An Oneonta man toured the high peaks of the Catskill Mountains last month like no one has done before.
Erik Schlimmer, an author and adjunct lecturer at the State University College at Oneonta, climbed the 35 highest peaks in the Catskills in one marathon, six-day hike. The 34-year-old said he covered 140 miles and ascended 42,000 vertical feet between May 10 and May 16. He ended his trek at the Windham High Peak trailhead.
Schlimmer, who teaches in SUCO's outdoor education program and said he has been hiking in the Catskills since 1995, said the journey was, mile-for-mile, the toughest trek he has ever completed.
Carrying less than nine pounds of gear, Schlimmer camped out each night and did the entire hike solo, walking for 13-hours a day.
He's not the first person to hike the 35 highest peaks in the Catskills. The Spangenbergers, a husband and wife team, accomplished the feat for the first time in 1952, climbing each mountain separately.
He also isn't the fastest person to hike the 35 mountains all at once.
Ted Keizer, a long distance runner from Oregon, was the first to complete the trip in one continuous hike _ a trek that took two days and 15 hours, Schlimmer said.
"It's a phenomenal feat," he said.
But Keizer had a full support crew and did not hike alone the entire time, Schlimmer said.
The only support Schlimmer said he received was a supply of food he had left for himself at the halfway point.
Schlimmer said he is the first person known to have accomplished the feat solo and self-sufficient.
The hiker, who kept a journal along the way, said the entire time he was in the mountains, he only encountered 27 people.
More than half of these were on Slide Mountain, one of the most popular hiking destinations in the Catskills, he said.
There were fewer people on some of the more remote stretches of his trek.
"I went a day-and-a-half without seeing anybody," Schlimmer said.
Schlimmer hiked on 23 trails and had a 13-mile road walk.
But he said he also accomplished 20 miles of off-trail navigating that helped him link all 35 peaks together.
The off-trail hiking was the most challenging part, he said.
Schlimmer's hiking-style has changed from when he first took up backpacking more than a decade ago.
"Back then, I was like most backpackers with a base load of probably about 30 pounds," Schlimmer said.
But being a veteran of long-distance hiking, having completed 11 other routes each in excess of 100 miles, he said he has downsized his gear.
"Instead of carrying a tent, I'll carry a tarp," he said.
He uses the tarp to create an A-frame a couple feet off the ground.
The backpack he uses could be considered a daypack. With a capacity of about 2,900 cubic inches, it is a little more than half the capacity of a typical pack used on multi-day trips.
Instead of using a self-inflating sleeping pad, Schlimmer uses a less-expensive, foam sleeping pad.
His major weight-saving piece of gear is a lightweight sleeping bag. Although the bag he uses costs more than a typical, quality sleeping bag, the expense is worth it, Schlimmer said.
Aside from falling at the end of the spring semester, Schlimmer said the timing of his trek was intentional.
"The end of May has a lot of advantages," Schlimmer said. The snow has melted, which allows for easy walking, he said.
Later in the summer, streams and springs typically run dry, making the search for water difficult, he said.
But in May, there is plenty of water in the Catskills.
The foliage also is less dense at this time of year, making it easier to navigate off-trail.
With no leaves on the trees, he could look out and through the forest and navigate by observing the terrain, Schlimmer said.
Another benefit is the absence of stinging nettles. "They don't come out till June," Schlimmer said.
But Schlimmer said he was not resting on his laurels.
On Monday, he and a friend were scheduled to start a nine-and-a-half-day, non-continuous hike to scale all the mountains in New Hampshire higher than 4,000 feet _ all 48 of them.
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