The Equipment...

I am only a week away from heading back up to New York and completing the 35 climbs. These are the "in-season" climbs and I do know that I have to go back and get four more mountains in the winter before fully completing this task. Since being back home, I have done a number of "retired and trying to keep my self busy jobs" and it is great to be home with Sandy, but I do have to finish this out.

So... on November 11th, I am taking the train out of Raleigh up to NYC, where there is an hour lay-over and then on to Rhinecliff where my brother-in-law will pick me up. I'll get a rent-a-car from there and make my way back into the mountains to finish off the last three. Fir Mountain will be the first on Saturday. That will include a combination of a trail hiking and then branching out following my GPS for a bushwhack to the top. My accommodations that night are TBA but I'm sure that it will be part of the adventure. The last two, Lone and Rocky Mountains, which are the most remote of the entire region will be done on a group hike on Sunday, November 14th. A small bottle of champagne will be cracked open when I sign into that last canister.

The Equipment

Just being in good physical shape alone won't get you through these mountains. Last year during the winter season, a hiker died on Blackhead Mountain of hypothermia. Each year, someone not paying attention slips and goes over the edge of one of the 1000 foot drops. (It's not the fall that kills them, just the sudden stop at the end...) This past weekend someone visiting friends died of hypothermia in the same area near the cabin that I had been staying in and although I'm not sure of all the particulars, it may just have been a drunk who wondered out into the woods and couldn't find his way back. All in all, as you get farther into to winter season, the climbing gets more difficult and much more dangerous. This makes the equipment that you chose that much more important. So the following is a glimpse of what I carry with me and what I think is most important:

GPS - First and foremost, is my GPS. When I did my big hike on the AT years ago, people thought that cell phones were a futuristic gadget that took away from the nature experience and were better left at home. Today, they are a necessary safety tool that most people carry in case unfortunate problems require emergency assistance. Fast forward to 2010, a GPS (although certainly not "old school") directs you to the summit, gives you an exact bearing, lets you know your altitude, finds the least "ass-kicking" climbs and gives you a return track if you happen to get a little off the mark. My DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 did all that and then some. Maybe someday I'll actually find the time to sit down and read the book and find out everything that it is capable of.

Camel Back and Hiking Stick - All technology aside, if you are not properly hydrated, you will not survive. I carried a 70 oz Trailblazer Camelback each day and only ran short of water one time. (On Sherill and North Dome, which ended up being longer and harder than I planned) I also carried a "Pur (now Katadin brand) water purifier" but I would have felt comfortable drinking directly out of any of the many mountain springs that I found if necessary. I have been using the same hiking stick for many years. It is always nice to have a stick on the trails for a number of reasons, but it becomes priceless on the down hills. The down-hills kill your knees and test your fight against gravity. The stick helps take a lot of the pressure off of that and for photo ops, the top knob unscrews and it becomes a camera tri-pod.

Maps and Compass - The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference puts out a great set of maps for all the trails within the Catskill Park. All the trailed summits are easily found by keeping up with the blazes, but the "Bushwhacks" are a lot tougher. You work with a combination of your map, compass, and GPS to find the summit canister and then work your way back the long track down.

Shoes - I brought a combination of three different types of hiking shoes. An old sturdy pair of Merrell's for wet and muddy conditions, a pair of light weight high top Rocky SWAT boot's for times when ankle support was important and a new pair of low cut Merrell's for ideal conditions. There were several times when I wish that I had made a different choice of shoe in the morning but it all worked out for the best. Since I am taking the train up this time, however, I will have to survive on just one pair regardless of the conditions.

The Rest - I tried to go light since this was "slack-packing" and I didn't have to camp out each night, but still carried anything that I might need in case of an emergency. Toilet paper is always high on the list but I also managed to carry a head lamp, Surefire flashlight, space blanket, Leatherman tool (in addition to the Spyderco that I had in my pocket), small first aid kit, whistle, mirror, extra compass, Blackberry and parachute cord. The walkie talkies in the picture came in handy when we were using two vehicles at different staging areas because cell phones were completely unreliable. Even though I wasn't camping over night, I always brought one extra days worth of food with me just in case I got stuck on a mountain over night.

The last piece of equipment that I always had on me was my Glock 26. It's a compact 9mm that is easy to carry but is also easily concealed. I really wasn't worried that there would be a "Deliverance" moment up on the mountain, but I was concerned that Sarge might wander up on a bear or coyote. For the most part, I think Sarge is smart enough to just get away and not fight, but then again I didn't want him leading any really pissed off forest animals back to me. The gun caliber is hopefully just big enough to get them off our asses and back to their own business.