I've been wanting to try this for a while, but IT band issues, weather and a 2+ month recovery from Covid slowed me down. I wanted #100 to be something that meant a lot to me and would provide some challenge. I've spent more time in the Catskills than any other mountain range and I probably already had the self-supported fkt of likely 15 peaks (acquired incidentally last October) but I wanted to give the 24 hr time a focused effort. I finally got back up to double digit mileage runs two weeks ago (first time since May), so why not try for a 24 hr effort?
I started with the Catskill 9 (from Peakamoose) at 2:36pm on Saturday. I would have preferred to start at sunrise, but I seem to have acquired quite a few obligations over the past couple years;-) My InReach decided to update and discard the gpx track while it was actively tracking and I was bushwhacking off Rocky, but the first few peaks show up on my Suunto activity. I then tagged the 4 peaks in the Big Indian Wilderness. It was here that I was startled during the night by what I initially thought might be a pack of wolves. Turned out to be a man with two aggressive dogs camped right next to the trail. This presented an issue, as I was planning on running back that way a couple peaks later. I wasn't sure if the dogs were tied up or how the man would react to me running through his "camp" during the middle of the night a second time. In order to avoid the man and his dogs I decided to take the bushwhack "shortcut" off of Fir. This was my first time on this bushwhack and was not easy to follow in the dark. I slept for an hour or so before heading to the Windham-Blackhead range.
I tagged those 4 peaks, slowing down a lot, then headed over to finish with Hunter for 18 peaks in 23:49. It was beautiful weather, but warm and humid. I was in a t-shirt all night. There are several places where my time could be improved, but I feel like this was a solid effort. I'd like to try this again in cooler weather with much better fitness. But all in all it was a super enjoyable day in the mountains.