1. This time Bob and I decided to do 24 miles of the NY Long Path which cuts through the rugged Slide Mountain Wilderness in the notorious Catskill Mountains! We had to shuttle our own cars, leaving 1 at the southern trailhead off Peekamoose road and driving the other to the northern trailhead on Lane street in Phoenicia, which was a 30 minute drive. We started the hike on a fairly new section of trail for the NY Long Path ( Phoenicia East Branch trail ). It was rocky.. very rocky. Then again, where in NY are the trails not? My starting pack weight was 14 lbs base, about 22 lbs after food and 2 liters of water added. Not bad considering we would be hiking about 24 miles through snow, hail and sleet, about 2 inches of accumulations, climbing up and down ledges of ice, sleeping in 24° temps with wind 10- 15 mph and gusts reported up to about 20 mph., all the while crossing 5 peaks above 3,500 ft. Wittenberg Mt. (3,780), Cornell Mt. (3,860), Slide Mt. (4,180), Table Mt. (3,847) and Peekamoose Mt. (3,843).  I slept in my MLD eVent Soul bivy and used my Borah Gear Silpoly Solo tarp (5.8×9) for overhead protection.  This was actually my first time ever using a tarp with just knots. I recently removed all line locs and  have been practicing in my yard at home using only knots. I have to say, it felt kind of liberating! So simple..although it did take a few minutes longer then I would have liked, but I got it done and it worked perfectly, even with some rain, snow, sleet and wind. I will continue to go this way from here on. Its just simple and less to worry about. I also really love that small tarp from Borah Gear!! I have nothing bad to say about it at all. It is a perfect size at 5.8×9, when paired with a bivy.

Day 1 approximate 8 miles hiked. Day 2 approximate 9.5 miles hiked. Day 3 approximate 7 miles hiked.

Enjoy our footage from this trip and feel free to comment, criticize or ask any questions.