This weekend saw the addition of Delaware County, NY to my repertoire of counties. Brandy and I went hiking in the Catskills for the second weekend in a row after her recent investment in a new tent and sleeping bag. I was definitely jealous of that bag this weekend as I shivered in my 8-year old thin, broken zippered rag. We drove up Friday night after work, slept in the van on the side of Highway 299 just outside New Paltz. In the morning we dined at a local estaminet and headed into the hills.
Our entry was rather unceremonious as we straddled the border along County Road 49A to the trailhead. I was not even aware that it was a new county since, being so close to places I had been several times, I did not consult Mr. Map before traveling. Our hike stayed within Ulster County (2007?), but on the way home we entered Delaware a wee bit more. Gina wanted to do some hiking as well, so we took her over Cross Mountain Road, which was a narrow, very steep road over the “mountain” with some precipitous drop offs and great views. There were also some quaint cabins and pretentious douchey homes.
I still have a hard time calling the Catskills mountains, but will not be a dick and use the quotes in the future.
On a side note, we bagged two more of the Catskills 3500 Club high peaks – Graham Mountain and Balsam Lake Mountain. Yet another silly checkbox success thing, and 3,500 feet is not really much of a peak, but it is a goal to chase and gets me to some beautiful places I might not have otherwise gone for; and really, a guy who is trying to get to every county and county equivalent in the country has nothing to say about such things.
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