18F at 9.30am, as cold as a stone wall and overcast, rising to 27F by noon. Snow remains on the peaks.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 01/23/16
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Tag Archives: Catskills
Daily Catskills: 01/22/16
21F by 11am, with hazy sunshine, shimmering cloud cover and snow remaining on the peaks.
© Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 01/21/16
21F at 9am and mostly sunny.
© Niva Dorell 10am
Daily Catskills: 01/20/16
25F by 10am with a mixture of sun and clouds.
© Niva Dorell 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 01/19/16
10F at 9am with a mix of bright sun and clouds.
© Niva Dorell 9.30am
Daily Catskills: 01/18/16
16F at 9am with shimmering blue-white cloud and a thick layer of snow rising to 18F with cloudless, hazy skies.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 01/17/16
32C by 11am, dull and overcast. Snow on the peaks laying thickly on branches.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 01/16/16
38F at 9.30am and foggy with 2 inches of powder dripping off trees loudly onto the forest floor.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.50am
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
Daily Catskills: 01/15/16
30F by 10am and partly cloudy and sunny, rising to 38F and overcast by 4.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.30pm
Catskills History: Sybil Ludington
“[Paul] Revere was a renowned silversmith and a courier for the Massachusetts Assembly carrying messages to the Continental Congress, a man in his forties riding 12 miles of well-traveled country roads near Boston. Sybil was 16 years old, and her path led 40 miles through dense woods that harbored ‘cowboys’ and ‘skinners’. The Cowboys were pro-British marauders who roamed in and around Westchester County plundering farmhouses and stealing cattle they later sold to the British…”
Daily Catskills: 01/14/16
14F at 8.30am with still air, shimmering sky and with the barest of flurries.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 01/13/16
16F at 9.30am with shimmering clouds and a layer of powdery snow on the ground. 19F with drive-by clouds at 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 01/12/16
19F at 9.30am, overcast and lightly snowing.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 01/11/16
20F at 8.30am and lightly snowing with isolated snow flurries moving across the landscape.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 1/10/16
45F by noon with fog, mist and rain. Continual rain with a brief gap in the clouds at 2pm and then Winter Storm Hera at about 2.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
The Catskills 35 (W): Blackhead Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
There’s a part of the final metres of the ascent to Blackhead Mountain that is a vertical climb and one from which you should not look back down if you suffer the slightest vertigo or you will invite a case of the wobblies. It’s even worse now that it’s entombed in ice. My husband and dog hopped up it like mountain goats and I was left in the metaphorical dust, grappling with uncertainty, stabbing my spikes into the ice and, finally, hoisting myself up over the rocks with the roots of an aging birch tree. As I finally managed to haul myself over the top, I wondered if there was such a thing as hand crampons attached to a set of gloves because they would have made the job much easier.
Daily Catskills: 01/09/16
34F by 10am and overcast with fog and mist, rising to 37F mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm
Purple Mountain Press in Fleischmanns, New York
© J.N. Urbanski
Purple Mountain Press in Fleischmanns, New York publishes hugely popular books of local New York State literature and history including John Burroughs’ book of essays In The Catskills. The office is a smaller structure adjacent to the building that houses the press on Main Street in Fleischmanns. I sat down with publisher Wray Rominger, who is now semi-retired, about the storied publishing house’s achievements and the life of a printer.
JN: How long have you lived in the Catskills?
WR: Since 1973.
What brought you here?
We lived in a school bus and came to Woodstock.
Where did you live in a school bus?
We came from Austin Texas, where I was a graduate student from Austin University. We were on the road for two months and I knew a fella in Woodstock that offered us a cabin. He didn’t tell me that the former tenant had had a fire and that there was a hole in the roof. So we had to live in the school bus for another four months until the roof was repaired.
Daily Catskills: 01/08/16
25F at 8.30am and still wiith marbled skies and a hazy horizon.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.45pm
Daily Catskills: 01/07/16
20F at 8.30am with hazy cloud cover fading with the dawn.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 01/06/16
18F by 8.30am, with clear skies and frosty air, rising to 28F by 11am.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
The Catskill 35 (W): Slide Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski The summit of Slide Mountain with zero visibility over the edge
Hillsound sent me two pairs of crampons – or “spikes” – to try out and my life hasn’t been so thoroughly changed for the better since I got my juicer. They must have taken pity on me because they read that I’m hiking the Catskills 35 in a pair of fifteen-year-old snowboarding boots that I bought in an emergency, during a torrential downpour on 14th Street in New York City, when I was on my way to meet a client.
Daily Catskills: 01/04/16
A hair over 10F at 7.30am and still with clear skies. Not much warmer by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.45am
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 01/03/16
30F by 9.30am with flurries of snow mid-afternoon and a few inches of snow on the peaks.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
The Catskill 35 (W): Panther Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
Oh, the joy of crampons. It’s nice to muster a decent pace with a good, long stride on the Catskills trails and I’m talking about the sort of stride that confirms the saying “to stretch the legs”, which British people call going for a walk. The only way you can do that in is in the winter on long stretches of iced mud, wearing crampons or “spikes”. Most Catskills trails are rocky, and I understand when I hear about hikers who go barefoot in good weather, because it’s easy to lose your footing if it’s wet or mossy. In the autumn, when the trail is covered with leaves, it’s too easy to slip between rocks and turn an ankle, especially when you’re on your descent and tired. Crampons are inadvisable other than when it’s icy or snowing because otherwise you’ll punch up the trail. They and snowshoes both make winter hiking rather special. Hillsound make a fabulous set for a reasonable price and I wore a pair yesterday for the very first time. Hillsound had sent us two pairs to try out for free and I love them.
Daily Catskills: 12/31/15
34F at 9.30am, humid, overcast and bleak with brief periods of sunshine and the odd flurry of snow.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.40am
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 12/30/15
39F by 2pm, overcast, misty and dark.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm
Catskills Cocktails: Prosecco & St. Germain
© J.N. Urbanski
If you eaten too much stuffing, overloaded on turkey or you’re seeking need a tonic to dissolve the Christmas pudding, try these refreshing cocktails as an antidote to all the stodge. According to their website, St. Germain is made in France from freshly picked elderflower blossoms in a “slow, charmingly inefficient way”. Medicinal benefits of extract of elderflower include influenza, coughs, colds, sinusitis, constipation, inflammation and rheumatism.
The taste is “neither passion fruit nor pear, neither grapefruit nor lemon; the sublime taste of St. Germain is a flavor as subtle and delicate as it is captivating”.
Lemon St. Germain & Prosecco
2 ounce of St. Germain
12 ounces of Prosecco
1 ounce of Fleischmanns gin
2 ounces of fresh, still lemonade
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
2 ounce of soda or sparkling mineral water
1 lemon
Combine ingredients in a mason jar. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze into the mixture and throw in. Stir slowly and gently and pour into glasses. Serves two.
Classic Prosecco & St Germain
16 ounces of Prosecco
12 ounces of sparkling water
8 ounces of St. Germain
2 ounces of fresh, still lemonade
Pour ingredients into a jug. Mix slowly for a minute and serve. Serves four.
The Catskills 35 (W): Balsam Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
Winter hiking can get dangerous pretty quickly. One minute you could be trotting along atop a magical winter wonderland and then the next minute, you might take your gloves off to take a picture and be left wondering if you’ll ever feel your hands again. Your water might freeze in your backpack at the summit of a mountain and if you’ve layered with cotton and start sweating on your ascent, you’ll stay wet for the duration of the hike. Winter hiking in the Catskills is only for the experienced or very prepared. At the very least, take spare socks, t-shirt, food and don’t wear cotton under- or base garments. Drink a liter of water before you set out and eat a hearty breakfast. Take a lighter, some pocket hand warmers and a gadget that turns snow into water. Or wait until Spring. Just stay at home and read, catch up on correspondence or binge watch quaint BBC period dramas because if I haven’t mentioned it, winter hiking in the Catskills can get serious suddenly and without warning.
Daily Catskills: 12/29/15
31F by 10.30am and overcast with a thin blanket of overnight snow settling only on paths and roads.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 12/28/15
30F at 10am and for most of the day, dropping to 28F by 3pm with some cloud and hazy sunshine. A dusting of snow on the peaks that melted slowly throughout the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
Daily Catskills: 12/27/15
52F by noon, overcast, raining and miserable rising to 54F.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 12/26/15
38F at 9am, mostly cloudy rising to 43F by 2pm.
© Erik P Johanson
© Gavin DuBois
Christmas Eve in the Catskills: The Pepacton Reservoir
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
Daily Catskills: 12/24/15 Christmas Eve
61F at 8.30am, humid and gloomy with foggy wafting over the mountains, but brightening up by the afternoon. 66F by 2pm.
© Erik P Johanson 1pm
Daily Catskills: 12/23/15
52˚F by noon. Shimmering morning clouds turning gloomy by the afternoon. Sumac still hanging on.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
Daily Catskills: 12/21/15
35˚F at 8am with a shimmering cloud cover this morning that had dulled by the afternoon. Today is the last day of Autumn and the eve of the Winter Solstice, which is officially the first day of winter (tomorrow). Tomorrow morning we will have a new winter sun. The northern hemisphere of the earth will be pointed the farthest away from the sun at 23.5˚ tonight and tomorrow will begin its slow return towards it until the June Solstice of 2015. The ancient tradition of Yule will begin tomorrow with the Solstice and will end on January 1st, 2016.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 12/20/15
Only 31F at 2pm, with most of yesterday’s snow melting, except parts that were in the shade. Clear skies all afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 12/19/15
26F at noon with an overnight snow flurry having dusted the landscape. More gentle flurries beginning in the afternoon. 30F by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm
Daily Catskills: 12/18/15
34F at 8.30am, dull, grey and overcast.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
The Catskill 35: Indian Head Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
It’s difficult to decide what was more remarkable about a hike up Indian Head Mountain during hunting season. Would it be the periodic burst of gunfire from the local sportsman’s club every few hundred yards of my 13th peak over 3500 feet, like distant, anonymous cheerleaders? Perhaps it was the burly, camouflaged hunters strolling nonchalantly around the parking area, with loaded weapons over their shoulders, incongruously set against our hippy neighbors in their tie-dye. Possibly it was the roadside pile of dead deer we passed on the journey, but I think it was actually the unseasonal weather: t-shirt warm and humid at 55F by 10am on December 13th. I had no mobile phone service at lunchtime, so I could not tell what exactly the temperature was, but it felt like at least 60F. We’ve had a smattering of snow this year, but thus far that has been all. Last year was a strikingly different story as you can see here from our Daily Catskills picture of the same day. The lower parts of the trail to the summit and back down were wet and there were frequent stream crossings, but they were very low.
Daily Catskills: 12/17/15
45F at 9.30am, humid and grey with showers mid-morning. Update: 48F and raining for the rest of the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
Daily Catskills: 12/16/15
35F at 8.30am, cloudy and humid rising to 41F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 12/15/15
45F at 8.30am with the sun twinkling through the gaps in the shimmering cloud.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.40am
Daily Catskills: 12/14/15
53F at 8am, cloudy humid and warm. Almost 60F by noon: t-shirt weather.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 12/13/15
54F at 10am, mild and warm all day with hazy fog hanging over the mountains and multifarious cloud cover.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm
Daily Catskills: 12/12/15
54F by 1pm, balmy and overcast.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm
Daily Catskills: 12/11/15
52F at 2pm with a mixture of cloud and the occasional twinkle of sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 12/10/15
40F at 8.30am and partially cloudy.
Daily Catskills: 12/09/15
38F and cloudy by noon.
Daily Catskills: 12/08/15
The Catskill 35: Plateau Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
The trouble with hiking the Catskills in the autumn is that thick layers of fallen leaves completely cover the path. It’s easy to lose your footing and stumble, as your boot disappears up to the ankle into the crunchy leaves, especially when the ground underneath is rocky or slippery. The hike to Plateau Mountain from Mink Hollow Road on the Route 212 end, is rocky, pebbly and everything in between. It’s also wet, wet, wet; with several knee-deep river crossings on the first 2.6 miles, and frequent muddy pools, so if you feel like hiking it now, take your waterproof boots. One river crossing necessitated the aid of two large trees that were downed halfway across the water. All the clumsy, ankle-turning stumbling that’s met with enthusiasm on the way up becomes quite tiresome – and downright dangerous – on the way back to the car when you’re exhausted.
If it sounds like a big pain in the backside, this would be the point to mention that it’s utterly gorgeous: a smorgasbord of beautiful Catskills landscapes in a 7.3 mile round trip, featuring thick, white birch trees mixed with soft evergreens, falling waters, mossy boulders, a spring and a lean-to complete with outdoor privvy.
Daily Catskills: 12/07/15
31F at 8.30am with brilliant sunshine in clear skies and a hazy horizon rising to 42F by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 12/06/15
29F by 8.30am with a frost burning off in the clear skies. 47F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 12/05/15
A clear, cloudless day and a balmy 44F by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm