Inside The Line: The Catskill Mountains Podcast

Welcome to episode 57 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Henri de la Vega of West Mountain Guiding Company. Henri is one of the 575 registered finishers of the amazing triple crown! The triple crown is when you complete three major long distance trails: the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. These three trails combined equal to...

Welcome to episode 56 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Sean Iannucci of Blue Line Outdoor Adventures and we go over winter hiking tips and discuss some of our favorite winter hiking gear. Sean is a New York State licensed guide, has hiked all over the North East in the winter and also climbed Mount Rainier. If you have any questions about the gear we mention in th...

Welcome to episode 55 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Ramsay Adams of the Catskill Mountainkeeper. The Catskill Mountainkeeper is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and advocate for the Catskills. Ramsay chats about the history of the mountainkeeper, what big projects they’ve been involved with in the past and what they have in store for the fu...

Welcome to episode 54 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Will Soter of Upstate Adventure Guides. Will has been a licensed guide in the Catskills for over 15 years now and he is also knowledgeable about the secluded yet stunning Beaverkill and Willowemoc Valley. We chat about the valley and also about the presence of Native Americans in that specific area . Will also...

Welcome to episode 53 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Martin of Papa Bear Hikes Podcast. Martin had me on his podcast and I found out that the Catskills were his stomping ground! Martin’s podcast is all about hiking and he has guests from all over the place. Martin and I chat about his experiences in the Catskills, his book about hiking the Vermont Long Trail and...

Welcome to episode 52 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Matt Smith from the Catskills Trail Crew. The Catskills Trail Crew is a volunteer organization that does amazing, fast and dedicated trail maintenance on the places that really need it in the park. Matt shares how it all started, certain projects that they have done and what they have planned for the future. M...

Welcome to episode 51 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Darin White who is going to share his story of his close call on a hike of “the six”. “The six” is a thru-hike where you summit six 3500 peaks: Friday, Balsam Cap, Lone, Rocky, Table and Peekamoose. Darin and his son took a wrong turn which forced them to do an emergency overnight camp in the middle of the mos...

Welcome to episode 50 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Greg Calabrese from Rip Van Winkle Adventure guides in Catskill. Greg is a returning guest and we chat about his cross country adventure that he took a couple years ago. We discuss how he planned it, where he stayed and some of the places he visited while out on the road. Greg also explains how dropping everyt...

Welcome to episode 49 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Ralph Ferrusi. Ralph is Catskill 3500 club finisher #122! Being that low of a number on the club means that you have fantastic stories of hiking in the Catskills. We chat about his insane solo adventures, his experience on the Appalachian trail (he’s #311 on that as well) and the crazy gear they hiked in durin...

Welcome to episode 48 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Paul Schiavo who owns Catskill Outfitters in Phoenicia. Paul is a long time resident, explorer and fisherman of the Catskills. We talk about what things were like in the Catskills back in the 80’s and 90’s, his storefront and also his experience as a licensed fly fishing guide. We also talk about what the drou...

Welcome to episode 47 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by retired Catskill forest ranger David Meade. Ranger Meade was a forest ranger for 28 years in the Catskill region and he has seen and been through it all. Everything from SAR callouts, wildfires, helicopter rescues and so much more. We chat about his crazy experiences in the Catskills, along with his other job...

Welcome to episode 46 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode I am joined by Catskill legend Dr Michael Kudish and we chat about the great Fenwick Lumber Company located on SW Hunter Mountain. Dr Kudish has dedicated his life to the Catskills, studying the history of the forests, beginning with Vegetation History of the Catskill High Peaks and expanded to include an examination of Catsk...

Welcome to episode 45 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode I am joined by authors and writers Randi Minetor and Stacey Freed. Randi and Stacey just released the book ‘Hiking The Catskills.’ I have read this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe me, it’s tough to convince me to like certain books. They cover hikes all over the Catskills and also break down the hikes with descri...

Welcome to episode 44 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a great chat with New Jersey SAR team members Joe Galvan and Scott Fitterman and we talk about their new adventure called the Trailbound Project. The Trailbound Project is a hiking and backpacking school located in NJ and with their wide variety of knowledge and experience in backpacking, Joe and Scott are definitely...

Welcome to episode 43 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I bring my best friend Travis in on the show and we chat about some of our crazy adventures of when we hiked in the Catskills. Stuff like a close encounter with coyotes, a fall down one of the steepest spots in the Catskills and getting caught in a snowstorm on Panther. Be sure to thank Travis, because he is salary managemen...

Welcome to episode 42 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have an awesome chat with Marc Wolf who is executive director of the Mountain Top Arboretum in Tannersville. The arboretum is 178 acres that focuses on native plant communities of the Catskill Mountains and also maintains its native and exotic tree collection.”. Me and Marc talk about how the arboretum got started, what it...

Welcome to episode 41 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a wonderful chat with Ken Posner who likes to hike… barefoot! Ken is a longtime runner/hiker and shares his great experiences of hiking the Catskills and other places with nothing but his bare feet. We talk about his book ‘Running the Long Path,’ his blog and of course, completing the Catskills All Trails challenge TO...

Welcome to episode 40 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a fun chat with Steve Lange who set the fastest known time (FKT) for the ENTIRE DEVIL'S PATH! Steve is an ultra trail runner, so he goes crazy fast on the trails and his goal is to set records. We talk about some of the routes that he’s done, his thoughts while setting the records and his experiences while being an ul...

Welcome to episode 39 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In this episode, I have a great chat with Laurie and Tom Rankin who are, to me, Catskill legends because of the amount of time and effort that they put into our mountains. We chat about their peak experiences in several places like the Catskills, Adirondacks and White mountains as well as the extraordinary effort that they put into the fire...

Welcome to episode 38 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In this episode I have a great chat with local author and long-time hiker Alan Via. We talk about his roles in volunteering, past experiences with hiking in the Catskills and Adirondacks (including two close calls with hypothermia) and his new book called “Dog Hiker.” We also have a good chat about some hikes and history in the northern Cats...

Welcome to episode 37 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In this episode John and I go over some hiking gems of the Catskills to get you away from those 3500 club hikes that might be overcrowded. We talk about the stunning North South Lake region, Harding Road Trail, Camels Hump from Barnum Road and Bearpen from Heisinger Road. We also chat about the first albums we ever bought and the bald eagles...

Welcome to episode 36 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In this episode, I have a great chat with Martin, the owner of Abandoned Hard Cider located in Woodstock, Red Hook and Kingston. Martin's business has a unique way that they make their delicious cider. As their name implies, they use abandoned apple trees in and around the Catskills for their products. We chat about his business, how it all...

Welcome to episode 35 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, Yana, a good friend of mine from the 3500 club and I chat about her completion of the NE 111 (it's actually the 115 really). She talks about her experience which involves hiking 48 peaks in the White Mountains, 46 peaks in the Adirondacks, 14 in Maine, 5 peaks in Vermont and 2 in the Catskills for a total of 115 hikes. We al...

Welcome to epis o de 34 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode I go solo and talk about what, to me, are the hardest and most dangerous hiking sections in the Catskills. Most of these hikes that I talk about are located on trails and are not bushwhacks. Bushwhacks hold their own place for levels of difficulty. I also go over some recent New York DEC new and rescues and also history abo...

Welcome to episode 33 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In this episode, John and I go over one of the greatest hiking activities you can do in the Catskills: bushwhacking. Some of my most memorable hikes have been from bushwhacking and we go over basic details of bushwhacking, what you should be carrying and some of our favorite bushwhacks. We also chat about the relocation of a moose, volunteer...