Peekamoose/Table 1/2/13

[Sam]

Peekamoose/Table 1/2/13 w/ ze pathgrinder
1/2/13

Brian (path grinder) and I met up at the Park and Ride near the Kingston/Rhinecliff Bridge this morning at a 1/4 to seven. My car's windshield thermometer read a stifling 6 degrees. While I was waiting for Brian (I was early) curiosity got the best of me and I started to check the weather for the Catskills. Surprisingly the projected temperatures for the day were about the same for down in the valley, yet again we'd be on two 3800' peaks this afternoon. Shortly, and on time Brian arrived. The ride in the early morning twilight was nice. I gotta say sitting in the passenger seat is nice for a change!

Arriving at about half past seven, we soon began our climb via the trail head on RT.42 (7:45am). The trail was sufficiently trodden on, broken in, stamped and stomped on to provide easy going for the whole way (we used shoes, snowshoes that is ). In some areas there was minimal drifting occurring. At( ? ) we arrived at Reconnoiter Rock and had a quick sip of water. While standing at this point of interest we pointed out the summit of Peekamoose and whatyah know we started heading towards it…

After topping out on the first rise we were welcomed by some arctic like gusts on the first ledge that looks east. Needless to say we made our visit to this vista brief. The walk from this ledge to the summit of Peekamoose is/was very enjoyable. The vegetation is slightly stunted and the plateau like appearance is kind of nice with big skies overhead.

We arrived at the summit at 10:15 and took some pictures. There is a nice viewpoint in the nearby vicinity where we had lunch and took even more pictures. Definitely one of the nicer view sheds in the Catskills. Unfortunately there is no time to loiter this time of year! Although we didn't start heading towards Table until 10:40.

Throughout this part of the hike there was minimal drifting and it was very nice to walk on some powder (absorbs way more shock) after stomping on the crusty stuff, during the approach of Peekamoose. It's the little things that count….

At 11:05 we found ourselves atop Table and spent a little bit of time wandering around trying to catch a view, but decided on turning around, before losing too much elevation. We did catch a glimpse of Slide, and some other neighboring peaks (lone, Cornell, and Wittenberg).

During the walk back we continued to joke around and ramble on about whatever happened to pop into mind. Very enjoyable company. No trailside dissertations about the sublime, picturesque, individuality, ecology, religion, politics, economics, or how to hike. "Just good olde fashioned shootin the breeze", which personally is how I like to hike. If there is a rainy day and I can't get out to play then maybe, just maybe I'll make room for the rest of the stuff….

The first ledge on Peekamoose right above the 3500' contour was a little more forgiving on the way dow, we made time for a few sips of hot choclate/coffee, and snacks. Looking at the Catskills this time of year is pretty enjoyable. I noticed some steep ledges on the neighboring Van Wyck Mountain that are most likely obscured during summer, or just don't pop out at you like they do now. After this stop we walked back to the trail head with maybe one, or two stops for water.

An all around good day, with good views, good times, good company, good weather (little on the chilly/windy side), and two beaks bagged and tagged.

Got back to the trail head at 1:20

Kind of nice to have some day light left at the end of a hike!

Brian will supply pictures for this hike and another report will be up tomorrow for today's hike up Westkill/SW Hunter.

-Sam

Post Script-no one else out and about on this fine day...

http://sdrv.ms/VG9ThE (Compliments of Pathgrinder)
__________________

[SNEAKers]

I liked the "the light and clouds were changing constantly" pic the most! Another chilly hike, but looks like you guys enjoyed yourselves!