Sunny Days' Birthday Hike up Cat Mt. via Red Trail
I was eager to get back in the snow for an ascent after the First Brother hike. Sunny's birthday, some fresh snow, and a great day was the perfect opportunity to do so. I wanted to try something easy that I could get done in a few short hours, but I wanted to do something a little different from Moreau. I decided to do the Cat Mt. hike from the Edgecomb Pond trailhead. I'd picked up some suspenders since the last hike and I'd used them a couple of times on walkabouts, but I'd yet to try them on a proper ascent. I can report that they did solve a lot of my stride issues that I'd experienced on the Big Slide attempt. I was able to step across and, more importanly, up ascents with much greater ease. The wind was blowing off Edgecomb Pond, but it lightened up once we started hiking into the woods. A clear furrow was worn into the snow by previous hikers, so the trail was super easy to follow. Also, DEC had been through recently, adding new markers and blazes through t...