Middle Mountain, Catskills

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/11/2019	4.6 miles	3 hours 23 minutes	1,661'	44:11	201

Map: NYNJTC Catskill Trails - Map 144
Parking: Mary Smith Hill Road
Directions: Hike east to Beech Hill Road and return the same way

Trek went to his normal vet this week, who discouraged us from taking him hiking until he is re-vaccinated for Lepto. Chemo worsens the immune system temporarily, so my vet didn't want to vaccinate him. Trek's final chemo is at the end of this month - so he may be on a hiking hiatus until the end of June. I'll check with his oncologist on when he feels its safe to vaccinate. That's pretty disappointing - I really wanted to backpack with Trek soon.

We left Trek at home, and took Krummholz back to the Catskills. It's a long drive for such a short hike, but we aren't hiking long distances with Krummholz yet. I've been looking for shorter Catskill hikes that we can do that help us work on the Catskills All Trails Challenge. Mary Smith Hill Road starts out as a paved road and then turns into a dirt road. The road becomes a single lane rough road. I was wondering if it was really passable, but we did slowly make it to the trailhead. This hike has a parking lot on each side, so it's perfect. This was another Catskill hike that had a couple of very steep climbs. There's nothing like a Catskill hike for making you feel out of shape! We had Krummholz drag a long line & wear a GPS collar. I did hold onto his leash for a little while, as he started to get too independent - running too far ahead. Unfortunately that meant lots of pulling. We did work on some recalls - he's regressing a little, but mostly did good. The terrain on this hike was rocky especially in the steep spots. The steep spots were slippery, with shifting rocks and leaves. More falling. We didn't see anyone on our hike. This hike has one viewpoint.

Trailhead

Beech Hill Road intersection

Beech Hill Road