Hunter at Sunrise

After much deliberation, I had traveled to Hunter Mountain in New York’s Catskills region. It was dawn when I set out on the Spruceton Trail. The trail is an old Jeep access road that leads to the summit. A ranger fire tower is located there and small cabin that’s not accessible to the public.

The 3+ mile hike is not particularly difficult or long. I’d chosen it for my one of my first winter hikes (it was not officially winter yet, as of the date of this hike.) but a good opportunity to get some snow on my boots and assess my winter clothing choices.

I’m more susceptible to cold weather now than in the past, and require heavier layers when hiking in winter.

From the trailhead I was heavily layered up. Snow was falling, but there was no wind to speak of. I had expected, and planned for very strong winds in the morning hours, and was pleasantly surprised to find thefront had moved out during the night. I could expect snow for the next few hours, but it was not falling heavily. The temperatures were ideal at 27F/-2C. The snow was light and fluffy and wouldn’t melt or stick to my clothing and was easily brushed off.

The trail was flat for a quarter mile before beginning a gradual climb.

I could see some mountains to my right, but it was early in the hike and I knew none of these were my destination.

The trail had accumulated just an inch or two of snow, and I barebooted to the junction where I would begin a steeper ascent. It wasn’t long before I needed to shed some of the layers I’d put on. I carried a heavy wool sweater today instead of my usual fleece, and that was the first to go back in the pack.

I was wearing an ultralight rain jacket to keep the snow off, and I put that back on. It provided some warmth by keeping some of my body heat trapped inside, even with the ventilation panels on the jacket fully open.

At 1.8 miles, I arrived at the trail junction.

I would gain 1110 feet of elevation on my second leg, a distance of 1.7 miles to the summit. The snow was abating, just wispy flakes being carried by a light wind.

The trail began to rise ahead of me, flattening out for short stretches. It was a very easy hike. After a half mile, I passed through a stand of evergreens. It’s scenes such as this that make winter hiking so rewarding.

Ice covered puddles cracked under my heavy boots. I considered putting on spikes, but I was still finding good traction. In the snow, I found evidence of hares playing on the trail.

The mile to the top seemed to go on forever, it’s winding path presenting many false summits. Eventually I spied the cabin through the trees, and the tower came into view.

It was colder here, and the wind was stronger. I would not stay long at the top. I discarded the rain jacket in my pack and opted for the wool layer on top of the fleece. There was a thermometer nailed to the cabin.

The temperature stood at 14F/-10C, but it didn’t feel that cold. I decided to climb the tower for the view. The clouds were just starting to break up, and I hoped for a reward for my efforts. The steps were free of snow due to the wind, but the metal railings were covered with a layer of rime ice. The sun could not break through just yet, but I braced myself on the tower’s steel supports and snapped a few frames.

Back at the base of the tower, I snacked on a few cookies pilfered from Thanksgiving’s leftovers and took a quick selfie to mark the hike.

It was time to turn on the jets and get down the mountain. I “spiked up” for the descent. I wanted good traction and the extra confidence that the steel crampons would give me on the snow covered ice.

It had taken me two hours to make the trip to the top. I would come down much quicker.

I was back to the car in 90 minutes. The sun was finally able to break free of the clouds, and the morning snow disappeared from the roads as if it had never happened.