Inside The Line: The Catskill Mountains Podcast

Welcome to episode 32 of Inside The Line the Catskills! On this episode, John and I go over my recent adventure in southern Utah. This was such a fascinating, beautiful place that I cannot explain, but I will definitely try on this episode. I go over what my wife and I did everyday and try to explain what the areas looked like, but it's tough to describe some of these places because of how stunnin...

Welcome to episode 31 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Tonight, my friend from high school, Vicki Ryan, joins me on the show and talks about her experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. This long trail, also known as the PCT, is a 2,653 mile trail that stretches from the Mexican boarder all the way up to the Canadian Boarder. With over 490,000 feet of elevation gain, it is still considered one...

Welcome to episode 30 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Tonight I'm joined by Heather Darley from Team Wilderness. Team Wilderness a non profit organization whose goal is to grow teamwork, leadership, and character within our urban youth through wilderness excursions. Tonight we chat about how and why the organization was formed, what activities they do and why it's so good to have this organizat...

Welcome everyone to episode 29 of Inside The Lines: The Catskills! Fly fishing has been a big sport in the Catskills ever since the mid to late 1800's. Todd Spire, from Esopus Creel in Phoenicia, talks with me tonight about fly fishing in the great waters of the Catskill Mountains. Some of the best rivers to fly fish in the world are located here and Todd talks with me about why they are perfect f...

Welcome everyone to episode 28 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! Tonight, I have a great chat with Dave Loverde who runs the Friends of the Feathered and Fury wildlife center. Located outside of Westkill, the FFF is a A 501(c)3 wildlife rehabilitation center dedicated to helping injured and orphaned New York State wildlife, headed by a multiple-license rehabilitators. Run by volunteers, they...

Welcome to episode 27 of Inside The Lines: The Catskills! Tonight, my good friend John and I tell some of our great stories of the crazy bushwhacks we have done together. Most of these bushwhacks involved John hating his life during the hike, but in the end, it made for a memorable experience. We talk about a hike up Balsam Cap from the south, a skirt around the steep eastern side of Slide Mo...

Welcome to episode 26 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! This is part two of the story about Bearpen Mountain. Bearpen Mountain, in the 1950's, once hosted a ski center called the Princeton Ski Bowl. This ski center was on its way to being one of the best ski centers on the east coast. On this episode, Russ L and I discuss the different features of the ski center and also, how it came to it's...

Welcome to episode 26 of Inside The Lines: The Catskills! On this episode, I am joined by Russ L and we talk about a former ski center that was on its way to being the best ski center in the north east: Bearpen Mountain. Bearpen Mountain once held a ski center called the Princeton Ski Bowl, which was built and running in the late 1950's. Bearpen, due to its unique shape, attracted more snow than o...

Welcome to episode 25 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Tonight, I am joined by journalist and author Stephen M. Silverman, who wrote the book 'The Catskills: It's History And How It Changed America.' His book goes into great detail with showing how much amazing history has happened in the Catskills and how it shaped the American culture throughout the years. We go into depths about certain times...

Welcome to episode 24 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! In 1918, T. Morris Longstreth wrote a book about his solo hike through the Catskills. 103 years later, fellow SAR team member Harold Oakhill, who was inspired by Longstreth's adventure, decided to take a very similar route and spend 14 days in the Catskills. On this episode, he shares highlights of his experiences, what challenges he faced h...

Welcome to episode 23 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Most of time when you are driving throughout the Catskills, you can't help but wonder what once existed in some places. On this episode, I am joined with WInnisook historian Chris Van Kleeck and we take a deep dive into a place once called Vacation Valley. Vacation Valley was located in the Big Indian/Oliverea area below Slide and Panther Mo...

Welcome to episode 22 of Inside The Lines: The Catskills! Tonight I have a special chat with Lourdes Sonera, who is the Catskill Club 3500 trail maintenance and board member. We discuss stewardship in the Catskills and how big of a role the 3500 club has with the not only the high peaks, but other local places as well. In 2021, the DEC launched it's first ever adopt-a-trailhead program and the 350...

Welcome to Episode 21 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Sometimes, you go on a great hike and you can't help but want to share that adventure with others. Well, on this episode, my crazy bushwhacking friend James Hopson and I share our stories of the many times we have bushwhacked together in some of the most unexplored spots in the Catskills. We also talk about how James prepares for his adventu...

Welcome to episode 20 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a great chat with Carl, Bill and Phil from RevSpirits. Located in the northern Catskills in a small town named Jefferson, these friends got together one day and decided to put their bees and their honey to good use. While much of the honey in retail stores is processed, RevSpirits honey is harvested locally and left r...

Welcome to episode 19 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On December 24th 2021, Philip Vondra set the fastest known time for someone to earn their winter 3500 club patch. Philip climbed the required 33 peaks in a combined total of 3 days, 10 hours and 53 minutes. THREE DAYS! Tonight, we talk about the difficulties he faced, how it was planned and what exciting moments he had on this record setting...

Welcome to episode 18 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode we talk about Panther Mountain. Panther Mountain is well known for having the very popular Giant Ledge right next to it and it's a good first climb to introduce someone to the Catskills and pursue their 3500 club patch. What most don't know is that Panther Mountain is (in theory so far) the site of a former meteorite crash! I...

Welcome to episode 17 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Social media has played a big role in the increase of hikers visited to the Catskills and to basically anywhere in the world. Tonight, I have a great chat with my friend Tim Luby who is the admin of the Catskills Trail Conditions page on Facebook. We talk about the impact that covid and social media has had on hiking, how tough it is to admi...

Welcome to episode 16 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I chat with Myra Romano who is a summit steward crew leader for the Catskills area. Her team, which were positioned at four different locations, counted almost 15,000 people and engaged in conversations with over 8,500 of them! They were a big help with the hiking community for the past couple years when the Catskills saw a...

Welcome to episode 15 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! Back in 2010, two men got stranded on Blackhead Mountain during a big Nor'easter snowstorm. The storm dumped over three feet of snow and conditions during the storm were described as horrific. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts and survival attempts, one of the hikers did not make it. Tonight, I have New York State Forest Rangers Capt...

Welcome to episode 14 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a great chat with Moe Lemire from HikeOnGuides and his experience of thru hiking trails in the northeast. Moe has thru hiked the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail as well as the Long Path in New York, the Northville-Placid Trail and the Cohos Trail in New Hampshire. We talk about the different difficulties you face on thru...

Welcome to Episode 13 of Inside The Lines: The Catskills! Tonight, I am joined by Mike who runs the popular Instagram page called the ADKfunpolice. We have a great energetic and fun talk about memes, how the pubic can be educated from social media and and their involvement with the current situations that we have going on in our parks. Mike also goes into depth about their involvement in the recen...

Welcome to Episode 12 of Inside the Line: The Catskills! Tonight, I am joined with author and geologist Dr. Robert Tit us and we discuss the impact of glaciers in the Catskills . We also chat about glacial striations and glacial erratics and how to spot them while you're out on the trail. This is a fantastic episode that I had a lot of fun doing! Dr. Titus's amazing descriptions and imagination of...

Welcome to episode 11 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have a great chat with David Turan who is the executive director of The Michael Kudish National History Preserve in Stamford. We talk about his younger days in the Catskills and how big of a difference it is from then and now. We also chat about how he has been working with Dr. Kudish for almost 20 years now and what futur...

Welcome to episode 10 of Inside The Line: The Catskills! On this episode, I have an awesome chat with local Greg Calabrese about his company, Rip Van Winkle Adventure Guides. We discuss how he goes above and beyond in his guiding to make your experience in the Catskills a memorable one and how he spoils his customers with great food! We also talk about the beautiful Stony Clove Notch, Greg's exper...

Welcome to episode 9 of Inside The line: The Catskills. On this episode, I have a chat with my fellow SAR team member about her early days in the Catskills hiking as a kid and about her near death experience on the 19,000 foot Mount Kilimanjaro. I also explore the dark area of Deep Notch in some Catskills Mountain History. Thank you for listening and don't forget to subscribe! Also, don't forget t...