Belayre

Having suffered from a debilitating back injury, I needed to get out and do something of substance.  I had never hiked to the summit of Belayre before, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The Lost Clove trail turned out to be the perfect trail for this day.  It appears to be an old logging road.  It's quite steep and I had to slow the pace down a bit since I felt some pain in my back.  But it was not too rocky and there was no snow until close to 3,000 feet elevation.

There were not many views, but through the trees, I could make out Balsam.  When thinking of a boring Catskill mountain, Balsam is what always comes to mind.  It's been about 15 years since I've been there, so I'd like to return and find out if I feel the same way about it.

I huffed and puffed my way up keeping conscious about my posture.  I eventually made it to the summit, dodging the skiers and snowboarders.  The tops of the slopes afforded some views out to Hunter and Westkill. It was a great day to be out.

Burger Hill

On a beautiful night, I thought it would be a nice idea to walk up to Burger Hill.  For such a short easy stroll, Burger provides some nice views of the Catskills across the river.

Full Moon

Suffering from  a severe back injury, I thought it'd be nice to stretch the legs and back with a walk to Ferncliff Fire Tower and watch the Moon.  The skies were clear with some haze to the east, but overall a very nice sight to see.  

The sunset wasn't half bad either:

Artist Falls (Rainy Day Version)

Taking fotos of waterfalls on a sunny day is mostly a waste of time.  The forecast predicted 100% chance of rain today.  They were 100% correct.

A complete downpour made the area quite slippery, but I was able to find my way around.  Unfortunately, I was not prepared for all the rain so did not stick it out for long.  With all the warm weather we have had recently, I found it surprising the ice still remained on the waterfall.  We'll see if it remains this time next week.