Windham High Peak – A nice walk in the park (Catskill)

[Jim Kennard]

The Friday weather forecast was for an 80% chance of thundershowers. So, I figured that I would be at staying in all day at my son’s place in Woodstock reading a copy of “Catskill Peak Experiences”. Friday AM: Cloudy sky but no rain…I’M GOING HIKING !!! Why else do I carry around that rain gear in my backpack? When I arrived at the Peck Road PA the sun was out and the sky was clear. The Elm Ridge (yellow) trail from the PA is wet and muddy in places but these areas can be easily avoided by just walking to the side of the main trail. I then turned onto the Escarpment (blue) trail where the Lean-to is off the right. A gentle up hill grade made this a great “walk in the park”. At the 2600 ft level I saw the first patch of snow just before entering the area where there is a forest of closely spaced evergreens. What a treat to walk though this area. Along the route to the summit I must have passed about two dozen blow downs across the trail, but nothing huge that you could not walk over or get around easily. At the summit I could see that the snow was still very visible across the valley on top of the Blackhead Range. There were still a few patches of snow here too. Just east of the Windham High Peak summit there is a great overlook where I took a break for lunch. Temps today were around 70 with a very light breeze blowing. I enjoyed the solitude of being on the mountain today with a beautiful view of the valley below to the east. As I started down from the summit the sky started to become overcast. Just before I reached the evergreen forest a light sprinkle of rain began to come down... The cover of the evergreen forest provided enough shelter to keep me dry. Exiting this area, the light showers continued on and off. I took a break at the Lean-to and decided to put on the rain gear for the last 0.85 mile of the hike back down the yellow trail to the PA. The log book showed that only four others had signed in during the past week. What a great experience to have the mountain all to yourself for a day. Cheers, Jim

Windham High Peak pics: (https://picasaweb.google.com/106890239318785659186/WindhamHighPeak#)

[vieWseeker]

i visited Windham with may daughter and did and overnight at the lean-to but she decided not to climb to the summit.. very nice walk, little tricky crossing the water pit at the start when i was there. Got any pics?

[Jim Kennard]

Hi Viewseeker,
Yes, have pics. Just need to get them onto my Picasa account and will post when available. The rain just stopped here so we are off to climb Sherrill and North Dome.
The pic of me to the left was taken yesterday on Windham HP. You can see the snow still on the Blackhead Range in the distance. Cheers, Jim

[SoloJoe]

Welcome to the forums, Jim. Terrific report(s), keep 'em coming. :tup: Five states for lunch—nice spot. Hope you had a good hike on ND/Sherrill. Look forward to seeing photos. :cool:

[sparty]

Sounds like a great day. I've always found it often best to give it a go, many times the weather turns out better. I think I've been fortunate that way.

I wonder how long the snow will last. Maybe in the high parts of the western Cats it will last till May?

Have fun on ND/Sherrill. There is a group of us heading there Sunday.

- Doug

[vieWseeker]

Hi Viewseeker,
Yes, have pics. Just need to get them onto my Picasa account and will post when available. The rain just stopped here so we are off to climb Sherrill and North Dome.
The pic of me to the left was taken yesterday on Windham HP. You can see the snow still on the Blackhead Range in the distance. Cheers, Jim

Well the rains started here 2 hours ago...:( Makes being at work easyier enjoy your time today..

[Jim Kennard]

Here are a couple of pics of my trip to the Windam High Peak on Friday, April 16th. Enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kennardjim/WindhamHighPeak

[Doodles]

Hey Jim,

Sounds like a couple of good hikes between ND / Sherrill and WHP. Nice TR's and pictures. :tup:

Welcome to the forum. :)

[vieWseeker]

Very nice... We came from other direction.that rock outcrop looks familiar to the spot where one can get water outta a pipe..am I Right or thinking of another spot??

[DSettahr]

Nice trip report. I've been thinking about doing Windham High Peak from the west for a while now, combined with a night in the Elm Ridge Lean-to.

One quick note though:

The Elm Ridge (yellow) trail from the PA is wet and muddy in places but these areas can be easily avoided by just walking to the side of the main trail.

This isn't really leave-no-trace. When hikers walk around muddy spots on trails, they inadvertently make the trail wider and the problem worse. In following hiking "ethics," we should walk straight through the muddy section, using rock hopping where possible but stepping right through the mud where not, to keep erosion and expansion of the muddy area to a minimum.

[Jim Kennard]

Hi Viewseeker,

The pic of the rock outcrop is to the right of the Elm Ridge (yellow) Trail just before it meets the Escarpment (blue) trail. The Lean-to is off the right and on top just beyond the rock outcrop. As I recall, the pipe with water coming out of it was along the Elm Ridge Trail just a little ways before reaching the rock outcrop. Cheers, Jim

[hobbitling]

Boot makers should advertise their waterproof models as "Erosion prevention boots"