Climb the 5 peaks with firetowers in the Catskills of New York. A subset of the Adirondack/Catskill Firetower Challenge. See more at https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/76620.html
Highest peak
Hunter Mountain
4,040 ft / 1,231 m
Most prominent peak
Hunter Mountain
2,140 ft / 652 m prom
Most summited peak
Hunter Mountain
351 summits
Most difficult peak
no info yet
Difficulty breakdown
no info yet
Highlights
Latest summits
"Roughly 20 hikers affiliated with Hikers Anonymous met at the Spruceton TH for a loop hike of SW Hunter and Hunter. The occasion was to celebrate Mimi’s( aka Cream Puff) 1260 or third 420 Grid on the summit of Hunter. Two folks, Connie and Paul, took the onesie option of doing just Hunter mtn via the Spruceton trail. Tom and myself brought our wives and Sherri encouraged her two young sons join us and get two peaks they need for their first round of the Cat35. Also in the party was the legend herself and my long-time hiking partner Marguerite(aka Itty Bitty). She is nearing the completion of her own 840 Grid at the youthful age of 83 and still providing an example for all of us youngsters(!).
It was a casual chat-fest hike to SW Hunter via the Devils Path and old rail bed. Old friends catching up on hikes past and present and others meeting each other for the first time and finding out who is behind that alias. Once most folks reached the canister on SWH and signed in it was time to take more group photos both serious and silly. On to the Hunter mountain summit, peak number 1260 for Mimi.
At the summit with the fire tower as background we formed the classic arch of trekking..." — Nimblefoot • May 26, 2024
"Tony invited the four of us to join him in a hike of Bearpen and Vly in order to complete his single season Spring round of the Cat 35. Besides the Spring triangle patch he also earned his Four in a Row patch(Summer’23 to Spring’24) from Hikers Anonymous.
Fortunately Tom was willing to drive us up the road to the Hunters cabin. After a short chat we headed up to the Bearpen summit then onto the furthest view looking west. Back to the cabin for another chat then onto the canister on Vly where Tom presented Tony with his patches and a Four in a Row t-shirt both of which were a total surprise. Tony surprised us with homemade cookies and brownies from his wife…yummy!
Back to our cars, seeing very few other hikers, to eat our lunch while drive up to the Mill Brook road TH. Here we expected meet two more hikers, Marguerite ( aka Itty Bitty ) and her friend Doug from NH who was visiting for a few days. We were early so we headed and hung out on the fire tower to get in the cooling wind and out of the black flies. Tony surprised with another container of the same treats keeping us fed as we waited. Upon their arrival and climb of the tower we took more group photos then headed back t..." — Nimblefoot • May 21, 2024
"Today was forecasted to be a nice sunny day though a bit cooler to start with. I needed Panther for the month of April of my fifth grid and I needed a 4K peak for the 4K/day challenge of the northeast. So I decided to make a day of hiking Panther in the morning from Rt 47 then Hunter in the afternoon via the Becker Hollow trail off Rt 214.
Still getting used to the idea of leaving the TH without clipping on micro spikes to the pack and wearing tall gaiters over big boots. A spirited stroll up to and over Giant ledge encountering only one couple with a dog within the first 15 minutes. Beyond Giant Ledge it was just me and my thoughts. On my way out I encountered a single woman, we had a nice chat for awhile, then went our separate ways. Back to the car I began ingesting my sandwich as I drove over to Rt 214 for an ascent of Hunter.
I always look forward to using the Becker Hollow trail as it’s a nice change of pace from the other routes. But today for some reason the ascent kicked my butt and took longer than I expected. Upon walking into the summit clearing, from the shortcut trail, I see a woman I know then two more friends up on the tower. We engaged in some lively chit chat re..." — Nimblefoot • Apr 16, 2024
"Ran into friends Lorraine and Ed yesterday while descending Overlook mountain so we hatched a plan to do Mill Brook Ridge and Balsam Lake mountain today. Lorraine eventually backed out do to recent knee surgery and was concerned with testing the knee on a bushwhack.
Ed and I dropped off one car at the BLM TH then drove down to the first Kelly Hollow TH to begin our easy stroll up the big loop trail. At the stream crossing we began our short whack up to the Mill Brook Ridge trail then reach the unmarked, other than a dinky cairn, summit after a little more ellie gain. So far we have only experienced very short periods of sprinkles but at the summit Ed informs me of more serious rain coming in few hours so we hot foot it over to the summit tower on BLM clearing the trail of fallen branches.
Now we are eating a quick snack in low clouds and mist. Once we felt chilly enough in the damp weather we began a hasty descent down to the first car hoping to avoid some of the incoming rain. But right out of the gate we hit lingering ice with water on top….uh oh! I didn’t pack micro spikes and he was too lazy to put his on so we were like two geriatrics doing a slow steady shuffle down unti..." — Nimblefoot • Apr 10, 2024
"Easy hiking day visiting some fire towers and a single peak for my grid. Very warm day(70’s) so I was glad I wore shorts.
After tagging Roundtop from Gillespie road I headed down to Phoenicia to climb Tremper, my #4 out of 6 for the ‘24 DEC Fire Tower Challenge. A quick stop in Phoenicia to pickup some fluids then out to the Catskill Visitor Center for an easy stroll to the Upper Esopus fire tower,#5 of 6.
Continued on to Woodstock to drive up to the Meads TH for the final climb of the day, Overlook.
On my descent I ran into two friends who had driven down from ADK Loj in Lake Placid after Mondays eclipse viewing. We finalized a hike for the next day which is unfortunately forecasted to be cooler and a bit wet with showers(ugh).
Overlook completed my fire tower challenge now it’s time to report to the DEC and get my patch." — Nimblefoot • Apr 9, 2024