overtaking haynes

Hiked/ran in the catskills. More of a hike than a run due to the steepness and the surprising snow and ice that was there. Was out for 5hrs 10 min. Began at 1300ft and got up to the snow line around 2000ft. At 3.6 miles reached the first peak at 3800ft. Lots of slippery ice. Descended and then climbed to a second peak which i wasn't aware was on a side trail off of the main trail. I came to this point of no return section. There was a scrambling section with a V crack and it was definitely icy. I got up ok but i didn't feel like going down was an option. The out and back i was contemplating turned into a loop. I was then on to my final ascent of the highest peak in the catskills at 4180ft. I passed a group of snowshoers! I didn't really understand why the snowshoes since i was in trail runners but anyway there were 8 or so in number and the leader didn't really say hi he looked at me and just said "do you have a fixed line?" i said what? and he repeated himself until he stooped to my language and said if i had a rope. i said no and he said that there was a bad icy section up ahead. I told him that the way i came was also pretty horrible. he said that he would be fine because of their "fixed line". he really annoyed me-like he was some bigshot group leader telling me i wasn't prepared for what i was doing. Anyways, i get to the icy section and it really wasn't any problem, definitely easier than the other stuff i did. Going up the final summit was pretty fun, up to about a ft of snow but the trail was packed down pretty well. I got up to the peak and met some nice people. Headed down to the parking lot to complete the transect of allegedly the hardest dayhike in the catskills in 8.9 miles according to gps or 9.7 according to the sign at 2500ft. 3hrs and 37 min. I then had to take a road for a mile which was uphill. it was nice knowing there were a couple people ahead of me seeing their tracks. I had passed a couple groups of people who were doing the loop i was. I liked passing them. I caught up to the people in front of me (Germans) at about 11 miles. The trail was annoying due to all the blowdowns and non packed 6 inches of snow that was a little crusty. It felt good getting to the main trail again until i saw bear poop. lots of berries in it. I then passed some other foreigners who said they heard the bear but didn't see it. I found it interesting that there were as many foreigners as americans here. i didn't realize the catskills were a spectacular getaway for people. The trail was hard to find in spots but i made it back after hitting my head on a log i didn't see, and also dropping my camera about 10 feet and also having a scare that i lost my iphone which didn't get any reception anyway. an awesome day. very refreshing. i'm going to count mtn hikes as easy miles even though i probably shouldn't. It's good training for mt mitchell this winter anyway.