Big Indian Mountain

"Solo loop of Big Indian and Doubletop from the Seager PA. Met Mike and Ellen Dwyer on the whack between Big Indian and DT. They were doing the same two peaks, in reverse order, for Ellen’s 2nd Grid. Then a few minutes after reaching the canister on DT Lou Berrios strolled in from Graham. We had a 15 - 20 minute chat then he headed down or so I thought. I followed about 10 minutes later after I got my sandwich out at 2:20pm. Once my wet feet warmed up I cruised back to the Seager PA hoping to catch up to Lou and the Dwyers on the way but it turned out that I was the first to arrive back. Changed into dry clothes and footwear then prepped for the 2+ hour drive." — Nimblefoot • Nov 11, 2019

"Seven of us did a traverse of Fir, Big Indian, Eagle and Balsam from Burnham Hollow road to Rider Hollow. We had a rather wet start that only got worse the closer to Fir we got then once we hit the canister the rain amazingly ceased. We actually had pieces of blue sky and sun peeking out at us on our way over to Big Indian where we celebrated a Yong Ae’s completion of a single season summer Cat 35. After a tasty Korean banquet complete with table cloth we dropped down to the P-W trail and headed for Eagle. Our first time signing into the new canister. On Balsam Christy and I celebrated our completion of a single season summer and received our triangle patch. Down at the Rider Hollow leanto three friends, Anna, Connie and Jim, prepared hot dogs/buns with sauerkraut and baked beans, beverages, big soft pretzels and brownies. A glorious day once the rain stopped two hours into our hike, walking our clothes dry all day." — Nimblefoot • Sep 2, 2019

"Took steamboat ridge up to Fir, cruising over Peak 3208 on the way, then the usual land bridge crossing over to Big Indian. Finished the day by cruising out the P-W trail back to the PA. Nice comfortably warm day." — Nimblefoot • Jul 25, 2019

"Tom, Peter and I did a nice stroll from Burnham Hollow road to Millbrook road visiting the five summits of Fir, BI, DT, Graham and BLM. By the time we hit the old cinder block building on top of Graham we were glad to leave the bushwhacking behind and enjoy some trail hiking to finish the day. On Fir we bumped into Mark P. another early finisher of the Catskill All Trails Challenge. He joined us for the hike over to Big Indian then headed right on the P-W trail for Eagle while turned left to head toward Doubletop. Graham completed my 31st round of the Catskill 35." — Nimblefoot • Jun 8, 2019

"Tom, Miyon, Miyon, Tim, Christy and I did a loop of Fir, Big Indian and Eagle from Burnham Hollow road. After breaking a new track most of the way to Fir we had a fresh track from today to follow all the way to Big Indian making it an easy trek. Big Indian was Christy’s final peak for her W35 so we got a video of her reaching the canister under an arch of trekking poles. A variety of celebratory snacks were consumed as we signed into the logbook and took some goofy photos. Off to Eagle hoping for a broken trail." — Nimblefoot • Mar 9, 2019

"Rob and I enjoyed a crisp, windy day exploring the woods and whacking our way up and over 3 Catskill peaks. Our gain for the day was ~3800' over 14+ miles. The blue skies, fun stream crossings, crunchy snow and howling wind made for a great adventure!" — deb-and-rob • Feb 9, 2019

"Seven of us did a loop of Fir, Big Indian and Eagle mountains from Barnum Hollow road. We picked up an eighth person, George from the Albany area, at the canister on Fir. We rotated leads for breaking out a track, in some nice deep fluff, acrossed the land bridge to Big Indian. After another group photo we dropped down the herd path to the P-W trail where we bid adiu to George as he headed left toward Biscuit brook lot and we headed right toward Eagle mountain. Somehow we lost the normal herd path after leaving the can, no sign of old tracks, so our track is good at the two ends but wanders a bit in between. We headed up the trail a bit to find a nice spot for our lunch which was augmented with home made dumplings and hot ginger tea thanks to Yong Ae. Properly fortified it was back to breaking trail towards Eagle, our third and final peak." — Nimblefoot • Feb 2, 2019

"Tom, Steve and I did a nice traverse of Fir, Big Indian and Eagle from Rt 47 to Burnham Hollow PA. After a hot climb of Fir we headed acrossed the land bridge to BI. Up high the temperature was much cooler and humidity much lower so our soaked clothes were now cooling us....nice! Followed herd paths all the way acrossed so no navigational instruments were harmed during this adventure. After doing the usual sign-in and perusal of past visitors we whacked a short cut over to the P-W trail on our way to Eagle. " — Nimblefoot • Aug 30, 2018

"Tom M. from Hikers Anonymous put together a crazy combo of six peaks from the fire tower on Balsam Lake mtn to Balsam mtn on the P-W trail. Seven of us joined him for a fun day of trail hiking, bushwhacking, heat and the ever annoying black flies. Big indian was our 4th peak of the day and a turning point in the hike for most. We were back on trail, after the whack from Graham over Doubletop to the P-W, but most folks were already feeling the mileage, ellie gain and the heat. Water bottles were emptied, socks were changed on aching feet and assorted snacks were consumed in preparation for the final two peaks. Upon reading the canister book we see Mike S. had signed in stating BI as peak #12 on his quest of setting a new record of doing the Cat35 in one hike/run." — Nimblefoot • May 26, 2018

"Steve, Ed and I spent the day playing in some deep snow on and off trail. After a challenging ascent of Fir we pushed on into the deep fluff working our way toward Big Indian. I smartly choose the initial downward leg to break through then let the other two swap out on the ascent, often flattish, until it was my time again for the steep up to the canister. About 5 and a 1/2 hours of work now we are ready to head back via the trail and enjoy some easier ‘shoeing. Uh oh the herd path isn’t broke out so we just wing it and angle down until we see the blue markers of the trail. Now we are pushing through 1.5 - 2 feet of snow with the occasional drift but at least we are a trail and heading home. As we drop in elevation the snow depth gradually decreases as the miles slowly tick by. Once we reach our own track coming in it’s an easier shuffle albeit o tired legs. Ed had a poor finish as he met up with mr. bonk and struggled the last few miles. Another fine day in the fluff that had us wishing we were on skis." — Nimblefoot • Mar 15, 2018

"Out bagging Fir and Big Indian with Laura and Steve. I was the designated navigator/trail breaker and fortunately I had broken out a track a week ago. Snow flurries and wind all day with warmer temps. for a change. My week old track between the two peaks was getting filled in with drifting snow slowing our progress over to Big Indian. Finished our day with a long slog out to the Bisquit Brook parking lot where we found our cars covered with 3 inches of fluffy snow." — Nimblefoot • Jan 4, 2018

"Headed in from Rider Hollow PA, on a splendid cool sunny day, to visit the summits of Big Indian, Eagle and Balsam mountains. As I neared the leanto I could hear voices even though there was no other car in the parking lot. A couple of nincompoops pitched their tent inside the leanto and had their food bag hanging only 4 feet off the ground with a bottle of Jack below it. I guess they figured any bear or other ingenious animal might opt for the bottle and not the food. The rest of my hike out to Big Indian was uneventful and didn't see another hiker despite it being a holiday weekend. " — Nimblefoot • Sep 4, 2017

"After visiting the summits of BLM, Graham and Doubletop Laura, Steve and I continued on to Big Indian while Tom headed down to Seager PA. On our way down Doubletop we pass one of the searchers looking for a lost 60 year old hiker." — Nimblefoot • Aug 3, 2017

"Laura, Steve and I hiked Fir and Big Indian from Bisquit Brook. After a short visit at the canister on Fir I let Steve take us across the land bridge to Big Indian. So far the predicted showers haven't showed up though we are wet, including our feet, from last nights rain. Steve heads back to the car to move it to Rider Hollow while Laura and I continue on to Eagle and Balsam." — Nimblefoot • Jul 1, 2017

"The 4th peak of our traverse of Balsam Lake, Graham, Doubletop, Big Indian and Fir mountains. After our whack down from Doubletop then whack up to the P-W trail it was an easy walk up a herd path to our 2nd canister of the day. " — Nimblefoot • Jun 1, 2017

"Tom, Laura, Steve and I did a bushwhack loop of Fir, Big Indian and Eagle mountains from Burnham Hollow road parking lot. On our whack from Fir mountain we looked for a watch reported to be lost in the area but we had no luck, too many possible routes along the land bridge." — Nimblefoot • May 23, 2017

"The Catskill Crew and Co. climbed Doubletop for Paul's finish of the Catskill 3500 then four of us continued on to Big Indian and Eagle for their 1st, 2nd or 3rd Grid. The crossing from D-top to the P-W trail went well" — Nimblefoot • Oct 4, 2016

"Tom, Laura,Steve and I did a thru hike of Fir, Big Indian and Doubletop from Burnham Hollow road to Seager. Found a key to a Honda car on our crossing of the land bridge to BI." — Nimblefoot • Apr 28, 2016

"Tom, Anna, Ann and I visiting the canisters on Fir and Big Indian. 2 - 3 inches of sticky snow on top of ice equals slippery. Post hike stop at Rocco's for burgers and liquids." — Nimblefoot • Jan 15, 2016

"After tagging Doubletop we continued up the P-W trail to the Herdpath to Big Indian. Near the summit we caught up to a father & daughter heading up, the only other hikers we saw all day. Next we take the land bridge over to Fir." — Nimblefoot • Jun 15, 2013