my finish on Doubletop today

[cantdog]

I arrived early at Seager and another party assembled and left for Eagle before
my peers arrived. I was expecting Connie at 9am. She was right on time with 3
other people. Wendy, Julie and Paul were also nice enough to giveth of their
Saturday to join me on this special day. We were on the trail at 9:05 and
signed into the broken register. The door had fallen off, hinge and all. As we
were on the trail, they commented on the serious erosion damage that happened
last fall. Having never been there before, I couldn't appreciate how much of
the trail was washed away. Soon we made our way to the 4-way intersection that
Tom Rankin mentioned in a message about a fake bear. Well that piece of plywood
was rather disappointing. I was expecting a 6' statue in life color. A nice
bench was there with some plants in big pots on each side. At this point,
someone said "212'." I was surprised we were going off trail so soon because
Ralph's site mentions another .5 miles after the bridge before wacking. It was
a steep start and I was not surprised. In fact, it had me huffing away when
someone else suggested taking our time. I readily agreed and said that's what I
was thinking, but I didn't want to be the one to say so. We came upon a ditch
and our group split. 2 went to the right and 3 to the left. The other 2
disappeared fast and did not come within sight for a while. When they did, they
wound up ahead of us for the rest of the way to the canister. Having read
Ralph's page, I was expecting 3 major cliffs to navigate. Unfortunately he was
unable to join us today so I couldn't ask him to elaborate on where they were.
None of the cliffs we encountered measured up to the ones that are on Friday.
Wendy discovered she had lost the pole she had strapped on the back of her pack.
Connie retraced our steps in effort to find it to no avail. I had made a
thoughtful decision not to bring my poles because I wanted 2 hands free for
pushing vegetation out of the way. I knew that stowing them might have that
exact result. We moved on and went though the occasional patch of pricker
bushes, some more vast than others. There were also plenty of ferns. I learned
that Connie utterly dislikes ferns because she can't see where she is stepping.
I agree with the thought, but I just took the footing of each step slow as to
accept the blindness of it. Some of the fern patches were really deep. Wendy,
a well-known shutterbug in circles, took some pictures. She then commented on
my green shirt and how it really camouflaged me to the point of being hard to
see when she was following me. A little more than 2.5 hours after leaving the
trailhead, we were approaching the summit. Connie commented on the multiple
herd paths and offered to let me go first. I accepted and was just about to
tell her to let me know if I was about to make a mistake when I saw all kind of
clothing and gear hung up on trees. I looked a little further and saw the
canister, untouched. The others already arrived and saved it for me so I did
the honors. Wouldn't you know, there was a dry and freshly sharpened pencil and a
notebook with plenty of empty pages, a welcome sight. I signed in and thanked
the group for my success. The bugs were kind of bad there so most of us started
bug-doping. 3 people had cameras and plenty of canister shots were taken with
rotating photographers. Once we had eaten and were ready, there was some
discussion on which way to go. I said the opposite of 212 is 32. I set that
and we were pretty much true to that all the way back to the bench. Paul was an
amazing herd path tracker. The way down was significantly more pleasant than
the way up and I was really impressed how accurately we arrived at the bench. I
was expecting some human error to either side that would require walking along
the stream to get to the bench. We posed at the bench for some group photos
while yucking it up and moved on down the trail. Wendy wanted to stop for some
more pictures a few times, but the walk out was rather uneventful until the
end. There was a brick fireplace and an outhouse near the gate that I didn't
even notice on the way in. Connie made sure we were signed out and we arrived
at the cars around 2:30. I was pleased at our success in beating the suggested
6 hour time though I was in no hurry. The afternoon was young. I had
previously and presumptuously prepared paperwork for Dave White. All I had to
do was write in today's date next to Doubletop, write the check, and stamp the
envelope. Since they live in NY, I thought it made sense to mail it from NY as
to get it there sooner. Interestingly, the blue mailbox outside of the
Phoenicia PO said mail is picked up at 5pm daily. Oh well, it's going to sit
there all day Monday. I guess that's better than leaving NH earlier Monday and
catching up to there by 5 at the earliest. Despite all the investment in gas,
lodging, and time at the wheel, I really enjoyed pursuing this list. Now all I
need to do is return this winter for only 8. On a final note, I owe many thanks
to Connie for her company and support on all the peaks I've been to since the
Winter Weekend. Thanks to all of you for reading this.

[Pathgrinder]

Congratulations on finishing the Catskill 3500! Looking back on my own quest, I have fond memories of Doubletop, perhaps because it took me two attempts to get there. Nice peak to finish on!

[Gerard01]

congrats on your finish!

[Snickers]

Congrats Julie!!!

Nice report, I always enjoy reading your reports.

When I think back on Armstrong I always think about how you were there to join me on that climb. It was a hard, miserable weather day and you were there to encourage me and keep me going!!! Glad you had someone to help you in your quest with the Cat 35!!!!

Happy Trails - Cindy

[Jay H]

Congrats Julie, A really nice day for it, sounds like you should be finished the winters soon too :-)

Jay

[SendHelp]

Congratulations on your finish and thanks for sharing!

[PA Ridgerunner]

Congratulations, Julie!!

[Laurie Rankin]

Congratulations Julie! You could not have had a better guide for the finish trip! And indeed, a lot of driving miles to accomplish the goal.

[ScAtTeRbOnE]

Congrats on your 35 finish. I hear you get 2 patches this year! I did Doubletop after BI and Fir on a sleety/cold day this spring. I decided to skip the plane wreck & south summit views and headed straight to the canister. I still would like to go back up and enjoy the balsam forest and views on a nice day. I did find a big boulder with a good view of Graham and the valley on the descent though. Wow coming over from NH, and I thought I had a long drive! Good for you and Happy Hiking!

[one2wonder]

Congrats on the finish!! The more whacking reports I read the more I want to find a trip to join in on to get my feet wet.

[Cumulus]

Congratulations! Glad I was able to accompany you for a couple of those peaks.

--

Cumulus

NE111: 93/115 (67/67, 25/46, 1/2); Cat35: 14/39; WNH4K: 25/48; NEFF: 27/50
LT NB 2009

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll

[Hermit]

Congratulations on your finish

[Maria]

Julie, nicely done! Congrats and maybe see you at Winter Weekend again?

[cantdog]

Thank you all for your good words. I found out my number might be 2062 or 2063.

[NorthBay]

Congratulations on the finish Julie...way to go. Oh and I love your avatar

[Rockledge]

Congrats on your finish.

[PA Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by NorthBay

Congratulations on the finish Julie...way to go. Oh and I love your avatar

hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!