I've had a love affair for nearly forty years. When my wife found out about it, she encouraged me to continue it, and then she joined me. I love the Catskills. I love the mountains, the valleys, the cloves and hollows, the streams and reservoirs, the villages, towns, and hamlets: Peakamoose. Slide, Wittenberg, and Cornell. Friday and Balsam Cap. Panther. Bearpen and Vly. Maplecrest Valley, Stony Clove, McKenley Hollow. The Esopus and the Neversink. The Roundout and the Pepacton. Sundown and Shady. I've climbed the high peaks since the 60's, cycled through the valleys and the villages since the 80's, wrote about it in the 90's, and put all the writings together in the 2000's: "Catskill Tales and Trails"-35 chapters; one devoted to each of the 35 Catskill 3500' peaks.