Balsam Cap/Friday Group Hike

[Sam]

Friday/Balsam Cap; Group hike
Yesterday I got a heads up from Brian (Pathgrinder) that Jim (Mudhook) was putting together a group for Friday/Balsam Cap. I quickly responded that I would be eager, or in my own words down to go. Personally this would be my first "group" hike. That is with folks whom I haven't met prior to the hike and whom share an obvious interest in hiking. For various reasons I haven't ventured into this realm of hiking, or other outdoor pursuits. I like to know my crew whether I'm climbing, paddling, or backcountry fly fishing. However this outing turned out to be a blast and all the folks who broke trail and ambled up/down the aforementioned peaks were a ton of fun to be with and "shoot the breeze" with.

I'll just give you a quick breakdown of how the day progressed from my point of view. I pulled into the Stewarts convenience store outside of Woodstock around a quarter to eight and lo and behold there's the "Pathgrinder" in the the flesh. Kind of had a sneaky suspicion that I'd be seeing his car parked outside, while I was approaching the stop. We exchanged a few quick good morning remarks/jests and were then off to the Parking Area at the end of Moonhaw Rd. There was no one else at the Area when we arrived, so we shoveled for a while to enlarge the cramped pull of area, in order to accommodate five vehicles. This kept us warm while we waited, but after another fifteen minutes or so we found ourselves hopping back into our cars to wait for the "team mates" for the day.

Ronnie (really awesome guy) with his son Arlo (equally awesome nine year old version of Ronnie) arrived next and almost immediately after their arrival came Jim, Julie, and Dennis. Then another car rolled in and out hopped two guys(Ross and Pete, thanks for joining!) who I assumed to be a part of the group given their arrival time, but turned out to be their own party. Not for long, they quickly agreed to join our group, for the greater good (break in that trail!). The group assembled very quickly and proficiently, soon everyone was plodding along with an upward trend, toward the famed Balsam Cap and Friday Mountains. Oh there were also friendly greetings involved, before departing towards our destination. Definitely a must when doing anything with new people. We are out to have a fun filled day after all, aren't we?

Departure Time: 9:30

Jim advised that we stick to the logging roads that terrace the lower slopes of Friday Mountain. A great way to gain elevation with a moderate grade. This was the second time I climbed Friday and Balsam Cap. Last time I climbed Friday from the Neversink, which is a totally different hike, so I enjoyed this new approach. There was a considerable amount of powder throughout the day and everyone for the most part got their turn to break in the trail. Anyone with an estimate of the cover feel free to chime in. It was up to my knees in some places….

Once we got to the Junction that is marked by the "Pregnant Tree", or Tree with large burr we took a break for food and water. The break was a little long for my taste, as I soon began to feel chilled and evidently others did too, so off we were. The final approach of Friday was marked by waist deep powder in some places (I'm about 5'9") and proved to be a challenge in some ways, but very rewarding. Their was a neat move that required me to hop up on a precarious piece of blowdown that was jarring a notch that we chose to go up. The angle was one that required "commitment", but with the snow shoes I felt confident to proceed and hopped off my perch and began breaking in the last of the trail towards the summit of Friday. I found that by clearing away the powder until I hit the base provided the best traction and prevented me from losing my composure (second time on shoes). Of course my marks were filled in by the next attempts to clear away the powder, so the folks behind me may, or may not have benefited from this. In any event the summit of Friday had some blow down, which made life a little difficult, but nothing too bad. The wind was strong enough to influence us to keep our summit time to a minimum. Jim was carrying a new canister booklet, so we decided to drop in the freshie and sign in to the old one down below in a more sheltered area (along side the rim wall in our case). Thanks Jim, I feel kind of spoilt!

Friday Summit Time: 12:30

After the break alongside the rim wall we shouldered our packs and began heading towards Balsam Cap. We chose not to go via the col, due to blowdown. No protest here! The walk was pleasant, although I did end up tripping Brian from behind by stepping on one of his snow shoes. Man he went down! Good times though, laughter all around. Thankfully there were no hurt feelings, or band aids involved! haha. Before long we were all standing at the viewpoint on Balsam Cap and gazing towards the Devils Path Range, the Burroughs Range, the Ashokan Reservoir, many other lesser mountains of the Catskills, Eastern New York, and Massachusetts. Great scene with the snow! The only logical next step would be to now head over to the canister, sign in, and then get the hell out of the woods! (Jim how'd that picture around the canister turn out?)

Balsam Cap Summit Time: 2:30


The descent was marked by heavy winds, blowing snow, falling hikers on snow shoes, trail side chit chat, and all that good stuff. Everyone was a rock star on this hike and very enthusiastic about being outside on a day like today. There were a few different age groups in attendance and I am once again reminded that if there is a will to climb a mountain, or what have you then by god it'll git dun.

So I'd like to just mention that Arlo who is nine years old has climbed 74 mountains (now 76?) and 24 (now 26?) of these have been climbed in the Catskills during winter. What a cool kid! Make way for the new!

Great crew to be with, hopefully we can network and set something else up for a later date this winter season.

-Sam

Pics: http://sdrv.ms/WUb7b2