35 Peaks in 30 Days

With retirement quickly approaching, I needed to find something to challenge myself both physically and mentally. Since my first idea of a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail was out of the question, (sleeping on the ground every night for six months is not a just a challenge, it's slightly suicidal) I decided to attempt to hike all 35 peaks in the New York Catskill Mountains that are over 3500 feet in elevation in 30 days.

The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club awards certificates and patches to those who make all these required climbs.


Almost immediately after retiring, I traveled to New York and did manage to make it to the top of 32 of those mountains in the first 30 days including signing in at 11 cannisters on trail-less summits.


I later continued the quest by coming back after only a month away and finished out the last three "in season" hikes. The unique part of this quest is that in a departure from the requirements of several other such "peak bagger" mountain clubs, you have to return once again and re-climb four select mountains during the winter season.


Three of those winter climbs have been done. Only one remains. It will be completed in December 2011, hopefully with my close family standing on the top of the last mountain with me.


If you happen on this blog and find any of it of interest to you, please understand that each post shows up as most recent first but, the story actually began back in September-2010. Please scroll back and feel free to look at all of it...




Wednesday, September 8, 2010

With the retirement part out of the way, I get to plan the trip. 25 and a half years with the Raleigh Police Department, preceded by four years with the New York State Department of Corrections. (A totally unappreciated field of endeavor) The best way to "disconnect" from that way of life is to try to climb as many mountains as possible in the shortest amount of time. (or drink a lot of beer)
Raleigh Police...
Six years of uniform patrol, eight years of full time SWAT, a short time back on the line as a Sergeant and then back to SWAT as a Team Leader. These next two years were absolutely the best. Truly the best and brightest people that anyone could ever be associated with. Then, a short stint in Drugs & Vice leading to a long period through good and some not necessarily good times as a Detective Sergeant.
In the early days, I would never have seen myself as a Detective, being the more aggresive, (but always professional) type, but I actually learned more about police work in my last couple of years than I ever would have thought and there is nothing wrong with getting smarter. It turned out to be a great place to retire from, giving me a great transition into...
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1 comment:

  1. GattsBSeptember 15, 2010 at 7:04 PM

    Congrats and thanks (I lived in Raleigh for some of those years) =]

    ReplyDelete

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