Windham High Peak

Catskills, New York, USA

I arrive on time. It’s important in winter when days are short, and every bit of daylight counts. An early 5:00 am start placed me at the trailhead at 9:00 am. I had researched some local blogs and my mapping application and chosen the shortest and easiest route to the summit. When i arrived and reached the trailhead, a DEC sign informed me that the trail was closed before the peak. What now?

Returning to the car, I knew through my earlier research that I could approach the peak from a different trailhead. It would be a longer hike, and I was burning daylight. The drive to the new location would take at least 40 minutes. I loaded the directions and set out.

The second trailhead was packed with cars when I arrived, but I was able to secure a spot. I had lost an hour of daylight, but was confident that I could get up and down before dark.

A light snow was falling, and even here below elevation in the safety of the forest, the wind was strong.

I couldn’t be sure of the trail conditions above, but I was prepared with spikes and snowshoes.

To reach the summit, I’d have to cross over another peak, Burnt Knob, as well as a second lesser summit, meaning I’d climb them one again on the return.

I was climbing now and the wind was thundering in the trees. The light snow whipped about in a frenzy, but I was glad that the weather was warming to the higher 30’s and the flakes were small and abating.

Snow drifts on the trail slowed my progress, and I realized my time out of the mountains had left me a bit soft. Checking my GPS, I was frustrated by my progress, and set a turnaround time so I would be back before dark.

I made a hard push not far from the summit of Windham and arrived just minutes before the turnaround deadline. Energized, I turned on the jets and made my way back the way I’d come.

Coming out at the trailhead, I noted that my time was not outrageously bad, but I was beat! If this one was one of the easier hikes, I’d have a fight on my hands with some of the tougher ones waiting on my list.