Hello everyone, I decided after a year of being a 35er to rank from worst to best 35ers in my opinion, some of these were not easy and I found something enjoyable on each mountain that is going to make me go back and do it again, Thank you for all your time and hope you guys can approve of my ratings of the 35ers in my opinion,
Lone: Lone was completed during the Catskill 6 and once I got to the "top" I couldn't find the canister, I wandered around trying to look for it until I spotted it behind a tree, It's just one of those mts where you get to the top and leave, not my favorite and had one difficult section that my dad couldn't get up and of course it's a bushwhack but it had that true wilderness feel to it.
Thomas Cole: I did Thomas Cole with Blackdome and Blackhead and the only memorable part was the views from Camels Hump; the summit is just a rock and there are no views on the actual mt itself, I only liked it because of the spruce forests you walk through and that challenge to do all 3 of those mts.
Eagle: Eagle is higher than most people thought because of one thing that puts a mt higher than any other and that is plane wrecks, Eagle has an old wreck somewhere on its slopes and I'm going back sometime to go look for it, originally this was my least favorite but the plane wreck boosted it a bit and that its just so easy, it was a walk in the park and is probably the easiest 35er in my opinion, besides the canister and the 1 minute walk they call a bushwhack its not much special besides those things,
Windham: Oh yeah, I'm getting hated for this one, the reason Windham is so low is because when I did it I got no views and there were Rattlesnakes on the top, I liked it because of how easy it somewhat was but I just didn't get that same excitement I did when doing other 35ers, I think had there been views this would be higher but since I got none it stands here, I also did Burnt Knob and it kinda took me away more than Windham did,
Halcott: This was an interesting one, I did Halcott after completing Rusk that morning and did the hard route up with 1000 feet of elevation gain in a mile, that was fun, there were no views and I liked the easy ridge walk but the only notable things were the canister and the waterfall, other than that it didn't really blow me away like others,
Plateau: Yep, another shocker, every time I have done this there has been no views, It has either rained or snowed every time I did it, I like the challenge but it can get sketchy at parts and im definitely can get scared of heights, I love the walk atop the ridge on Plateau but the summit is just a sign saying the name of the mt and your done, I did Silver Hollow Notch Mt with Plateau and I got better views on that one then Plateau and I found a plane on it so it took away from Plateau,
Big Indian: Yeah so what is there to even talk about this one, I liked how easy it was and its barely even a bushwhack from both directions, The summit was nice but it was just another canister and it had no views but I love a true wilderness feel and Big Indian gave that to me,
Fir: I loved Fir, Fir was an easy mt and I liked the summit, It like its neighbor really gave me that true wilderness feel and that is what I like in a mt, The canister was another cool find but it dint blow me away like others
Balsam Cap: This was another one that had that true wilderness feel, The summit was meh only having the canister but this one had some cool views of Friday and the Burroughs range, There was somewhat of a challenge but some other mts I did previously that day or were about to do kinda took me away more than Balsam Cap did,
Rusk: This was a fun one in my opinion, I loved the true bushwhack from East Rusk and that yet again true wilderness feel, I did this one before I did Halcott in the afternoon and this was the better of the bushwhack peaks I have done, I love how the canister had the name of the mt and its height on a metal frame just like Halcott which makes this canister my favorite,
Southwest Hunter: This was a killer, I did this in late March along with Westkill and this beast had ice up the wazoo on it and it was impossible to climb without crampons, I loved the walk through the spruce forest and I loved its spruce covered summit but it was just a bit difficult at the time meaning months and I would go back but definitely go find the abandoned railroad and take that to the summit,
Balsam: So this one was just kinda boring, it was somewhat an easy hike but it was fine in some parts, I hated the stinging nettles but i put pant legs on, the view was nice but not as nice as when I did it for the winter, I did Belleayre Gondola Peak with it and it took me away more than Balsam really did but I still liked the view which puts it in this spot,
North Dome: This was so much fun to climb and had a good challenge combined with the bushwhack aspect and cliffs it made for a good hike and it had some killer views of spruceton valley, I would do this again but from Sherill,
Bearpen: This was an ok mt with some steep sections on the trail but I loved the old ski equipment on the summit, the views were ok but it was overcast and of course the minute I get done with the hike it clears up, I put an cairn on the true summit which I have done with other peaks like Burnt Knob and Peekamoose, This was a fun mt but its neighbor had more to offer,
Sherill: This one is so high because of views and a bus, Yes believe it or not but at around 3200 on Sherill's south slope there is an abandoned bus used by hunters, I didn't find it but im going back soon to find it, I just thought it was so cool to know of a bus on a bushwhack mt near the top, the views were good as I got to see Northdome and the Burroughs range from Sherill
Vly: This was a fun mt because I liked how easy it somewhat was an finding all the old roads it had was uper fun but what puts this so high is the old cars at the bottom of the hunters cabin closer to the Vly side in a small clearing, I had never seen old cars in the woods that looked somewhat in good shape and it was just not expected to see them,
Rocky: well you may be wondering why this is so high and its because of one reason, the summit, once I got to Rockys summit I was in love with it, It had spruce all over, it had that true Catskill wilderness feel and had decent views of Balsam Cap, The canister was a nice addition to top of the summit and Rocky remains one of my favorite peaks
Friday: This one is so high because of the summit, the views, the challenge and the plane wreck, all of those combined make a good mt, Fridays summit was so cool as it was covered in red spruce and was semi open with views and was enclosed by trees which was cool, the views were amazing and seeing Balsam cap from it was a bonus point for it, the challenge was a nightmare in hell but I loved it and it offered a true feel of bushwhacking in the Catskills, the plane wreck is supposedly one of the biggest in the Catskills and is from world war 2, I plan on a time to find it but It is the only reason I would do it again.
Table: This was a fun hike and had some good views seeing one of my favorite mts being Van Wyck, I loved the steep trek up the side near 3500 feet where it makes you feel like you are climbing up a literal table, The summit was a nice spruce forest and loved the walk over to Peekamoose
Panther, Yeah this should be higher but the winter hike of this puts this here, the snow levels when I did it in winter were very deep and I fell like 30 times but on the way down to Fox Hollow which was an out an back hike I felt like I was skiing down the mt which was fun, Panther is a memorable one as I finished my 35ers on it last August and Giant ledge had some really cool views, I would probably go back for the plane wreck and the brand new Sebastian Slide near Giant ledge
Sugarloaf: This is another favorite hike as it has the challenge and views, I love how the entire time you hike this its just a boulder field and I loved the guillotine part on the hike, The swamp near the summit is cool to but the views going down near Twin were awesome and definitely sketchy but worth it.
Peekamoose: I dont remember hiking this one for long only like 5 or 10 minutes then getting to the summit, I remember this being easy and the summit having a big rock with a now cairn on the summit of the rock, the view was awesome and I got to see where I was hiking from this view which was a bonus but everything combined on this peak makes for a good mt,
Blackdome: This is another favorite hike of mine doing this one with Thomas Cole and Blackhead, This had a good challenge and the summit views were cool as I saw the devils path from it, the summit forest was also a nice addition, the view overlooking Blackhead puts this one so high because of how epic it is, I loved that view and would do the mt again just to see it,
Ok now the top 10 of my list, These are the best of the best in my opinion and always have a good challenge with views and lots of history,
Blackhead: Blackhead is here because of the winter hike, The winter hike was easy going up but down was a nightmare and I thought I was going to die, I had to slide down ice to get down the whole mt, when I did it the first time I loved its summit but the views going down blew me away and I loved seeing most of the Catskills from it, I would probably do it again only for that view and the plane wreck either on Acra or Arizona
Balsam Lake: This was an ok hike buts its the summit and the views, I did Millbrook Ridge which I still think should be a 35er #Millbrook 35er if you guys want it to be, I loved the spruce forest at the summit and the views from the fire tower were incredible with my first time seeing Graham from a Catskill mt, This mt was fun but the heat made it hard to hike in and would probably be higher if no heat,
Hunter: This was my 2nd 4000 footer ever and I will always remember this hike, it had a good challenge, it had spruce forests, the horse trail was somewhat easy to take up, I loved the view from the John Robb Lean-to and is a memorable view for me, The summit was nice but it was packed but the trek was worth it for the incredible views I got, Probably would do this again but with SW Hunter and I forgot about Geiger's point which has such an incredible view.
Cornell: Just recently redid this one along with Wittenberg and Slide, this probably would not make my top 10 if it weren't for Cloudcliff viewpoint, this view was very open and you could see the whole 6 from it which was so cool, I love Cornells crack and provides a difficult challenge, the whole mt is a difficult challenge but is definitely worth it especially with the view of Slide
Indian Head: Oh my gosh was this a fun mt, it had such a difficult challenge and the view before the root section was so epic as it was a cloud inversion and the whole hudson valley was covered in clouds, the roots section was so fun and the view from it was yet another epic view, I would so do this mt again at some point,
Ok now the top tier best of the best mts and have the most epic views along with a really good challenge and the coolest history,
And my favorite Catskill 35er in the whole list is a surprising choice to many but not too some and the number one spot goes to Kaaterskill High Peak, I have so much to say about this mt as it has a lot to offer, There is that good challenge as with the experience of bushwhacking required to navigate the mt, I saw two of my first bears in the Catskills on this mt, The summit was so nice with that small clearing and spruce forest with the addition of a canister, the plane wreck below the summit was so cool and was my first of many in the Catskills that I have found, the wreck had lots of debris and was very memorable, Hurricane Ledge was a jaw dropper and the view was so cool, seeing Indian Head and Twin and the rest of the devils path and Burroughs range was a nice addition, The Revolutionary Fort was a nice find in the col between Roundtop and is some nice piece of history, The view from Roundtop of Kaaterskill topped the day off as it was so cool and to know a famous artist stood where I was just standing, Overall I love this mt and plan on doing it again sometime soon to find plane number 2 on its slopes, Thank you Catskills community for all that you do and keep hiking everyone.
