Friday Mountain

"We had a beautiful day for a Catskill Niner with cool temps and sunshine. We enjoyed a clear star filled sky with our headlamp start and the same after our headlamp finish. Only met other hikers on Witt and Friday then one guy on BC then we met on Friday before a noisy group crowded the small summit/canister area. Our passage through the “Dink” was our easiest so far with only minimal pokes and a growing amount of open stretches." — Nimblefoot • Nov 2, 2019

"Six of us did the classic six pack traverse of Peekamoose to Friday mountain. We waited until the summit of Rocky to have our Korean lunch of pancakes, dumplings and ginger tea on a tablecloth thanks to Yong-Ae and MiMi. Upon descending Friday we met a Catskill luminary, Mike Suidy doing just BC & Friday, and hiked out with him to Moon Haw PA. Very interesting hearing about his latest adventures and races here and abroad." — Nimblefoot • Sep 29, 2019

"A beautiful warm cloudless in which to take on the Catskill 9. Low point, getting stabbed by thousands of trees. High point, watching the sunset on Table and the stars on Peekamoose." — Right-On • Sep 21, 2019

"Despite a forecast of thunderstorms I took a chance and drove up to Moon Haw PA to tag Friday and Balsam Cap. Lured by the blue sky with friendly clouds I headed up hoping for success before any storms arrived. Then about half way to Friday I heard a strange noise ahead of me, minutes later a steady rain ensued. With rain jacket on I continued until I couldn’t see with my glasses so fogged up. I turned around to head back to the car thinking by the time I get back the rain will probably stop. Luckily it stopped or slowed considerably sooner therefore encouraging me to turn around again and head back up. So now as a chucklehead in the mist I visit the two canisters soaken wet, without views, but enjoying the quietness of having the woods to myself. Two more for the grid and Peak month" — Nimblefoot • Aug 6, 2019

"Tom, Peter and I did the Denning 9 starting at the Denning PA visiting Table first and finishing on Slide. A warm humid day but fortunately not excessively hot and clouds rolled in during the afternoon to block the sun occasionally. We didn’t see anybody until Lone where we found a group of Jewish summer campers having breakfast at the canister complete with one in a hammock acrossed the herdpath. Certainly inappropriate but at least they were friendly and were willing to take our canister photo at peak #3. We whacked so far acrossed the Dink we almost made it to the summit of Cornell. The going got so steep and thick we decided to pop out to the trail, only a minute from the spur trail. On Witt we saw only five other hikers which was a surprise since it was a holiday and such a nice day. After a wonderful respite at the spring below Slide we got to the summit viewing ledge only to find another Jewish group taking over the entire ledge doing some sort of religious reading/meditation/ seance silently even though on our climb up we could hear bouts of hooting and hollering. The Curtis-Ormsby trail was a pleasant soft pine needle covered trail dropping us down to the P-E trail for the..." — Nimblefoot • Jul 4, 2019

"Tom and I did “The Nine”in a more or less straight line starting from Peekamoose road and ending at the Slide mountain PA on Co. route 47. The threat of an afternoon thunderstorm and the occasional patch of black flies kept us moving from 6:30 to 5:00 with very little lollygagging. The only peak where met other hikers was Wittenberg where we took a short break to eat lunch. The spring below Slide was a welcome respite during our final ascent of the day then once on top we were chased off by a growing mob of black flies. Down at the PA while enjoying a chilled beverage we discussed the possibility of doing Panther as a bonus peak, fortunately common sense encouraged us to call it a day. " — Nimblefoot • Jun 1, 2019

"Celebrating the accomplishments of two friends completing their Catskill 3500 finishes today, Eric and Serena, salute! An epic bushwhack of Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap and Friday Mountains! What a weekend of laughs and smiles it has been! Love you all! " — scottturner • May 18, 2019

"Four of us did a 6-pack of Witt, Corn, Friday, BC, Rocky and Lone via the old Boy Scout trail out of Moon Haw over to Denning PA. The choke point of the hike was the Dink between Cornell and Friday, always a joy to whack over. The ground conditions ranged from bare ground down lower to ice packed trail sections up higher to two feet of old snow off trail to suddenly plunge through for good photo ops." — Nimblefoot • Apr 17, 2019

"Back at it for Bhakti’s first round of Friday and Balsam Cap. Started on bare ground at Moonhaw Parking area, then switched to snowshoes for the summits in heavy, wet snow. Ran in several familiar and notable faces on today’s trip! Jon Fellows ended up breaking a nice trail for us to Balsam Cap! Thanks buddy!" — wacbravo • Mar 24, 2019

"Did a loop traverse of the "Catskill 9" with two hiking companions to close out my winter round finish of the Catskill 35 in style (35/35 on Rocky Mountain, and the rest were bonus summits). We started from the Denning Road Trailhead at 7 AM, heading counterclockwise up Table and Peekamoose before bushwhacking over the four trailless peaks. Climbing the col from Friday to Dink and Cornell was brutal. The forest is dense and fights you at every step. When we finally hit marked trail again, we were banged up, bloody, and grateful to be out of the mess. My favorite Outdoor Research Whirlwind Hoodie did not survive Dink's wrath. The snowpack is high over the burroughs range, and being elevated into the forest canopy felt like we were still bushwhacking. The Cornell Crack required a rope to safely negotiate. Once down, we dropped our packs and jogged the trail out and back to Wittenberg. Climbing up Slide's eastern face on tired legs was a real challenge. We enjoyed an ice cold celebratory beer at the top, and then made the long descent back to the car. The trip was just under 20 miles and about 5100 feet of gain." — wacbravo • Mar 16, 2019

"we enjoyed a much needed day in the woods bushwhacking Balsam Cap and Friday. Both peaks are trail-less which means you find your own way up the mountain - the weather was perfect, the woods were beautiful and quiet - except for the laughing from our group :) Over the course of the hike we would climb roughly 3000' and hike 8 miles. Another great day in the woods!" — deb-and-rob • Mar 2, 2019

"A beautiful day for a stroll across the bushwhack range. The three of us initially played leap frog with a group of eight, doing the same trek from Moonhaw to Peekamoose rd, on our way up to Friday and to Balsam Cap. Hillsounds were fine to start then with elevation gain and a softer crust snowshoes became a better choice for efficiency. We got to sign into a fresh notebook right after Mudhook with his artistic rendition of a raccoon." — Nimblefoot • Feb 23, 2019

"Ten of us, nine two footed and one four footed, enjoyed an out/back of Friday and Balsam Cap with gust driven snow squalls. On our descent back to the pregnant tree and rim trail we passed a friendly group of Korean hikers ascending. They were spread out quite a distance between the speedsters and the sluggish caboose who refused to put on spikes to aid in efficiency in ascending. One guy was actually wearing just a T-shirt, friggin show off(!)." — Nimblefoot • Jan 6, 2019

"Tom, Nadee and I joined Connie S. for her final 3 peaks to complete the month of December of her 3rd Catskill 420 Grid. Started in Moon Haw and took the usual trade route passed the turnoff for Friday to hit Balsam Cap and Rocky first. We allowed the 3500 Club group, who started after us, to break out the path Friday’s can. From the col below Rocky we took an easy pleasant route directly toward the col between Balsam Cap and Friday where we picked up a solid track of ours and the group of 11. Down to the pregnant tree and up to the canister on Friday using the broken track. Now we are kind of regretting leaving a peak to the end but at least it’s all downhill afterwards. A nice day of warm temps, no precipitation and packy/slippery snow that allowed for plenty startling slips and butt slides where necessary." — Nimblefoot • Dec 15, 2018

"Six of us pushed through the heat and humidity to do the six pack of peaks backwards starting at Peekamoose road and ending at Moon Haw road. Visiting the summits of Peekamoose through Friday. Folks were really dragging on our ascent of Friday do to the high humidity all day. Once at the canister they perked up for the final descent with the anticipation of rehydration beverages awaiting us at the Moon Haw PA." — Nimblefoot • Jul 1, 2018

"Tim B. joined Laura and I for a romp in the white fluff to tag Friday and Balsam Cap for Laura’s Grid. Nice quiet day with great company and wonderful views. Much warmer than the past week." — Nimblefoot • Jan 2, 2018

"Laura, Steve and I were joined by Tim and Tom for a nice romp up Friday and Balsam Cap mountains on a beautiful day. Blue sky and temps up to the upper 60's/ lower 70's making for a fine day to hike an open ridge or peak but since we are gridiots we're bushwhacking. Laura was having an off day, forgetting the home-made cupcakes she was going share with us and the beer we were going to cache in the herd path for our friend George. The fall colors are becoming more noticeable reminding us that summer is winding down." — Nimblefoot • Sep 12, 2017

"Laura, Steve and I did a loop of Friday, Balsam Cap, Rocky and Lone from Denning TH. Beautiful summer day for bushwhacking though the black flies were out again at the summits." — Nimblefoot • Jul 3, 2017

"Tim joined Steve and I for a romp on the bushwhack range visiting the summits of Friday, Balsam Cap, Rocky and Lone mountains. The black flies and other biting pests were nonexistent until we got to the canister on a Friday with the gradual rise in temp." — Nimblefoot • Jun 20, 2017

"Nine of us got together to search for a cave/cabin structure on the side of Friday mtn. It was possibly used by hunters years ago. We struck out and only found a more recent metal shed lower on the mtn. Since we were in the neighborhood we continued over to Balsam Cap, Rocky and Lone on our way back." — Nimblefoot • Apr 29, 2017