Windham High Peak

Windham High Peak from Route 23

With just a few days before running the Escarpment Trail, I headed for the start to do one more run through.
I made it to the summit in less than an hour.  This can mostly be attributed to the weather: low humidity, drop in temperature.  While on the summit my hands became a bit cold.

The walk up to Windham High Peak is one of the easiest and most accessible Catskill 3500 peaks.  The trailhead is located just east of the town of Windham and about 12 miles west of Cairo on route 23.  The trail that leads to the summit is 3.3 miles with 1500 feet elevation gained.  The ascent is mostly gradual with very few sections that are very rocky.  This makes for fairly decent running.  The path leads through an evergreen forest that always makes me think of "Where The Wild Things Are."  I don't know why this is.  Though it appears somebody came through and trimmed some of the growth, near the summit the brush was quite thick.  One of the reasons I'm not a big fan of summer hikes.      

The views from the top were the best that I could remember.  From the summit, looking north, Albany can be clearly spotted.  Also I could see Greenville (which affords tremendous views of the Escarpment and it's where I've been staying.  A little bit north of there, the Alcove Resevoir can be made out.  The towns that dot the Hudson can be viewed to the east.        

The trail is mostly friendly

The view north.  Even the Green Mountains could be seen.

Looking down towards the parking lot

Where The Wild things Are