Catamount Mountain
August 4, 2016 9:00 pmAfter making my way around the snow mobile trails around Taylor Pond, stopping to enjoy the view at Taylor Pond Damm and a second but much shorter bushwack on the south shore I eventually made it to the “Loon View” or Taylor Pond leam to. This was close to where I would begin my bushwack summit of Catamount Mountain. I stopped for some water and a quick bite but as it was nearly 3pm and I wanted to catch sunset from the top of Catamount I needed to press on.
The guidebook had suggested starting the bushwack from either the lean-to or a stream just a little past it, leaving the option up to me. I chose to begin about half way between the two. As I began my ascent again I tried to avoid the densest brush. For the first hour and a half things were going ok. It wasn’t too thick but it certainly was a bunch of work going uphill. I was drenched in sweat from head to toe but glad I had on my long pants and gaiters.
About two thirds of the way to the summit things really started getting thick. My progress became very labored and slowed to nearly a crawl. I grew impatient and frustrated as I wondered who would enjoy such travel and why? The brush kept getting thicker and thicker and soon at times I was literally crawling on my hands and knees to get a few feet ahead where I might be able to stop and catch a breath.
Things were turning from bad to worse fast as I wondered if I would make it to the summit in time for sunset and if it got dark, then what? I knew panic would only make the situation worse so I stayed calm keeping up my hard work determined to press forward. It seemed like the harder it worked the more difficult things became. I could only liken it to one of those horror movie scenes where someone is covered in tar or slime and trying to move through it or perhaps swimming through molasses.
For a brief moment I stopped to ponder what it would look like if I needed help getting out of this situation. What would I say? I’m lost “somewhere” in the brush on the north side of the mountain. How would anyone even get to me? It didn’t seem possible, certainly not a good scenario.
Of course at the time things seemed their worse I started coming out on what I believed was the ridgeline leading to the summit. It was still a lot of work but things were starting to open slightly.
With about a 30 minute push across the ridge I finally made it to the summit. Despite the unpleasantness of the bushwack, the views from the top were absolutely breathtaking! I could see Whiteface Mountain to the south, many other peaks and the views seemed endless.
It was 6:30 and sunset was a little over a hour away. I looked around and though some mountains can offer space within a few hundred feet of the summit that is camp the brush around was simply to dense and I knew my plan to catch sunset and sunrise wasn’t going to work out.
While some people will hike in the dark with a headlamp, not having established camp yet and having a full pack, I decided I needed to descend and find a place to camp. I hiked down about 2hrs and set up camp for the night about two thirds of the way down and 200 feet off trail.
