"Mission Accomplished"

I really do hope that this title doesn't come back to haunt me as it has others in the past. I could always rename the blog "35 Peaks in 61 Days", but in the end I was still able to accomplish the task in much less time than it takes the vast majority of others. Many climbers work on these mountains several weekends a year for a number of years. Of course most of them have jobs and don't have the benefit of being retired and having entirely too much free time on their hands.

I actually managed to make a name for myself in the New York Catskill Mountain climbing community and also with those that are current or aspiring members to the Catskill 3500 club. As I met up with people along the trails or on group hikes and shared stories and tips about past climbs and mountains already completed, I was consistently met with "oh, you're that guy doing the 35 in 30..." When I would tell them that I only managed to get 32 in 28 days and then had to come back a month later for the last three, they would tell me how they have been working on this for the last 5, 10, or even 15 years. So for me, this first difficult and most time consuming step in the process has been accomplished. Every required regular mountain (35) has been climbed with pictures taken and cannisters signed to document each achievement. All that remains is to return during the winter months and climb Slide, Panther, Balsam and Blackhead again. No small task since weather and ground conditions can change suddenly as you go up in elevation. These are all marked trail summits and none are overly remote, however there's nothing easy about it, since winter climbing is uncertain at best. I guess the next step will be a challenge, as it should be....