Well the day has come and gone, now Matty and I are home once again in our warm houses. Some people probably think we lost our minds for wanting to camp outside in a foot of snow during one of the coldest days I can ever remember. It was indeed crazy, and COLD!! But we had a great time; Matty made it to his first summit, and my desire to see snow covered mountains was greatly met.
Our destination was Panther Mountain in the Catskills of New York. We left lancaster at 5am on Saturday, had a delicious breakfast in a town called Milford (next to Point Jervis by the way), and arrived at our destination by 11am. To our surprise we saw a couple other groups of day hikers, most using snowshoes. I didn’t know what to expect once we got into the woods; thankfully the trail had been well trodden and the snow was packed well enough for us to hike in boots without much trouble. The two miles we hiked to the campsite seemed like much more than that. We made the decision to set up camp at the first site since it may have been the last; that turned out to be a wise choice.
We went to work setting up the tent, finding the fire ring, and gathering wood. We were so excited to have a fire, but the combination of the deep show, gusty winds and cold prevented us from having much success with that. We gave up and retired to the tent, it wasn’t even 5:00 yet! Too cold and windy to make dinner outside, we made it in the vestibule of the tent. The menu was grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and asparagus; clearly the best meal I’ve ever eaten while backpacking. One advantage to winter hiking is that food does not spoil. The downside, as we found out, is trying to keep things from freezing in no time at all.
It turned out to be a long night. Did I mention I took Chloe along? That may not have been a good idea, she was so cold. Even though I got her a sleeping bag, and let her sleep on my sleeping pad buried under our jackets, she still shivered through most of the night. Matty and I were in our -20 and 0 degree bags, respectively and were just barely comfortable. In the morning I think my feet were the closest they have ever come to having frostbite. A word of advice, keep your boots in your sleeping bag when it is -10 outside.
The three mile round trip hike (without packs) to Panther Mountain Sunday morning made everything I’ve just described worth it. Other than the time I spent snowboarding in Jackson Hole, WY it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. As we approached the summit, all of the pine trees were covered with snow, the rich blue sky had only a few clouds just over the horizon and the sun was out in full force. We got some pictures and quickly retreated as we were robbed of any warmth we generated on the hike up.
It was mostly downhill from there, and once we packed up the tent and all our stuff we made a beeline for the car. It was a memorable experience I will never forget. I think my next winter trip will be accompanied by slightly warm temperatures however.
