And so it begins. Last summer we finished up the New England 67, the list of the 67 4000′ summits in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, by completing Katahdin, Hamlin, and North Brother.

So, what’s next? Of course there’s another list! The NorthEast 111 list adds the 4000′ summits in New York to the New England 67 list. Of the New York summits, there are only two in the Catskill range, with the remainder in the Adirondacks. For this trip, we decided to tackle the two 4000′ in the Catskills – Slide and Hunter mountains. Each have a number of trails to the summit, some are easy enough for day hikes. We grabbed an AirBnB and decided on a few days off to give us some flexibility in case the weather didn’t cooperate.

Slide Mountain (see also catskillhiker.net)

The plan was to head out and arrive in the Catskills area early on thursday, hoping to get in a hike to stretch our legs, but the weather didn’t cooperate. We had rain most of the way from Boston, and while it had stopped after arrival, that’s pretty sloppy hiking. Friday was much improved (it’d been a rainy spring/early summer so far!), so we headed out around 9-ish for the Slide Mountain trailhead, off West Branch Rd in Oliverea, NY. The area is pretty remote, little mobile phone coverage – winters in the area must be pretty isolating. We found the trailhead without trouble, it had a decent-sized parking area (about 20 cars total) and some signage/hiker registration, typical of many of the trails we’ve seen in the other states.

Geared up, we set off on the relatively short hike – a bit over 2.5 miles each way, with an elevation gain of about 1800ft – the trail is well-marked and maintained. We gained elevation pretty steadily through most of the hike, with a few flatter sections providing a bit of ‘breathing’ room to catch our breath.

For this trail, 5.8 miles in 2hrs 55 minutes.    Check out our actual gpx on alltrails.com

We were in the trees for most of the hike, though in a few places were able to look through the trees for some views of the surrounding hills. After reaching the summit (yeah, 68!), we back-tracked a few short paces to a rocky outcrop – which had a beautiful view of the valley – for a bite to eat. Our daughter and nephew also joined us for the weekend, so the four of us ate some lunch, enjoyed the views and the outdoors.

While the air was relatively warm, the wind was blowing a bit, so a chill started setting in, so we packed up, but not before one last photo:

Heading down was uneventful – and in plenty of time to relax in the afternoon and head over to Woodstock (yes, THAT Woodstock) which was gearing up for the 50th anniversary of 3 days of music that left a permanent mark on our pop culture!

Hunter Mountain (see also catskillhiker.net)

For our second day in the Catskills, we were doing Hunter Mountain – one of the popular ski areas for New Yorkers.   Similar to Slide mountain, it has a number of trails leading to the summit, including some which could be point-to-point, or even a ridge line walk.  We chose the Becker Hollow trail, a simple out and back starting from a parking area off Rt. 214.

This trail was a bit more challenging than Slide, and in fact, had a pretty high challenge to distance ratio – the elevation gain was pretty constant, nearly from the start, and fairly steep for the entire distance, gaining roughly 2,200 feet over 2 miles (average of 20% !).    Fortunately, the footing was mostly good, though in a few places, there was some loose rock, which required a bit of caution.

Near the top, there’s a bit of a lollipop – with a nice view to the west, just off the southwest corner.  From there, it’s a short ridge-walk to the clearing and the fire tower.   For us, the weather was good, so the views were incredible (for those who climbed the tower!).

Would have be great to hang out at the top, the day was beautiful.  We did celebrate our 69th 4000′ summit with our usual celebratory kiss and soon enough, it was back on the trail, though we took it a bit slow on the downhill because of the loose rock.

For this trail, 5.9 miles total, in 3hrs 40 minutes.  Check out our actual gpx on alltrails.com