"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

"A loop of the two Hunters and Rusk after clearing two small blowdowns on my adopted section of the Diamond Notch trail. Getting some peaks for a winter round before the “Big Storm” comes in a day or two. Overnight flurries that continued into the early AM put a dusting of snow on the ground hiding the various ice patches leading to micro spikes going on and off all day. Wonderful day looking like a winter wonderland on the ground and blue patches with bright sun in the sky." — Nimblefoot • Jan 5, 2024

"Sherri and I joined Richard in getting his last three peaks to close out the month of December for his grid. Beautiful day in the winter wonderland with snow still hanging on the trees. Fortunately all trails and the rail bed/herd path to SWH were broken out making for work for us. The knuckleheads who broke a track over East Rusk to Rusk and down to the Spruceton trail need to improve their game in trail braking. It was great that they did it but they plowed through stuff that was totally unnecessary and missed the entire herd path coming off of Rusk. Great day of laughs, giggles and the occasional slip and fall that we labeled as performance art in the slippery powdery snow." — Nimblefoot • Dec 13, 2023

"Getting the two Hunters for a single season Fall round of the Cat35 using the Becker Hollow trail. Nice sunny day with the warm temps melting the dusting of snow at the lower elevations from several days ago." — Nimblefoot • Dec 8, 2023

"Loop of the two Hunters and the two summits of Rusk with Richard and Pat on a lovely day. My first time hiking with Pat and she is certainly a new friend. She is a local, knows all the who what and where of the Catskills, and likes to cook and bake. Richard and I got our fill of her delicious home made chocolate chip cookies….one per peak plus some extras…my kind of hike(!)." — Nimblefoot • Aug 23, 2023

"Loop of the two Hunters and Rusk from Spruceton road. Early on the Devils Path I met up with Tim, aka Hilltop, who was out doing a onesie of SW Hunter. We discussed teaming up for some mid week traverses in the Catskills. To mix things up a bit I eliminated the east peak of Rusk and put in two bushwhacks between SWH and Hunter. They saved time and were fun to fine tune for future group hikes." — Nimblefoot • Apr 28, 2023

"A solo morning hike on a beautiful day before the snow tonight. Wore spikes the whole way on a snowy packed trail. Crossed a few streams in exposed sections at lower levels. No wind and temps in the 30’s. Upper sections had boot tracks. Snowshoes would have been better, but it was a short section! Climbed up to fifth level of Fire Tower. Temps at the top were warmer in the sun. Pretty frosty trees all around. Saw one person on the way down. Butt slid on sections at the top! 3 more winters!" — lfrancois • Mar 10, 2023

"A loop of Rusk, East Rusk, Hunter and SW Hunter from the Spruceton trail PA which wasn’t plowed out at 8:30 am. Bare booted up the Spruceton trail to the hairpin turn where I hopped onto a rough snowshoe track. Bare booters put numerous divots in the track over the weekend and now they are frozen. Spikes went on for the climb up to the canister then switched to snowshoes for the trek over the East peak of Rusk. Two tracks between the peaks and down to the Spruceton trail looked like they were made by two squirrels running around. Up to the tower on Hunter for the month and day #216 of 366 for the 4K/day challenge. Bit blustery on the summit with wind blowing through the tower that sounded like an airplane. Got out lunch then headed on for SWH, so far haven’t seen a soul. Did a short bushwhack to cut off some mileage hitting the DP near the rail bed rather than right at which was my original intention. After signing into the can on my final peak I continued on the rail bed before taking a wonderful plunging bushwhack descent down to the bridge over DN falls thus avoiding the monotonous descent on the DP. Good decision as the DP was poorly broken out from what I saw after crossing..." — Nimblefoot • Mar 7, 2023

"A twosie of Hunter in the morning and West Kill in the afternoon. Old crusty snow with about an inch of new fluff on top so it was bare boots all day with the micro spikes riding on the pack. A crisp temperature of 10 degrees at 9 am rising up to 22 degrees at 4 pm. Only met one other hikers at the summit of Hunter. Cleared a lot of tree debris off the Devils Path heading up West Kill from ice and wind storms back in December." — Nimblefoot • Feb 1, 2023

"A loop of West Kill and the two Hunters out of the Spruceton trail PA. Found a drone laying in the trail/road on my descent from Hunter at the end of my loop. It was right at the hairpin curve, jump off point for Rusk, so I carried it out to the register box near the PA." — Nimblefoot • Nov 21, 2022