Catskill 3500: Picchu’s Peaks, 2009

Bob and I and the NYC Whippets packette have been tackling the 35 highest peaks in the Catskills. Our 2009 summits:

#9: Cornell Mountain, 3860 feet

Cornell Mtn: Biski, Bob, Picchu, June 12, 2009

Cornell Mtn: Biski, Bob, Picchu, October 11, 2009

#1: Slide Mountain, 4180 feet

Slide Mtn: Biski, Bob, Picchu, June 13, 2009

Slide Mtn, June 13

#11: Peekamoose Mountain, 3,843 feet

Peekamoose Mtn: Biski, Sesame, Picchu, Bob, August 7, 2009

#10: Table Mountain, 3,847 feet

Table Mtn: Picchu, Biski, Bob, August 7, 2009

#14: Wittenberg Mountain, 3,780 feet

Wittenberg Mtn: Bob & Picchu, October 11, 2009 (Picchu's Birthday!)

#6: Westkill Mountain, 3,880 feet

Westkill Mtn: Picchu & Bob, October 30, 2009

Picchu and Bob on Westkill: Even in the fog, we located the true summit!

Bob & Picchu on Westkill - a rare summit marker

#2: Hunter Mountain, 4,040 feet

Hunter Mtn: Bob and Biski, November 1, 2009

Hunter Mtn: Bob, Biski, Sesame, Picchu (front)

Shira and Sesame on Hunter

#27: Balsam Mountain, 3,600 feet

Balsam Mtn: Sesame, Biski, Bob, Picchu, November 20, 2009

Sesame on Balsam: "Peak, valley, it really makes no difference to me."

#29: Eagle Mountain, 3,600 feet

Eagle Mtn: Biski, Picchu, Bob, Sesame, November 21, 2009

Picchu and Bob on top of Eagle Mtn

Picchu: Pocket pup, hunting dog, hiking accessory or hand warmer?

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The Whippenberg

 

For Picchu’s second birthday Sunday we went on a mountain-climbing extravaganza in the Catskills. 

Bob and the Birthday Girl, Picchu, on our latest Catskills adventure

Bob, Biski and Sesame on the trail up Wittenberg, cliffy in parts

Destination: Mt. Wittenberg, the most massive mountain in the Catskills, so it is referred to as The Wittenberg.

We were wondering if a whippet pack has ever scaled it before, and in honor of our expedition, decided to re-name the mountain The Whippenberg.

Two nights, three day-long hikes, all meals and accommodations, um, carried by everyone but Picchu.

 

C-Biscuit and Sesame, sherpa dogs

 

Sesame and Biski look for a way around the rock-scaling, but there isn't one

 

Why the dogs wear harnesses/backpacks: "Ok, hoist them up!"

 

The Whippenberg: Shira and the whippet pack atop the mountain formerly known as The Wittenberg

 

Biski billygoating on top of the mountain: "Will a pack member with opposable thumbs please step forward to release my lunch!"

 

Shira, Sesame, Biski, Picchu: Brrrrr

 

Bob herds the whippets on a side excursion to Cornell Mtn, overlooking Slide Mtn

 

The dogs huddling in the tent, shortly before moving into our double-wide sleeping bag

 

There's one in every pack who refuses to observe check-out time

 

After two nights in arctic temperatures, Bob & the packette are ready to head home. Next stop: Rockettes audition!

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City Dogs, Country Dog

 

The House Whippets' Border Collie friend, Sasha, at home in the country

The House Whippets are urban dogs, but like any New Yorker, they do love a weekend in the country!

 

Especially when it involves a house in the woods, excursions to orchards, and a friend.

 

The House Whippets practice their "Charlie's Angels" routine, pretending to protect Shira, Sasha and Roya from the nearby fruit trees

 

C-Biscuit says, "I couldn't help but notice our new pack member is wearing a coat, and it looks like formal wear at that...are we underdressed?"

 

Sasha and Sesame didn't, uh, see eye to eye - they spent the weekend nipping at or ignoring each other

 

Sasha says, "Leashes off!"

 

C-Biscuit (right): "Now THIS is a dog run!" Sesame (left): "I will keep look-out for danger, that is surely all around us." Picchu (back): "Do you still love me, in a green field?"

 

The border collie plays Herd the Whippets!

 

C-Biscuit and Picchu: "Full speed in opposite directions - the collie can't catch us!"

 

Cerberus? Or House Whippets? Country water does strange things...

 

What a hostess: Sasha braves the rain so the house whippets can have, well, the house (Sesame isn't so polite. "And stay out!" he says.)

For all of that wide open space and yummy country air, the country getaway had its downsides: thorns that went nearly all the way through Biski’s ears, rocks that ripped Sesame’s thigh, and the ultimate house whippet horror: they were not allowed on the furniture.

Country road, take me home: Same designer as the Brooklyn Bridge, but a much slower pace. (Specifically, 15 mph.)

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