Ted “Cave Dog” Keizer had done all of the Catskill 35ers as a thru hike, or Direttissima, back in 2002 as part of his epic peakbagging attempts in the US. Then Mike Siudy lowered his time in 2018. I first read of their records back in 2019 I believe. I thought that was ridiculous. It took me several months over parts of two years to hike all of the 35ers, finishing in 2019. But, by the time 2021 and 2022 rolled around, tagging all of the peaks in a single push seemed doable, even sensible. Land closures and private property issues made the Direttissima less appealing. If I was going to use that style I would probably end up taking a route that was 20 or 30 miles longer than they had used. I hadn’t heard of anyone tagging these peaks for time in a non-thru hiking style until Phil Vondra did them during the first part of winter, 2021. I imagined someone had done them outside of winter for time without doing a thru hike, but I couldn’t find a record of it.
My first attempt was on April 8, 2022. I knew this was probably a month too early, but my schedule meant that it might be my only window for it this year. I decided to start with the Other 9, a longer version of the technical Devil’s Path, after which my friend would pick me up and help shuttle me to different trailheads. I knew the conditions might make a push for all the 35ers impractical, but I figured I could at least get the FKT for the Other 9 if I ended up bailing. The night before the attempt there were torrential rains. That morning there was a flood advisory, there were new waterfalls everywhere! Where the trails weren’t covered in ice they became rivers. I definitely pushed my MicroSpikes to their limits. I did complete the Other 9, barely getting the FKT on it, but I knew that beating Mike’s supported record, even with my somewhat shorter variation would be nearly impossible.
My second attempt began on October 8. I had been having ankle issues a couple weeks before but I bought more flexible work boots and saw a chiropractor and had been starting to feel pretty good. The forecast was decent, there would be a full moon on the 9th, and fall colors were pretty much at their peak. I had a decision to make as to style. All three of these men (Ted, Mike, Phil) had been supported. I decided to go self supported, without help from friends. I also chose to start and end at my car instead of at the first and last trailheads (or first and last peaks) I could have hitchhiked before and after the effort and saved probably 15 miles, turning long out-and-backs into one way hikes. While this may have technically fell into the self supported category, car-to-car felt more true to the spirit of the guidelines.
As with all good adventures, the morning of the start I shuttled my friend to do his own run, dropping his car off at the eastern end of the Devil’s Path, then dropping him off at the western terminus. I made sure he got safely on his way, then drove to McKenley Hollow. He would finish before I made it to peak #5.
I started at 6:56 am, a little later than ideal. It was cool and cloudy, and there were a few flurries up high, but I really couldn’t have asked for better weather. I started with Balsam, Eagle, Big Indian then Fir. I then backtracked to my car, heading over to Slide to start the Catskill 9, a classic loop that involves a fair bit of bushwhacking. I went counterclockwise, getting through the bushwhacking just before dark. When I finished the 9 I felt great and wanted to tag more peaks, but I went to check into my campground that I had reserved, where they didn’t sound too excited about me checking in after they were asleep.
I got up at 2:30 am to do Halcott in the dark, then drove to the Hunter Mountain lot to find a parking spot before it filled up on this beautiful fall weekend. I made it to top of West Kill for a beautiful sunrise over the Hudson Valley, then ran into a delightful group (Valarie and Marie maybe?) on the bushwhack over to Rusk who gave me some more info on the Direttissima.
After that it was North Dome and Sherrill, probably the hardest bushwhack, then a few of the more isolated peaks to the west. I planned on sleeping 4 hours but when I woke up it was light out. I had slept through my only alarm. I knew it would be a long day and I still had the most technical section of the Devil’s Path left to do. There is a sign in the Catskills (near Plattekill Falls I think) that says something like the following: ‘God made the earth in six days; on the seventh he threw the leftover rocks in a pile and formed the Catskills.’ Tongue-in-cheek, of course, but it does illustrate how difficult some sections of the Catskills can be, especially the Devil's Path. I packed up quick and hurried over to Panther, then the Devil’s Path and Kaaterskill High Peak, leaving the Windham-Blackhead range to finish. I startled my first bear of the effort coming down off Windham, then finished with Blackhead, Black Dome, and Thomas Cole. It was warm enough that night for shorts and a t-shirt and once I got back to the road I turned my headlamp off since the moon was so bright.
I didn’t stop my time until I got back to my car (at 3:24 am on October 11), adding about an hour but making me much more satisfied with the self-supported style I chose. I signed all the TH and summit registers (on the peaks that had them). Total mileage was about 122 with 39,000 feet of gain and a lot of rocks. Thanks to all those who helped make this possible by providing beta for the routes and to Aaron Saft especially. There were many more stories that came from this effort but even talking about myself this much makes me uncomfortable. Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes and improve on my effort!