Confessions of a "Peak-Bagger"
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:30 pm
Confessions of a Peak-Bagger
As I was driving home from work this evening I decided that I would write something, to wrap up my season of peak-bagging in the Catskills. It was nice to sit in my car after being on my feet for most of the day and listen to some "electric chill out" music as I began my drive home. As I climbed a small rise on the outskirts of Rhinebeck, I began to catch a view of the Eastern Escarpment and the sun hanging low in the western sky. This view lasted only moments, but was enough to get the creative juices flowing. That and the serenity that is induced through manual labor.
Back in the Fall I had entertained the thought of bagging enough peaks in the Catskills to become a "Winter 35'R". Fellow forum user Brian, or "Pathgrinder" provided most of the impetus for this endeavor. I had informally agreed to do it, but before long had reached the conclusion that I would not stop climbing peaks until I had met the requirements. Now these "requirements" are more or less the foundation that "peak-baggers" launch off of in pursuit of what it is they're looking for in the mountains. It's not just a list of peaks with elevations, and a place on the side to add an "X", or a check mark. That is the crude and rudimentary skeleton that gets us going.
Brian and I did succeed in climbing the peaks that we required to become "Winter 35'Rs" in about a month's time. A lot of the peaks we climbed together, but some were climbed solo, or with a different group of people. I can clearly remember my mental countdown until the Winter Solstice and the rising excitement. This was my first season of true winter hiking. And am disappointed that we are now at the tail end of such a great season to be in the mountains.
Looking at the sun set behind the Catskills today reminded me of the more subtle attractions of nature and the mountain world. I'm not just a "peak-bagger". "Bagging Peaks" is a great way to get into the mountains and really tour the landscape. It provides a clear and coherent agenda, that many are choosing to abide to for numerous reasons. Some have a list of museums, art galleries, cafes and eateries, parks, and the like to visit when they travel to cities here and abroad. Without such a list the trip may not be as rewarding. Then there is "down time", hanging around trying to think of what to do when you're at your destination. When you are where you want to be, isn't it best to be engaged in something exciting, interesting, maybe challenging, or unique?
Waking up, or more appropriately jumping out of bed, during the darkness of early morning and going through certain morning-motions is unbelievably exhilarating when you have a set destination for the day. Especially when that destination is going to require real physical and mental effort to get to. The highway approach is only part of the journey. Once you're finally out of the gas-guzzling beast and have your pack on and can maybe see a set point on the horizon, isn't it liberating to think "boy I'm going to walk there all by myself and may run into some danger along the way". Help isn't as close as it is back home, unless you live off the grid as a growing number of people are beginning to do. If you do run into trouble you may be on your own. Real fear may be a part of your hike at times; am I going to break a leg during this scramble, will I slip during this crossing and crack my head open, is that storm going to throw some lightning my way, will that dead tree fall on my tent tonight, and a myriad of other similar cases that do present the beholder with tangible fear. All a part of the experience for the outdoorsman/woman.
Growing up today presents the younger people and the elder people with many new hurdles that need to be surpassed in order for the outdoors to be enjoyed. Will the battery life of the electronic device, or cell service dictate the success, or failure of your next outing into the backcountry with your loved ones? Not pointing any fingers just addressing the fact. It is unsettling to think that a handheld device could replace the entertaining faculties of the natural world; flowing water, critters to be found, captured, and then released, terrifying thunderstorms, strong winds, blizzards, "rare" animals, neat rock formations, tricky terrain, "huge" mountains, and all that good stuff that was here and is still here in fragments. As a kid I never thought I would "bag peaks", learn how to cast a fly, try rock climbing, run a rapid, have to worry about bears, or go into the wilderness alone for the night. These things seemed far too much removed from my own capabilities, or not in sync with my personal endowments; reserved for the supermen and women out there.
Having the brief flash of clarity as I did on my way home from work this evening reminded me of what is important. Why do I adhere to a certain set of principles that keep me on the go and sometimes very uncomfortable. Always looking for a person as crazy as myself to do this stuff with etc. Having a firm connection to the natural world can and has been a love of a lifetime for many and many more to come. "Bagging-Peaks" is a quick and convenient term to use amongst people who understand what "bagging-peaks" amounts to. It can sum up the experience very quickly and bring to mind the multitudinous associations that come to mind with the term. Those whom I have met during my rambles and those that I will meet have always been nothing but interesting, healthy, robust, funny, intelligent, curious, unique, and driven in their own ways, to their own goals. Real goals though. Not a goal embedded in a haze of mist on the horizon that is too far away to embrace, or to love. Climbing a mountain, running a river, topping out on a cliff, setting the hook on a fat native trout and watching it slice through the water's surface as you play it to hand, or relaxing by the fire before you, are all very real, very rewarding things that can be attained in a single day, but last a lifetime. I'm very grateful for my experiences had in the mountains of New York and look forward to those to come, which I confess will probably come to be, under the guise of "bagging peaks.
-Sam
As I was driving home from work this evening I decided that I would write something, to wrap up my season of peak-bagging in the Catskills. It was nice to sit in my car after being on my feet for most of the day and listen to some "electric chill out" music as I began my drive home. As I climbed a small rise on the outskirts of Rhinebeck, I began to catch a view of the Eastern Escarpment and the sun hanging low in the western sky. This view lasted only moments, but was enough to get the creative juices flowing. That and the serenity that is induced through manual labor.
Back in the Fall I had entertained the thought of bagging enough peaks in the Catskills to become a "Winter 35'R". Fellow forum user Brian, or "Pathgrinder" provided most of the impetus for this endeavor. I had informally agreed to do it, but before long had reached the conclusion that I would not stop climbing peaks until I had met the requirements. Now these "requirements" are more or less the foundation that "peak-baggers" launch off of in pursuit of what it is they're looking for in the mountains. It's not just a list of peaks with elevations, and a place on the side to add an "X", or a check mark. That is the crude and rudimentary skeleton that gets us going.
Brian and I did succeed in climbing the peaks that we required to become "Winter 35'Rs" in about a month's time. A lot of the peaks we climbed together, but some were climbed solo, or with a different group of people. I can clearly remember my mental countdown until the Winter Solstice and the rising excitement. This was my first season of true winter hiking. And am disappointed that we are now at the tail end of such a great season to be in the mountains.
Looking at the sun set behind the Catskills today reminded me of the more subtle attractions of nature and the mountain world. I'm not just a "peak-bagger". "Bagging Peaks" is a great way to get into the mountains and really tour the landscape. It provides a clear and coherent agenda, that many are choosing to abide to for numerous reasons. Some have a list of museums, art galleries, cafes and eateries, parks, and the like to visit when they travel to cities here and abroad. Without such a list the trip may not be as rewarding. Then there is "down time", hanging around trying to think of what to do when you're at your destination. When you are where you want to be, isn't it best to be engaged in something exciting, interesting, maybe challenging, or unique?
Waking up, or more appropriately jumping out of bed, during the darkness of early morning and going through certain morning-motions is unbelievably exhilarating when you have a set destination for the day. Especially when that destination is going to require real physical and mental effort to get to. The highway approach is only part of the journey. Once you're finally out of the gas-guzzling beast and have your pack on and can maybe see a set point on the horizon, isn't it liberating to think "boy I'm going to walk there all by myself and may run into some danger along the way". Help isn't as close as it is back home, unless you live off the grid as a growing number of people are beginning to do. If you do run into trouble you may be on your own. Real fear may be a part of your hike at times; am I going to break a leg during this scramble, will I slip during this crossing and crack my head open, is that storm going to throw some lightning my way, will that dead tree fall on my tent tonight, and a myriad of other similar cases that do present the beholder with tangible fear. All a part of the experience for the outdoorsman/woman.
Growing up today presents the younger people and the elder people with many new hurdles that need to be surpassed in order for the outdoors to be enjoyed. Will the battery life of the electronic device, or cell service dictate the success, or failure of your next outing into the backcountry with your loved ones? Not pointing any fingers just addressing the fact. It is unsettling to think that a handheld device could replace the entertaining faculties of the natural world; flowing water, critters to be found, captured, and then released, terrifying thunderstorms, strong winds, blizzards, "rare" animals, neat rock formations, tricky terrain, "huge" mountains, and all that good stuff that was here and is still here in fragments. As a kid I never thought I would "bag peaks", learn how to cast a fly, try rock climbing, run a rapid, have to worry about bears, or go into the wilderness alone for the night. These things seemed far too much removed from my own capabilities, or not in sync with my personal endowments; reserved for the supermen and women out there.
Having the brief flash of clarity as I did on my way home from work this evening reminded me of what is important. Why do I adhere to a certain set of principles that keep me on the go and sometimes very uncomfortable. Always looking for a person as crazy as myself to do this stuff with etc. Having a firm connection to the natural world can and has been a love of a lifetime for many and many more to come. "Bagging-Peaks" is a quick and convenient term to use amongst people who understand what "bagging-peaks" amounts to. It can sum up the experience very quickly and bring to mind the multitudinous associations that come to mind with the term. Those whom I have met during my rambles and those that I will meet have always been nothing but interesting, healthy, robust, funny, intelligent, curious, unique, and driven in their own ways, to their own goals. Real goals though. Not a goal embedded in a haze of mist on the horizon that is too far away to embrace, or to love. Climbing a mountain, running a river, topping out on a cliff, setting the hook on a fat native trout and watching it slice through the water's surface as you play it to hand, or relaxing by the fire before you, are all very real, very rewarding things that can be attained in a single day, but last a lifetime. I'm very grateful for my experiences had in the mountains of New York and look forward to those to come, which I confess will probably come to be, under the guise of "bagging peaks.
-Sam