Hunter Mountain Part 1

I got back to my regular Wednesday routine yesterday (finally). The dogs and I hiked Hunter Mountain. It's the premier ski area in the Catskills. The hike was a nice change....very steep and beautiful views along the way. There is an old fire tower at the top that I walked up and and got a great panoramic view of the Catskills. JC had no interest in walking up with me, so he had to stay on the bottom, which he was unhappy about, too. Halfway up the mountain there is a lean-to which is the first one I have seen. They are located all over the Catskills, but I really had no idea what they looked like. It's essentially a covered 3-walled wood shack with a wooden floor used for camping. It's a great idea! You don't have to carry in a tent, it's still "roughin it", it's not community camping as there is only one structure, and there's a huge fire pit where you can sit in your shack and enjoy the warmth. There was even an outhouse associated with this one. As far as I know, it's first come first served for camping. There's a pic in the Part 2 section. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to camp in one this spring!

Hunter Mountain Part 2

Devil's Acre Lean-to

Mom and Pop trip to NY, Fall 2009

The following pics are from mom and dad's trip to NY. They drove up from Birmingham and spent 5+ days here with me. We did a lot of sight-seeing of the fall foliage, visited quite a few wineries, and visited FDR (Roosevelt's) Home Site and presidential library. We even went on a short hike the last day. They also watched me perform a C-section on a bulldog the first full day they were here........what better way to spend a rainy day. It did rain the first 3-4 days of their trip, but we made the best out of it. We went to New Paltz on one of the sunny days, ate at a great brewery (they had the best pumpkin beer I have ever had, and dad got a chocolate and coconut stout), and then went to one of the local veggie markets. Dad did a lot of work on my car while he was here, too. Thanks! It was a great week, and I was sad to see them go.

Mom and Pop part 6, hiking

Mom and Pop part 5, hiking

Mom and Pops part 4

Mom and Pop part 3

Mom and Pop part ?

Mom and Pop trip to NY Part ?

Wittenberg and Cornell Mts Part 1

Last weekend the dogs and I hiked 2 peaks. This was a much better and much more beautiful hike than Slide Mt. There were several rock walls that we climbed. I had to hoist Stanley over most of them. The picture above of the rock wall with JC was quite the doozey for the dogs. I was able to push Stanley up, but JC didn't fair so well. He tried to go up but only to flip backwards and land hard on his chest. I had to go up ahead of him, coax him to get a running start again, then grab his collar and pull him up. It worked.....but then we had to come down. JC refused. So I had to climb back up, grab him and pull him to the edge amidst MUCH resignation on his part. I got his front end down of the ledge, then quickly grabbed his waist as gravity pulled him over. We made it :). I had to strap Stan through the front of my backpack straps to get him down. The view at the top of Wittenberg was the best in the Catskills that I have seen so far. Hopefully, I can get in some more good hikes before winter hits!

Wittenberg and Cornell Mts Part 2