Summit Cookies

Bake, Hike, Eat and Repeat 

[thesummitcookie]

Blackhead Mtn., The Catskills,11/14/2020

The Catskills are such underrated wilderness. Especially coming from south Jersey. They are not as remote as the Adirondacks or the Whites but still offer the ability to put together some epic hiking. They also have the 35er challenge and I am a sucker for a challenge. The 35er challenge meaning hiking the designated 33 high peaks of the Catskills. The high peaks being over 3,500 feet in elevation. On this day, I planned the entire hike myself. This was a first. My personal preference being to just show up and walk. And as someone who thinks the only use for a map is wall decor, this was going to be a challenge. Also, my hiking buddy and I had different definitions of “prepared.” Who knew you could check weather conditions on the summit? Moutainforecast.com for anyone who wants to know. But I did my research and planned what I thought was doable route. Sure, I didn’t know the bailout points, the parking situation, or trail conditions. But I knew how to get us there and had a general sense of the way to go and I had cookie ready for the summit. I downloaded all trails, we got this. 

The route was to take us through the Blackhead Range starting from Thomas Cole and Camel Hump. It was an out and back with the piece de résistance being a continuation onto Arizona Mountain. Arizona was my big “I know my shit, bet you couldn’t find this” attempt to impress my buddy. Arizona is an obscure mountain in the Catskills that I found via a random blog which called it one of the most “ridiculously under hiked” mountains in the Catskills. Why? Well it is 93 feet shy of being a high peak. Which seems to be the reason most people, myself included, go to the Catskills.  And it really isn’t easily accessible. So, screw it, I added it to the route. I had never planned a route for my much more experienced hiking buddy before and I was looking to increase mileage and elevation gain. I was still pretty insecure about my abilities, and was trying to prove something. Looking back that’s such a silly concept. It doesn’t matter... it’s about getting out. I look at hiking so differently now, not every day is about bagging the most peaks, pushing pace, pushing mileage. Actually, now I prefer to plan things that don’t do that and allow you to enjoy the journey more. But for this hike I wasn't there yet. And this hike was not great.

My hiking buddy introduced the concept turn back time to me. I’m not really sure why this was the hike we talked about a turn back. It wasn’t our longest. The planned route was only 12.5 miles. It wasn’t the most elevation gain, promising a little over 4K, but nonetheless this was the one. If we didn’t hit  a certain point, by the turn back time, we would turn around. This was not an option in my mind. I planned a hike, I had a goal and we were going to complete. So, while it was supposed to be a safety concern, all the turn back time did to me, was make me paranoid about pace. So rather than taking our time enjoying the trail, talking to trail encounters, we booked it and we got to Arizona well in advance of “turn back” time. You would think this meant the day would take a turn we would be able to just enjoy it now… you’d be wrong. 

The only part of the day I was not in charge of was lunch. This was typically my job, but since I typically did not plan the routes we flipped roles. My go to is always wraps. And cookies, always cookies. My buddy had different ideas. He wanted a hot meal. I appreciated the idea. It was freezing, snow on the ground, hands were numb and the idea of a hot meal just sounded heavenly. But the jet boil wouldn’t light. So rather than a delicious hot meal on the summit of a relatively unexplored peak. We were frustrated, cold, eating cookies and trail mix.  Needless to say, we did not linger here long. We hiked out quickly, we did not talk and we still finished in the dark. The only memorable trail encounter being a tiny black bear by the car. I think though that it is sill important to acknowledge that while a lot went wrong and it wasn’t the mind blowing, life altering day in the wilderness like some past adventures. It was a still a day out, and there is nowhere else I would rather have been. But what I started to learn is the importance of hiking compatibility and trail style. And who you are with matters.

Final Stats: 12.3 Miles Hike, 4.1K Elevation Gained, 4 Mountains Summited Summit Cookie: Maple Brown Sugar

[thesummitcookie]

Pyramid Peak, Adirondacks, 10/09/2020

The Adirondack Mountains are my favorite place to be. But I don’t know this yet, it’s my first time here. This is my second of what I would call “big girl hikes”, and I have no idea what I am in for. I’m unfamiliar with the routes, the stats, and am brand new to the area. I am just excited to be a part of it and I am here for all of it, whatever “it” is. There is a beauty to a day unplugged in the wilderness. A lack of vanity and distractions that is so incredibly grounding.

  For this adventure, we drove in in the dark. We woke at 3am, which is when I was told we were to hike the three mile route to Indian Head. For those of you that don’t know, Indian Head is the quintessential view of the Adirondacks. It is often the pictures you will see all over Instagram because it is truly breathtaking. But, I too don’t know this yet either. What I know is the cold, the dark and the fact that my head lamp was not working. So at around 4am, slow-going and not in the best of spirits, we made our way to Indian Head. The whole time on the way in, my hiking buddy was telling me he had wished I had seen the views on the drive up. By seeing those views, I would be more excited. The second we reached the summit I knew I was in for something incredible. My first view of my favorite place, was the sunrise over Ausable lake and flanked by some of the high peaks (one of which we were about to climb). I was hooked and I wanted more of it. For this day, that meant continuing from Indian Head to Sawteeth (my first of the 46 high peaks) and then on to Pyramid Peak (a sub-peak of Gothics).

As we made our way to Sawteeth, I was cold. My fingers were numb and the thought of higher elevation and colder temperatures didn’t seem possible. All I was thinking was, thank god for the luxury item handwarmers that we packed. As we walked and I started to regain feeling in my fingers, the nerves started to go away. The trails were thinner, rock scrambles were steeper, and there was more mud and ice than anything I had done up to this point. But that was all a part of the journey. The balance of fear, challenge and excitement is what makes it fun. Our ascent up Sawteeth left to a vista called “Marble Point.” I am so glad we decided to stop here. For anyone taking this route, I highly recommend it. Not only was this a much needed break, but it was also an incredible view of where we just came from on Indian Head and the Colden Range.  It was also here that we had our first meaningful trail encounter. I love trail encounters, they are some of my favorite moments on hikes. Each is so different and really can distinguish an experience. I also love to group people into buckets of their trail personality. This guy was what I would call a “budding enthusiast.” It’s also what I would classify my trail personality as. Someone who is not super experienced, but just so happy to be there. Experiencing it and taking it all in. I don’t think I will ever transition out of this phase, nor do I want to. I just can’t imagine ever losing the budding enthusiasm for it, experience aside. Each trail is different and each experience and what the trail has to give that day is unique, no matter how many times you’ve hiked it.  So, I can’t imagine ever considering myself “seasoned.” 

From Marble Point we hit the summit of Sawteeth.  Twice, because (on brand) we got lost and misidentified the true summit. We didn’t stay long. While Sawteeth was the high peak, Pyramid was going to be the biggest challenge. You could tell from looking at it how “spicy” it was going to be. It was one of the few times I looked at a mountain and thought "oh shit, I’m supposed to climb that.”  Just as it looked, the ascent up Pyramid was tough. I was very grateful for the last minute REI stop on the way so I could get a pair of spikes. I did not even know what spikes were at this point and was very doubtful there would be ice in October. I was convinced that I would regret the $50 I spent on them. Wrong I was, and very humbled. But all of it, every step, every challenge, every difficult moment was worth it.  There are no words adequate enough to describe the out of body experience of seeing the view from Pyramid Peak. Being on that mountain was life changing. Going into this day I was talking to my dad about changing careers and the idea that it might mean my world becomes smaller. But man, sitting on the top of that mountain looking at that view, at what we climbed to get there and whar was still left to climb, that notion couldn’t be more wrong. There is nothing bigger than this and it’s something so few people get to experience. So we sat there, for what will never be long enough and enjoyed the first summit cookie. Because the only thing better than a cookie, is a cookie on the summit of a mountain.

Final Stats: 16.5 Miles Climbed, 5.3K Elevation Gain, 3 Peaks Summited Summit Cookie: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal