Even I, Dickens, a devoted hiking dog, have had trouble getting outside this year due to constant rain or predictions of rain in Northern New England and the Adirondacks.  On Saturday, 8/16/08, we even had a severe hailstorm here in Newfane, with hail a bit smaller than grapes.  Afterward, the ground looked like it was covered in snow.
     Because the weather predictions were better on Sunday and further south, Bruce and I went to the Catskills 8/17/08 to climb Windham High Peak (3524 feet).  (Earlier this year Bruce had climbed Overlook Mtn in the Catskills but he didn't think that was a good hike for dogs and hence I didn't get to go to that one.  He felt that exploring the ruined hotel near the summit would expose dogs to broken glass, and that seems fair enough). 
     We arrived at the Peck Road trail parking area at 10:25 AM.  The weather all morning was sunny and about 72 degrees with a pleasant breeze.  The trail to the top is 3.3 miles each way, and it was very drenched.  As we neared the leanto, we met two women and a young man about 13 years old, all of whom were from Durham, a nearby town.  They told us that there had been a huge downpour here on Saturday; hence the wet trail. 
     Although the trail was wet, in many places it goes over rocks instead of soil, which helps reduce the amount of mud.  The rocks in the Catskills are very pretty and distinctive,  being flat and often purple or light brown.  The soil seems to be a thin layer of iron-rich clay. 
     Before arriving at the leanto, we saw a newt.  The leanto itself is in good shape but it had no trailbook to write in.  There is a large tenting area behind it.  The forest beyond the leanto is pretty and we saw a few nonflowering wild columbines there.  We also saw a scarlet waxy cap mushroom which was a first sighting for us.
     After that the trail goes up into what I call "The Black Mana Forest" because the eerie, dying trees with entangling, grasping roots remind me of blasted lands in the Magic The Gathering card game.
     Beyond that there is a pretty forest with a lush layer of long grass under it.  There was a nice flowing watercourse here for me to drink from.
     After that the trail goes up very steadily into what I call "The Vine Forest" because many of the trees and shrubs were overgrown by vines.  Here the trail was very narrow and overgrown, bordered by goldenrod, raspberries, black cohosh, and a few stinging nettles (which are not hard to avoid if you know what to look for).
     We arrived at the south lookout at 12:34 PM and had lunch.  This lookout has an outstanding, dramatic view of nearby Black Dome, Blackhead and Cole Mtns, all over 3900 feet, the most distinctive sight in all of the Catskills.  You can see this Blackhead Range from tall buildings in Albany as well as many of the main summits in the Catskills. 
     After that we wandered over to the other two lookouts, which have views to the north.  Because of clouds and haze we didn't see Albany.  We did see a glider or small private plane quietly zooming around over the plains far below us.  We started back from the last lookout at 1:05 PM, but then after that Bruce went back again to the south lookout to rest and take more photos.  We didn't meet any other hikers while we were at the summit.
     After we started back down, however, we met a number of hikers coming up.  We talked with a nice couple from Poughkeepsie.  After them we met a young couple with a very friendly beagle named Baxter.  In fact, Baxter wanted to come down with me and his owners had to call him a couple of times to get him to continue climbing the mountain with them. 
     We were coming back down to the leanto when I heard a noise and looked uphill, and there was the trio from Durham, coming back down.  We were all surprised that we somehow missed each other on the summit.    It was good that we got a reasonably early start today.  After 2 PM the sky got a lot cloudier to the point where it was about 65% clouds and 35% sun. 
     We saw a second newt on the way out and a few pretty coral mushrooms.
     We were back out at 3:40 PM.  What I especially liked about this hike was the dramatic view from the south lookout which so impressive.

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