If you’re trying to join the Catskill 3500 Club, you need to hike all 35 Catskill High Peaks (those over 3,500 feet) and repeat four peaks—Slide Mountain, Balsam Mountain, Blackhead Mountain, and Panther Mountain—in winter. Fifteen of the peaks lack trails. Of those, Halcott Mountain is thought to be one of the easiest to navigate. On January 7, the Mid-Hudson Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club hike leader David Koehler will guide a hike up Halcott, reading the land and sky for direction while traveling off-trail. The goal of the hike is not necessarily to summit, but to take natural pathways and also follow tracks left by wild animals, leading where they will. Expect to be in the woods on a winter day from 10am to 3pm and ascend 1,500 feet. Reservations required.
[email protected]; www.midhudsonadk.org.
