It's been a long time since I put up a blog post. No excuse really, but with a new dog in our lives, we'll get him some blog time and put some fresh blog posts out.
Last September we had to put down our beloved dog Rev, who was 15-1/2 years old. She had logged a lot of miles with us, and she had hiked the ADK 100 highest (minus the peaks on Elk Lake property). She had also hiked the winter ADK 46. We miss her terribly. She had been our partner for thousands of hiking miles.
We went six months without a dog and then in March (on Leesa's birthday) we adopted Milo from a shelter. He is eight years old. Leesa fell in love with him at first site.
Since March, we've taken Milo up peaks locally in the Lake George area and he is doing great. He's very mild mannered and seems to get along well with people, dogs and cats. He has no problems hiking, and he rather enjoys it! Good thing, since we hope to get him out on the trail a lot.
Today's adventure was Windham High Peak in the Catskills; one of the Catskill 3500 peaks. We weren't expecting nice weather today, we were just hoping any rain would hold off until after our hike.
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| Trailhead parking sign on Route 23 |
For this hike, we chose to start from the Elm Ridge - Escarpment parking Area off Route 23. This route is a moderate hike with no difficult terrain. With questionable weather, and a dog that is still somewhat new to us, it was a good trail to tackle.
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| Kiosk at the Trailhead parking lot |
In spite of recent rains, the trail was in pretty good shape with not too much mud to contend with. We had some rain spinkles at the start of the hike, but fortunately it didn't develop into any steady rain.
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| Milo and Leesa, ready to start hiking! |
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| Nice Footbridge near Route 23 |
There were only 4 or 5 cars in the lot when we hit the trail at 7:45 AM. The trail from Route 23 starts out at very gentle grade and never gets to more than a moderate incline.
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Choices...
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We reached the Elm Ridge lean-to and Milo searched thoroughly for any remaining food scrapes that might be in the area. Fortunately, he didn't find any.
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| No food here... |
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| Milo's usual pose... |
After the lean-to, the Escarpment Trail begins up the ridge, but it is still a pretty gentle climb. By the time we reached the 3500' elevation sign, we could tell we weren't going to get any visibility from the viewpoints near the summit.
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| The 3500' Elevation Sign, rising out of the mist |
At the first viewpoint, it was more like dog treat time than time to admire the view.
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| The first viewpoint |
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| One of the USGS markers near the summit |
At the summit on this day, the nicest thing to look at was the crab apple tree that was about to open up into full bloom.
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| Crabapple tree near the summit |
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| No view here either... |
We paused at the three viepoints near the summit to gaze out, but it was left to the imagination. In spike of the lack of visibility, the weather was actually quite comfortable for hiking, with the temperature in the mid 50's and no bugs or humidity. There was a nice breeze and only scattered raindrops.
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| Life is not easy |
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| Mayor Milo |
The descent was easy without any mud to slip on.
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| The grassy knob |
Before we knew it, we were back at the car. It took us 3.5 hours to hike the 7 mile out and back. This morning hike made a great Sunday adventure for Milo, Leesa and I.
For an excellent resource for this hike (with maps and data), visit this post from Catskillmountaineer.com
Hike Stats
Distance - 7 miles
Hike Time - 3.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain - 1750 feet
