Day 3: Hunter Mountain and Upper Esopus

 As near as I could figure going into this, Hunter Mountain was probably the hardest hike.  At 7.11 miles with a 1925 foot elevation gain, definitely more difficult than both of yesterday's.  For that reason, I paired it with the Upper Esopus Fire Tower, which is located at the Catskills Visitor Center, and can be reached on a hike with 0 feet elevation gain.

Weather was still saying on and off showers in the morning with high likelihood of scattered thunderstorms starting around noon.  I got out of the hotel early because Hunter Mountain is also the farthest drive, and I wanted to be able to get the summit and then to the top of the fire tower before the storms came.  (Note:  I never saw a thunderstorm today)

Hunter Mountain

The hike was something else.  The rain rotated around between drizzle, sprinkle, and no rain all the way from the parking to the tower.  Nothing terrible, just annoying.  The trail started off fairly gently sloped, then shifted to a much steeper climb.  I ended up stopping several times to catch my breath.  Didn't see many people, but I did see two guys running down the trail about a half mile apart.  Impressive, but I bet those savage bastards didn't run UP the hill!  About a mile later (for me), the first guy who ran down the hill passed me running up the hill.  Insane.  But impressive.

About a half mile from the summit, the slope tapered off.  Not to zero, oh no, but if was actually fairly close to flat for 2 stretches that probably added up to over a quarter mile.  It was paradise.  It was like winning the lottery.  And then it was back to the steep climb.

Made the summit, climbed the tower, took some more pictures of clouds, and started back down.  The rain really started coming down heavy at that point.

Reached the parking lot, hopped in the car, and drove the reverse of how I came in because no cell service again means no Waze again.  When Waze finally kicked in, I had only lost about 10 minutes by taking the longer route.

Upper Esopus

This one is at the Catskill Visitor Center.  I checked in at the Visitor Center and let the guy know what I was up to.  He came outside to point me to the start of the interpretive loop trail.  Very nice, probably not necessary.  I made the 300 foot hike to the tower and started climbing.  This one was the first one where I could actually get into the cab (that's the term for the room at the top.  Nice to be protected from the wind, and I guess if your job is to sit for 8 or 12 hours here looking for smoke, you'll want a little protection.  

I've climbed 4 of the 6 fire towers.  2 left tomorrow.  Weather is sketchy again, but as of right now the scattered thunderstorms aren't expected until 2:00PM.  Looking good for me.

Made a side trip today.  In the last 2 days I've driven by Woodstock Brewing 3 or 4 times.  So today after changing out of my wet clothes and grabbing a quick shower, I picked up 2 4-packs of 2 different IPAs and a 4-pack of a stout.  No joking - I always like to support the local businesses, especially if those businesses are breweries

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