Hike 1 of 52

August 14, 2017: Huckleberry Point Trail

Trail: huckleberry point trail

Location: catskills, new york

Elevation: 1,236ft

Distance: 4.6miles

About three months ago, I decided to attempt the 52 Hike Challenge starting the week of my 29th birthday (Aug 15) and ending the week I turn 30. I have always been someone who loves hiking and enjoys the outdoors. I grew up hiking with my family and want to spend more time doing it. This was a great way to keep me in check and get my outside on the trails more…so let’s see if I can do it. I plan on writing about my hikes here to hold me accountable. Sam, myself and our pup, Rue, headed up to the Catskills in New York to celebrate my birthday. We stayed in a tiny house-legit tiny- with a company called Getaway HouseWe loved that it was dog friendly and gave us the amenities we needed for a two night stay. On Monday, we loaded our gear and Rue in the car and drive about a half hour to the trail head of Huckleberry Point. I have so many hikes I want to do in the Catskills, we just randomly picked a moderate one with great views from All Trails.

Since it was the start of the work week, the trail head parking was pretty open (3 other cars besides ourselves) which meant we’d have the trails to ourselves. After registering, we headed up the blue blazed trail. It was a wide, rocky and muddy path used for foot and snowmobile traffic. A steady incline gave our muscles a nice workout. The trail veered right and continued to ascend.

When we reached the Y, we left the blue trail and took to the yellow to head to Huckleberry Point. The trail eventually narrowed as we continued and the greens grew closer to the footpath. Rue loved sniffing EVERYTHING. We eventually took her off leash as we had the trail to ourselves (we had passed a group descending and a group passed us ascending as we stopped for a Rue waterbreak). She was too happy.

We took a few stops to rest, hydrate and listen to the sounds. We also spotted some bear tracks in the mud and kept on alert-just incase. There were so many wild mushrooms growing near the footpaths, different colors and sizes. It was beautiful. On our descent, I also spotted a Corpse Plant/Ghost Plant which a generally scarce or rare in occurrence. It was very beautiful.

We reached the summit at about 2.5miles in and were greeted with views of cascading mountains and a rock ledge to sit and enjoy. The group that had passed us were packing up on the ledge to leave, so we took a seat back and had some snacks while we waited our turn.

As we ate, an older couple summited and took in the views. Within 15minutes, a loud group of teenage girls and their dog hit the peak and took up the entire ledge with selfies and gopros. They were a bit disrespectful- loud and legit just stepped in front of the older couple without even an excuse me.

Sam and I noticed a small footpath leading to a second ledge, so we gathered our belongings and walked over. We had an even better view! We laid down and relaxed with Rue. It was perfect. The group of girls left, peace and quiet set in and we enjoyed our time.

Another group of guys (2 older, 2 younger) summited with their puppy, whom promptly came over to greet us and Rue. We ended up talking to them and learning quite a bit about the area. (Rue got humped about 3 times ahah) We said our good-byes and happy-trails and began to descend the way we came.

It always goes fast on the way out, but it was just as green and muddy and peaceful. A great first hike of my #52hikechallenge in the books.