put our microspikes on as the ice increased. Not too long after putting our spikes on, we encountered some running water under the ice and broke through a little bit, this would continue on & off throughout the hike. We encountered a well packed and prepared foursome who passed us quickly on their way up. They were super fast!

The last half mile or so was hard icy packed snow with some depth to it that had been bare booted to shit, so we left our snowshoes on our backs. Probably more dangerous to wear them with how uneven the trail was.

The foursome passed us on their way back out just below the top. The summit was uneventful & we backtracked to a small viewpoint we liked when we passed it - the others had no view as it started to snow, this one had a little bit. It was nearing 0° with the wind chill as it was WHIPPING up there. We didn’t stay long, I made quick work of my Budweiser & Kim her meat sticks, we took some fast photos and took off.

A little below the summit the wind died down & we encountered a solo hiker on his way up who had no hat, but did have earmuffs at least. We were both very cold and moved on quickly, picking our way down the rock scrambles that were totally encompassed in glare ice.

About two miles off the summit we started encountering people. A LOT of people. More than a dozen across all of the groups - many without backpacks, spikes, and alarmingly, a few wearing dress coats ??? Super bizarre to see so many folks just beginning their hike around 11:00. As we got to the car, it started to snow heavily, hope everyone made out alright.

I need to pull my old trip reports - this is one of my remaining Catskill Winters. Not sure what number, but a great day out with my pal.