The Devil is in the Details

LINK TO PREVIOUS SECTION: Mt. Tremper to Silver notch

October 26-27, 2012

Towards Silver Hollow (Hazy -from above)

View from Plateau Mt.:
Mink Hollow (down below the clouds),
Sugar Loaf (on right) and Kaaterskill High Peak
w/ Round Top (in distance).

I had a business meeting in Kingston NY on Friday morning and decided to use the proximity to the Catskills to backpack hike from Silver Hollow notch to Platte cove road by camping at Mink Hollow. Chris decided to join in with Andrea and we placed a car by the Roaring Brook trail head and the other at parking area on RT 214 (just south of the access point to Notch Inn road). The plan was Andrea would hike with us on the LP to meet the Devil’s Path and then hike down Plateau Mountain to Mink Hollow shelter.  The next day, she would hike an easier route to the car and later pick us up at the trails end. Chris and I would then hike over Sugarloaf, Twin and Indian Head mountains, all over 3500' elevation. If you read the first paragraph on page 1 of the blog from January, I mentioned the Devils path. We would now be doing that same section in reverse with an overnight backpack.

Porcupine in Pine 

We started up the access trail along a private road, but by the time we got to the main trail at Silver notch, my back and head hurt because my pack was really setup badly and it was off balance.  Chris has good experience with packs and he showed me a few adjustment tricks that lowered the weight onto my hips and therefore relieved nearly all of the acute problems I was experiencing.  Feeling better, we began a long ascent towards Plateau.  I moved ahead (or lagged behind) as I listened to tunes and walked at my own pace. Along the way, they saw a porcupine on the trail that spread his quills like a peacock.  He eventually climbed a tree and allowed me to take a few close up photos.  I knew the quills were his main defense, but he actually becomes pretty camouflaged once in a tree and is actually hard to see (or photograph) once he stays still.

Plateau: LP - Devil Path jct.

Alpine flora

We connected up to the Devils path on top of Plateau Mountain. I was really happy to think that I walk all the way back here after hiking this area last year and thinking it was a great area.  The tops of the mountains here are really lush with alpine like pines and lichen. It is a really special environment above 3500’ up.  I can see why no camping is allowed up here.  It is a very sensitive region in the Catskills.  I took a few photos to capture the green and wet diversity.

Andrea and Chris - Initial Plateau descent

The descent down Plateau was quite challenging and slowed us all down. It was extremely wet and slick with mud and lichen.  I lost my footing once and “bam” down I went along a steep ten foot rock.  I picked up speed as I went and banged my hand, hip and elbow pretty hard in an uncontrolled slide before getting up and shaking it off.  

Plateau Mt.
 "Steep and Tough"- Mink Hollow side

It was deceivingly dangerous and suggested to the others to instead use the roots on the top and side and just stay off that rock.  I made it down the rest of the mountain without further incident and kept the other two behind me just within earshot (even if they didn’t know it at the time).  I decided not to push forward by myself as it was nearing dark and it is (usually) always best to keep a group together on the trail. The tough stuff finally gave way to forest and soon we were all at the Mink Hollow shelter.

I set up my hammock and tarp nearby the shelter. By now Andrea was completely spent and we gave her a loud ovation for making it here.  She got in her sleeping bag in one corner of the shelter and basically stayed there for the rest of the evening. Chris and I fetched water to the south and upon return I made a fire.  The shelter was just rebuilt and we had ample old and new cedar shakes and planks to burn.  Everything was really saturated, so it was hard to get it going, but I eventually it was coaxed into a good fire. It dried the shelter significantly and felt great.  By now it was pitch dark and the visibility was only about ten feet with headlamps as a wicked dripping fog settled in around us.  We saw another pair of headlamps making their way up Mink hollow and they soon introduced themselves as Audrey and Martin.  We directed them to a camp area and we saw Martin later in the evening as we hung the food using a bear bag.  [We saw them both again the next day and took some pictures.] 

Audrey and Martin at Mink Hollow
( Morning of the 27th)

After a great meal of bratwurst, potatoes and veggie stew, we toasted the world with a little rum in our tea and I decided to call it a night. I tucked into my hammock and listened to music and enjoyed the comfortable surroundings.  I made the hammock the night before from very lightweight nylon (1.2 oz / sq yd) and used two longer layers this time.  I put a thermal foam rest between the two layers as insulation and used a light down bag for warmth.  My silnylon tarp performed properly and shed the light rain and blocked the wind.  I hoped this would be an improved step up from the very cold and uncomfortable setup I used a few weeks back at Stockbridge.

Hammock with rip...

It got colder and I stayed warm (mostly) but I kept heard a tearing sound as I moved around here and there. I fully expected to crash to the ground at any moment.  I was woken once from the squeal of a Bard owl in the distance.  I was having trouble staying asleep.  I heard Chris and Andrea taking late into the night from over by the shelter and finally put earplugs in to drown them out. I woke up by hearing Chris say “time to get up” at a very late 8am.  I looked at the hammock to see what created the sound and the lower layer had split badly at the point where I cut it some to push in the insulation.  I decided it could be fixed later and thanked the stars I made it through the night.

I need to go lighter....

I found Chris making coffee and Andrea still in the same spot from the evening.  They mentioned they were up a bunch of the night because a “friendly” mouse kept getting into everything in the shelter.  It shredded some paper towels and got into a bag with chocolate. This is one of the reasons why I brought my own shelter. After cooking some breakfast burritos and packing up, we were off to the trail. Andrea left for the car and Chris and I went up Sugarloaf.  It was steep and I concentrated on my footing after the previous fall yesterday.  It heated up quickly and I took extra breaths and pauses as “Gravity was really Fierce” and I needed extra OOOOs (oxygen) to recover from the climbs.  We passed a day hiker going in the opposite direction and he introduced himself as Sean and mentioned he was doing the entire Devils path in a day.  Wow, I hope he made it!  That is a real challenge.

Stone Chair in abandoned blue stone quarry.

They called themselves "Low Expectations"
on summit of Twin Mt.  

We hit the summit and down we went toward Pecoy notch. One down, two to go…Next, Twin mt was exceedingly steep and wonderful to climb on the aptly named “Devils Path”. We found a good ‘ol boy group of three guys on the summit that called themselves “Low Expectations”.  We swapped gear and hammock stories and one offered up some Jack Daniels.  I took a small swig and it burned on the way down.  We crossed the mountain and down we also went.  The drop to Jimmy Dolan notch from Twin was pretty easy in comparison to the opposite side. Only Indian Head Mountain remained and we went up it smoothly.  The omnipresent fog and clouds prevented any view.  The descent down the mountain took ages as it was very slick and we crossed a few tough points.  I remembered most of this from last year and it brought back memories of how I did this my friends with ice and snow on the ground and the same sections we were doing today in six took nine hours then.

Finally down Indian Head Mt
(looking back)

Platte Cove Rd.  We made it.

Long Path and Devils Path Split

We came down at a good clip and Andrea was waiting right on time and we happily shuttled back to my car.  I ate pizza at Brios in Phoneticia NY and headed for home. Chris and Andrea stayed on another night in the area as Chris was doing trail construction the next day on Romer Mt.  I admire how so many people (like Chris, Andy and Jakob) selflessly spend their own time and money to build and maintain the trails many of us take for granted.

Trail Mileage: 13 on the LP (+ 0.75mi to access the trail).  No issues with knees, etc..good trip.

Footnote:  This trip was the weekend of hurricane Sandy, and I actually was writing it during the hurricane until power cut out and I didn't get to upload it.  It is now eight days later, and I’m still without power and am using a generator to boot this computer and get at the content.  So much destruction occurred to our region and I pray for everyone involved and know we can get through this together. 

November 11, 2012

Kaaterskill High Peak – Palenville

I did the 10 mile hike today from Platteclove Road to Rt 23A in Palenville with Chris.  It was a really nice fall day in the central Catskill Mountains, warm enough to only hike in base layers.  The overall distance did not seem long , the trail was very easy compared to the previous three outings, but very wet in certain places.  Chris mentioned the trail followed the fall line and it’s a better practice to construct a trail on an angle to the fall line to keep the trail dry and erosion free.  The first part of the hike climbs near Kaaterskill high peak on a snowmobile trail, but avoids the summit and therefore has no views.  It would have been an additional two mile roundtrip to the summit of this >3500’ peak, so we passed on that option.  After leaving the snow mobile trail, we saw some nice area to camp for those interested thru-hiking. They tended to be about 4 miles into the hike.  After a few hours we reached the scenic Buttermilk falls. There was a view of the Catskill Escarpment above and Kaaterskill Clove below and water cascaded off the cliff to the region below.  It was after Hurricane Sandy and some seriously large pine trees blocked the trail in this area and would require a big trail crew here to fix it.

Next we made Wildcat falls, a wonderful area to picnic with the water also cascading over the rocks.  Ice covered some areas (mostly in the shade) and we were pleasantly startled by the sound of a large ice piece being released off the cliffs below and then watched them tumbling down into the rocks.  The second part of the hike was a very long downhill and I’m happy to report that my knee pain was under control and conditioning (today defined as hiking over 250 rocky miles this year) has its benefits.  Once finally down the mountain, we ended up walking past houses on a road next to Kaaterskill creek, crossed an abandoned road section (an old mill area) and then finished with a brief road walk along rt 23A to the parking area. 

Quaint gingerbread trimmed house along the LP on Kaaterskill Creek
(For sale sign - quiet stream front location.)

Chris really wanted to climb another 4 miles to the escarpments to complete the next section and better position us for the next hike, but my schedule simply didn’t allow for an extra two hours.  I truly regretted having to pass on this extra bit, because my legs and my energy level were still in “go” mode and it would most likely now force us to do the Escarpment/Blackhead range in three sessions instead of two.  The trail access points on that large stretch of parkland are very limited.  I took a picture of a sign showing it was Rip Van Winkles home turf!

Trail Stats: 10.3 miles

Overall Long Path Progress:  218 miles done on main trail.  and about 25 miles on the AT-SRT bypass.


Nov 24, 2012

“Le Escarpment”

with Mauro at Artists Rock

After a really wonderful Thanksgiving meal with my family, I decided to use up all those extra holiday calories on the trail.  I found myself anticipating this stage all week because it was the beginning of the Long Path (LP) traverse of the very popular and scenic Catskills Escarpment trail.  Here, the LP covers a remote section of about 28 miles with no road crossings.  The Escarpment trail is 23.9 miles, but today we started well below it in Palenville and first needed to climb up to the North-South Lake area. (For those referring to the published LP sections, the full Section #21 is the 4.5 mile climb to the Escarpment and the next section #22continues over North Mountain and Blackhead Mountain.  The links are: http://www.nynjtc.org/files/Central%20Catskills21.pdf and http://www.nynjtc.org/files/Central%20Catskills22.pdf)

Praising Nature
on Boulder Rock

It was a briskly cold morning and the climb up to the escarpment was at a steady incline, designed originally for horse/carriage traffic up to some grand hotels positioned on the top edge. In many respects, this upper lake area is where recreational hiking became popularized in the Catskills. Artist Thomas Cole patiently created lasting masterpieces of the Catskills and Hudson valley below (particularly on Artist rock).

Ridiculous dumb etc...

Chris, Andrea and Mauro joined me today, but Andrea planned to exit at North-South lake while the rest of us continued over North Mountain. I climbed boulder rock and reached for the heavens, as it was a great day to be alive. It was also nice to travel again in view of the Hudson River below, as it was my long lost companion from the earlier Palisades sections.  It began snowing on top and we knew we made the correct decision not to try to cross Blackhead mountain on this day hike, considering an early November sunset was in the forecast. This is why I was a bit mad at myself last time for not pushing forward and getting to the top of the Escarpment and putting us in a better position here.  The former site of the Kaaterskill Hotel held an incredible view and was a popular tourist site. The trail continued up along the escarpment cliffs and many more excellent views abounded, even with the patchy snow fall.  I goofed around on artist rock as if I was hanging on a cliff (like some viral photo I saw the previous week of a girl hanging off the Grand Canyon).  Her photo was actually funny; mine was just fun to do.  We reached North point under heavy winds and whipping snow so the visibility was only fair, but I can see this is a great spot to picnic on a good day.  

Chris the Caveman

We instead ate lunch in Badman’s cave and it gave good protection from the snow and wind.  I used an MRE left over from hurricane Sandy and it was pretty tasty, but it took 12 minutes to heat.  Next time, I would prep it sooner during the walk and just carry it until ready.  I also found the heater in the kit had a second use as a hand warmer as we continued hiking into the freezing wind.  It was probably about 26^oF (or lower at times with the wind chill) and my hands were numb in just my glove liners.  In fact, the water lines on the Camelbacks froze up so I admit I was not fully prepared for what the Catskills could deliver in the late fall season.  We came across a plane wreck on top of the mountain near Stoppel Point (about 3400’) and we paused to take it in and I climbed into the cockpit in the steady snowfall and Mauro took my picture.  I later learned the pilot died here and in hindsight, I should have been more respectful of the crash site considering all.  The pilot was John T Grace flying a Piper PA-28 (#N1316T). He crashed on the morning of May 25th 1983 from Poughkeepsie to Watertown, NY.  He had a revoked student pilot's license. He didn't file a flight plan. The info about the crash and a link to a 3D topo map and GPS waypoints of the plane was referenced at:  http://www.catskillmountaineer.com/NSL-stoppel.html.

We hiked down to Dutcher’s Notch on slippery snow covered rocks and each time one of us slipped, we teased each other with a emphatically dumb sounding “Hey Yooooooooo” (the sound Ed McMann did on the Johnny Carson show).  This somehow kept the mood high, even as the trail became more dangerous as the day wore on.

North Mt Ridge - Beginning of Snow

Mauro on North Point.
North -South lakes in distance

Distance from Dutcher to Black Head and Rt 23

We elected to hike 11.1 miles on the LP and take the right turn trail to parking 2 miles and 1700’ below down Dutcher Notch Trail to the first parking access (off Floyd Hawver Rd.)  [Our only other option was the longer 4 miles to Colgate Lake area to avoid the descent down the notch trail.]. This notch trail was ok with constant grade on an old road, frequently washed out and now very slick with snow on leaves and now some ice on the rocks.  My left knee was complaining and I requested a couple of 5 minute breaks here and there to stretch it out and recover.  This really helped and I was able to continue at a good pace. I appreciated the guys had to chill out and wait for me in the cold.  Andrea was waiting for us at the end with the car (Storks nest Rd. Parking) as we walked by an orange clad property owner with a loaded gun.  He was finished with deer hunting and fortunately we were not in his sights.  I also take this as a great opportunity to warn you not to park at the end by his driveway.  Chris fished out a couple of wonderful microbrew beers from the car cooler and we soon shuttled back to where it all began in Palenville.  Mauro and I headed off for home while the others were off to Phoenicia.  Mauro and I made a great decision to detour and have a meal at Two Brothers Tavern just off RT 32 in Saugerties. 

[Footnote The next section is back up Dutcher notch in a climb over 2800’ to the summit of Blackhead, continuing over Windham Mt and then finally to Rt 23 about 15 miles later.  After dealing with the snow today, I’m left wondering if we can pull this off before the snows lock it in for the season.  to be continued… ]

Trail Stats: 11.1 on LP, 13.1 miles on total. 

This is a great link to the trail map and description for the Escarpment trail:  

http://www.cnyhiking.com/EscarpmentTrail.htm  

LINK TO NEXT SECTION - The Long "White" Path

Tremper to Silver Notch

PREVIOUS ENTRY - slide-cornell-and-wittenburg

OCTOBER 7 2012

Previously, Chris sent me a note that he had finished section 18 from Phoenicia to Silver Notch  last weekend. He basically gave me forewarning that it was not to be taken lightly in cold weather. One has to climb over Tremper mt, cross Carl mt, descend Carl, wade across Warner brook with no bridge, climb Edgewood mt and finally hike down and out...  I read the note as " I'm ahead of you, get in gear, tough one..". Chris did me favor and that is what this journey and blog is 100% about...keeping it real.

Fire Tower View

Tremper Trail

Fall wildflowers

I was actually two sections behind him, so I brought my bike and met up with Jeff by the Tremper trail head and he rode with me to Woodland Valley in my car. I then rode back to Tremper as Jeff followed me in my car. It was 90% downhill so it was a true highlight to knock off about 6  miles of the LP in only about 15 minutes.

Fire Tower View

We then shuttled a car up Rt 214 to Notch Inn rd, parked off road by a state forest sign, and headed back to the Tremper  head  trail in car #2. The property owners their clearly had signs in specific locations saying they would tow your car if park there, so I stayed far away from them where I parked.  

Fire Tower View

Jeff had loaned out his daypack to a family member and had an overloaded hip/fanny pack. It was off balance as it drooped low and backward and was slowing him down. He slung it over his shoulder instead and that helped.  The trail up Tremper was a wide old fire road access to the fire tower on the summit. It was long and not very memorable. We stop in a shelter on the right side of the trail and found an old bicycle inner tube to use as a harness to better support Jeff's pack. There was a reliable spring water source to the left shortly thereafter. We reached the summit in just over an hour and I climbed to the top of the fire tower and took some pictures of the spectacular 360 degree panorama.  I climbed down and changed my shirt with a spare layer from my pack as we went up the mountain too fast for comfort and I was soaked through and through.  Soon after Jeff crossed over the mark he previously reached on the LP.  He had been re-hiking the last bit to help me catch up to where he left off.  He also posed for a picture at that spot and it's about the worst hiking pose ever and we laughed at how bad it was in real time.

Jeff finally crossing into new territory

We walked around Carl mt and the descent to the north was down nicely designed switchbacks. We passed a large cascade waterfall as we made our way along this tributary to Warner creek. It was a long, but not too long descent. The forest was so beautiful here with golden and red leaves as the fall colors were the best in this section.  I saw a really unusual white fungus growing on a tree.  Zoom in on the pic and you will see a million little tendrils on the thing that looked like icicles. [tough question of the day. can anyone identify this thing?]

Beautiful Fall foliage

Snow Cascade Tree Fungus 

Warner creek was cold and I crossed it barefoot. I thought about that guy Cody on the dual survivor show who always walks barefoot, even in cold conditions.  My feet were so cold in minutes that I have no idea how he can do this and not suffer hypothermia. By the time I was sitting and getting my shoes back on, my inner thighs were cramping up badly from the tough hike prior and the cold shock to my legs. It was really wet and cold here so we kept walking to find a better area to break for lunch. I warmed up a Dinty Moore stew over a sterno. Hmmm, tasted really good, I was actually surprise as I never tried this before. We began ascending Edgewood mt and it seemed it would never end. It was tough as we were both tired in the legs at this point. In all, we climbed about a mile vertical today by the time we summited Edgewood. Soon into the final descent, Jeffs right knee was seriously hurting him (Defcom 9 pain level) and we stopped to attend to itn. I restocked the first aid kit that morning with some Aleive's for general pain and also some opiates (in case of very serious injury). He had to drive home later, so we decided that later option would be too strong to safely drive after. He was in considerable pain and I felt bad as hiking is not supposed to be grueling. I advise Jeff to finely chew two Aleive for more immediate absorption (hey, it's what I do in similar cases). We went down very slowly at that point and he even stepped down backwards on the steeper stuff as his knee was shot for the day. By the time we got to Silver Notch he was in better shape and the trail leveled out enough to be kind to us.

Silver Notch Sign

I saw the sign for the Devils Path and was excited as this is the section I did almost exactly one year ago that planted the seed to actually hike the entire long path.  I found it encouraging to think that I walked all the way back here from Jersey in day hikes over the last 9 months.  We exited the LP and walked down Notch Inn path to the car (that happily wasn't towed). As a footnote, the LP has been rerouted here to now go over Plateau Mt instead of dropping down the notch trail and along Rt 214 to the Devils Tombstone Camp. We will need to refer to the trail conference website for the next section directions.  I will be doing this on October 26 and 27 if anyone is interested in a backpack overnight.

Trail Stats: 

6 miles on Bike, ~10.5 Miles by foot on LP, ~1 mile hike out to car.

LINK TO NEXT ENTRY - The Devils Path to Plattclove Rd.

  

Harriman Stockbridge Shelter Revisited

September 22, 2012

Friends Mauro, Rich, and Frankie asked me to join them on a Harriman backpacking overnighter that coincidentally ended along the LP at Stockbridge shelter. I naturally agreed to go, but they were leaving at 6am and hiking about 8 miles before getting to the shelter area. I had other morning plans so I would have to meet them there later.  I received a text around noon that the boys were at the shelter spot already.  I was running really late so I grabbed my pack and simply started shoving in anything I thought I may need. I decided to camp in my new hammock I made from information on Hammocks forum.  The main issue was I screwed up the directions and made it 16" too short for my body length so it would be a tight and bent fit.  The water up there was dodgy so I promised the guys I'd mule up all the water (9 liters) and a liter of wine for dinner. 

Frankie in post hike mode

camp area

 At the end, my pack and a second cooler weighed in at over 65lbs, and I headed up the trail from Silvermine parking lot.  It was warm out and I was dripping with sweat near the top and huffing and puffing it up the last bit. They were camped just beyond the shelter on the LP in a nice grassy area with a rock ledge forming the fire pit area that as been there since eternity.  I dropped my gear and found a spot for my hammock camp.

Rich and Mauro

My Stealth Hammock Camp

I surprise the guys and pulled out a very cold 6-pack of Sam Adams Octoberfest (yes, all heavy glass bottles) so on top of all the other weight I carried, I still came packed some coldies.  We ate, laughed and drank and had a great evening. I also brought a mink pelt I found in a garage sale box and it was like our mascot as we pranked Frankie and put it in his tent as a little surprise..."Guys, Guys!!!, what is this thing!"  

Mauro with Mink Mohawk

We watched the weather as a wicked cell was headed our way.  Smartphones with doppler radar feeds (when operational), are a great camping tool as we knew exactly when to take cover.  It hit around 9pm and I rode it out in my hammock with 50 MPH winds, lightning, and torrential rains.  It dropped into 40's overnight and rained on and off all night with a steady 20 MPH wind.  I slept very poorly and was very cold as the hammock / tarp set up I made was like a cold wind tunnel.  There is clear room for improvement here and I need to make another, improved version with proper length and a means for insulating the bottom.   At least I was dry and survived. We had a great breakfast of  eggs, oatmeal and coffee, which warmed me up.  We broke camp and headed on down the mountain towards home.  

Slide, Cornell and Wittenberg Day

LINK TO PREVIOUS ENTRY - Peekamoose and Table Mts

Slide Summit Rock -
our impromptu Wild Mushroom
and Pine Memorial to Jane

Life's tapestry is interwoven with many good and bad choices, emotions and "colors", so today's hike felt like a bunch of really important threads coming together. I had been anticipating this hike for a long time over the last few months and the Long Path thread started in January was now about to find me on top of the highest Catskill peak (Slide Mt at 4180').  I had my concerns about the day as I planned on multiple activities besides hiking.  I had to get up at 5:30 am, and drive north to Woodland Valley Campground. Once there at 8am, Chris and Andrea would drive  1+ hour back to the start point on Denning Rd.  Chris and I would walk the 12.25 miles over three rocky mountains with all peaks well over 3500'.  Moreover, I brought my bike because I wanted to finish the hike portion and then zoom down to Phoenecia NY on two wheels to conquer the 6+ mile Woodland Valley road section the same day.  Lastly, I was to drive my car across the Catskills to East Durham NY and attend the night time Catskill Mountain thunder Biker event and see Marshall Tucker band and Artimus Pyle Band (of Lynryd Skynryds fame as their drummer) and finally finish into the next day by camping overnight in a nearby friends field.  We planned on walking to the concert event and I would be on my feet all night at the concert as well.  This added more miles and hours standing and walking around. Could I do it all?

2.9 easy miles down, 9.3 harder miles to go

The start of the day was rough as 5:30 wake up didn't matter as I was already awake for the last few hours.  Nothing like a bad nights sleep before a big day.  I guess that is normal as I was anxious to get going.  I drove up and met Chris on time and we BS'd on the way to Denning.  I was very thankful that Andrea was willing to drop us off.  The shuttle is super far, and that saved me over two hours later since I was headed north to the concert afterwards.  As we approached the drop off at the end of Denning Rd, her car made some scraping sounds.  We figured it was grit from the dirt road in the brakes, but it was unsettling to send her off with a metal on metal scraping sound as she had to go down some fairly long hills to get out of the region.  We wished her good luck, while promising to answer our cell phones if she called us with problems down the road.  We all knew there was little we could do since we had no cell coverage at the moment, and slight chance any would be found in the bigger terrain ahead, but it sounded like the right thing to say.  In reality, Chris and I expected it was just grit from an unpaved road section and it would most fade away in short order.

Slide Summit "John Burroughs" Memorial

We set off at a brisk 3mph pace for uphill and ascended up the mountain trail.  After an hour we came to a trail sign and the Curtis & Ormsbee trail marker pointing us towards Slide Mtn. The monument was defaced on the lower part (in 1917).  I was sweating pretty heavily from the pace and it was cool out (about 50F) and the wind was picking up with 30 mph gusts along the ridge making it colder still.  We set off for the summit and continued the pace up some rocky sections. We made the summit in great time and paused to remember Jane at that moment as she was recently killed on her bike. We left a little pine and wild mushroom make-shift flower bouquet on the summit stone and after a moment of reflection and comment we set off again. The descent down Slide to the Bruin saddle area between Slide and Cornell was very steep and rugged.  We passed a spring with clean water running and eventually made the camping area below in the pines.  Chris told a few stories about his prior adventures here, like about fetching water from that upper spring and having to carry it in a pot while dripping half of it down the cliffs and also about some harmonica playing that attracted some eerily mewling porcupines.  We were in great spirits overall and were soon up to the Cornell summit.

Slide mt  in Background from
Cornell Mt

Chris demonstrating just how easy
and flat the trail is up here

We saw some nice views on the backside of Cornell just before the summit, but it was cold in the high wind and we found the North east side a better place to rest.  We found this place popular and people were there in small groups.  We still had no cell coverage and Chris was logically concerned about the car issue.  Someone loaned Chris a phone that had ATT coverage in the area and he found out Andrea had no issues and the noise stopped just down the road as we had hoped. [FYI - I later learned that ATT has the best coverage all over the Catskills from my buddy who lives in east Durham. Sprint and Verizon haven't made the same investments there.  I mention this as it may assist through hikers looking for better coverage during their journey]. 



Cornell Views North west

We exited the Cornell summit and were discussing our friend Jeff's past adventures in having been with a lost hiker at this spot who made the unfortunate decision to wander off trail to by-pass the "Cornell crack" (out of fear of it) and was later found the next day, far, far away after bushwacking down the entire mountain towards Ashokan and spending the night in the pitch dark "hugging" a tree without any supplies at all.  Jeff wisely did his best to find the lost hiker up top, but failing that after an hour of seaching, immediately called for help upon arriving in Woodland Vally in the dark.  The story is important because some people we passed on the trail obviously did not think about how remote and rugged the Catskills can be before setting off on a hike and often do not prepare for emergencies in their gear.  I always at least keep a lighter and a headlamp, water purification tabs and some form of emergency shelter and rain gear.  It increases the weight for a long day trip, but I couldn't imaging being stuck otherwise without it.



Wittenberg Summit Views
of Ashokan

Endless Views



Wittenberg mtn was last of the three from our direction and it provided an amazing view towards the Ashokan reservoir.  It was a popular destination and was full of hikers sitting on the ledges, resting and eating lunch after they (mostly) hiked up the long climb from Woodland Valley.  Chris and I ate our lunch as well, took a few photos and set off for the long and arduous decent.  My spirits were still up, but my knees took issue with the seemingly never ending 5+ mile trek downhill over rocks and more rocks.  I took an Aleive, stretched out a bit and continued on without the pain ever getting to bad.  It did slow me down some but not enough to be of concern.  We made the camp area at 5pm and it was simply late to add on the bike portion of the day.  It would have been too much.  I left Chris there alone as Jacob Franke was coming to join him and my hiking day was done.  We were out for 7 hours and 20 minutes, so the hiking portion was about 6 hours and the rest portions were about long enough for the overall scale of the hike.

    I drove through Phoenecia, Hunter, Windam and then into Cairo NY.  After a meal of delicous Mexican food, I made my friends place in East Durham before dark and pitched tents with my other friends who just showed up right on time.  We laughed, drank a few beers and headed off to the concert grounds.  It was full of thousands of bikers, RV's and bon fires.  People were in black leather and many were packing knives and other assorted chains and weapons that basically told me there would be no trouble at all there that night as everyone (but me) were armed. I was feeling pretty tired around 9pm and my friend Scott saw my energy dropping and he paid for me to get a 20 minute back massage at one of the booths in the tent city section.  What a great guy! The events fireworks were just beginning to be launched and it was kinda hard to relax with the explosions going right over head, but the massage worked out a lot of kinks and it somehow recharged me with positive energy. We walked back to the concert area and Shovelhead was playing a Foghat tune and they ripped out a classic set and the Artimus Pyle band playing indoors was fantastic.  The highlight concert was the Marshall Tucker band.  The keyboard player also sang, played a killer sax and the flute.  We then ate some great burgers at the stroke of midnight, drank yet more beers and finished with shots of Jamesons whiskey at the "halfway house" (the bar midpoint along our walk home). It was 40F out and we were way under-dressed and cold, a bit loopy from the drink and the stars and milky way were out like I've never seen before, so I guess the cold didn't seem to matter as much as if we were home.  Scott and I BS'd late into the morning and I finally entered the land of the Sandman after one of my best days I've had in a long time! Great day!

Trail Stats: ~11 miles on the LP, 12.2 miles in total.  Three mountains off my 3500' club list.

Conditioning:  Never better considering all!  It pays to play!

LINK TO NEXT ENTRY - Woodland Valley to Silver Notch

Bellvale Mt., Greenwood Lake and beyond - LP bypass

Ridge views

NJ Border

LINK TO PREVIOUS LP-BYPASS SECTION: ELK PEN to County Rd 5

September 3 - Met up with Jeff to hike 12 miles of the Appalachian Trail from NY County Road 5 (North of Greenwood Lake) to Long Shore/Brady Road in Upper Greenwood Lake. This is still technically the LP by-pass route I’ve mentioned before (Yes – I’m clearly committed to doing both routes now.) I looked at the map (see below and previous entry) and noticed that after an initial ascent; parts would be flat and easy, alternated by some very rocky and challenging terrain that would slow us down a bit here and there. We decided to walk fast (whenever possible) and try to keep the hours on the trail down to a minimum. We completed it in just under five hours and even took 3-4 breaks of 10 minutes or more. Both of us finished with energy to spare. It was a long cry from my first few outings earlier in the year. We really enjoyed the scenery of the Greenwood lake valley and the pines in the highlands. 



Red quartz conglomerate

We crossed several cuts of a red conglomerate rock that was the most challenging and interesting formations of the day. It kept reappearing at the summits, so it must be some of the harder rock that formed the ridge top as we currently know them in our post ice age environment. 



AT signage for
ammenities in Greenwood Lake area

It was nice to cross the NJ-NY border, as I’ve been hiking in NY for most of the year.  We saw some deer, and other wildlife including a variety of birds.  I think we heard the cry of the Loon as we neared upper Greenwood Lake.  It has a distinguished honking/braying sound like a cross between a mule and a horn yearning for something special (like another loon).  I frankly don’t know what else could have made that distinct sound.  I was running a bit low on water as I approached the car and had conserved it during the journey as I knew I would soon run out.  I kicked myself as I found a spare water bottle in my pack after I got home and thought it’s a dumb mistake to carry water and not know you have it.  It’s only dead weight in that case and I could have benefitted from the extra hydration on the trail.  We stopped in Upper Greenwood Lake and enjoyed a deli / pizza meal as a brief recovery.  Any food tastes super good after a long trail walk. We headed home and I was surprised at how good I felt and how the next few days had little-to-no soreness in my legs.  The idea of walking really fast (for me) where possible materialized as a practical idea, because the time on foot and the time to recovery are both lessened and a longer stride means less overall steps.  This used energy more efficiently over the longer term compared to a slower pace. There is most likely a mileage limit where this practice may crash badly, but I can say without doubt for me it’s over 12 miles and over 5 hours at 3 to 4 mph when walking.  It also gives you more time to take a break at any scenic spots. 

Trail Stats: 12 Miles on the AT/LP bypass

Footnote:  Next Week - Slide Mtn Wildness area on the LP



LINK TO NEXT SECTION: Upper Greenwood Lake to Barrett Rd (Wawayanda)

Peekamoose-Table Mountains

LINK TO PREVIOUS ENTRY - Vernooy - to Bangle Hill

Sat. (08/18/12)

Meet up at 8:30AM with Chris and Jeff at Denning Rd parking area for Shuttle to Peekamoose Rd for LP trail hike over Peekamoose and Table Mts.  The drive was mostly downhill and I smelled the car brakes burning in along the way.  It was a fun, twisting mountain road drive for the shuttle that took about 1/2 hour.  In all the driving logistics is challenging as it's now two hours each way and just over an hour in the shuttling, so about five hours of driving total for a five hour hike.  Prior to arriving in the Catskills, the overnight rain gave way to mixed sun on the drive up from Jersey.  The area we were hiking into did not receive very much rainfall compared to Jersey as the streams here were hardly moving.  We parked and walked the 0.4 mile road section to begin with and turned up the Peekamoose trail.  The trail here can be summarized as moderately easy, but long and ascending 2640' to about 3840' final elevation...Up and Up over two or three miles.  The humidity was down and it was cool for August, so one could use the term perfect conditions.  In fact, the trail was actually easier on this day, compared to what the typical August heat and humidity could deliver instead. I had my first close call on my journey where I was climbing a moderate cliff rock face and slipped on the edge on wet rock and had to pin myself against the rock to prevent a ten foot drop off as I began sliding down.  My support pole was jettisoned off the face and had to be retrieved by Jeff, who was below me.  As it ended up, Chris and I made a navigation mistake by only about 5 feet here and didn't realize we were slightly off path and ended up in a more precarious position on the edge of a drop. 

As mentioned previously, Jeff is rehiking parts of the LP to help us towards the Tremper mt where he last stopped his forward progress.  We joked about the fact he was rehiking this section now for the third or fourth time, so we discussed the concept of a hiking "ground hog day" where one is stuck in the same trail over and over again.  He replied about not taking anything for granted and how we had to earn "Every F-ing Inch" and thus the concept of "E.F.I." was bantered about.

We took a break at reconnoiter rock, a balanced erratic rock with no views. The terrain moved from hardward to Birch to Fur, Balsam and Spruce as we ascended higher.  We stopped for a photo at the 3500' sign, the first time at least two of us hit this milestone on the LP. The smells of evergreen became more pronounced and we were soon at the top.  The summit has a boulder on the top we climbed to ensure we "summited".  A nice scenic view towards the Northern peaks (Indian Head and Twin) in the distance and the Ashokan reservoir below to the  North-East.  The mixed clouds added to the view as they cast shadows on the rolling hills below. 

Several other hikers appeared while we ate our lunch there and we soon moved off downhill towards Table mt.  The saddle/Col between the two peaks is where you can bushwack to Lonely mtn, if you are attempting it to peakbag another local peak in the Catskill 3500 club.  We passed on a bushwack and stayed the course to Table summit (3847').  We were there in minutes and the peak is marked by a small rock cairn. If you blink you will miss it.   Even less pronounced is the fact that you are crossing the Catskill divide at this point.  This means a water drop exactly here has the choice to flow either to the Delaware river or to the Hudson river. There are no views here, but a side trail to the left brings you to another viewpoint looking south-west back towards Denning road and the Neversink valley.  Below the 3500' mark, we found another side trail to the shelter. 

 The water source for the shelter was wet, but not flowing this time of year.  The descent was long but not tough on the knees and we soon made the Neversink valley.

 A new set of bridges were there since Irene and we pondered how they got several large steel beams there.  It did not look like a volunteer job. We crossed the interchange of the LP and the Finger lakes trail start and turned down that trail to Denning rd in a 1.2 mile woods road walk.  If we had more time, I think it would have been better to have stayed on the LP to the Slide mountain parking area and covered the extra few miles to that spot since I finished with energy to spare. 

Trail Stats:  About 7.6 miles on the LP and 1.2 miles connecting walk. 

Conditioning:  Easy day.    

LINK TO NEXT ENTRY - Slide-Cornell-Wittenburg

Agony Grind and Agonizing Humidity -LP Bypass

August 5, 2012

After a relaxing Jersey shore vacation week, I wanted to pick up the LP trail at Peekamoose mt, but unfortunately, it couldn't get scheduled it in with Chris.  The next few weeks are also tied up for me, so it will be a while till I can get back up to the Catskills.  My fallback plan is to hike the Appalachian (AT) link via highpoint to the SRT, which is the Long Path  "bypass" preferred by the few thru-hikers to avoid the Orange county road walk.  As mentioned earlier in the blog, I had wanted to hike both sections anyway, so it is a perfect local alternative to the Catskills.  Jeff Rogg met me at the AT on NY County Rd 5 and we shuttled back over to Elk Pen in Harriman to start the day hike. [footnote -  I completed the hike from the LP-AT junction back to Elk Pen with Mauro in Dec '11, so that first little section was already checked off my list.]

We crossed Rt 17 and headed up a section of the AT called “Agony Grind”.  I found it relatively easy, so the section name is a bit overblown.  The thing I noticed instead was the stifling 100% humidity that made everything that much harder.  I was drenched in sweat from the first ascent and there would be no relief from it today.  The wind was light and occasional on the summits, so any breeze felt like a gift from above. 

The AT has a completely different feel to it than the LP.  The trail was nicely worn from the heavy foot traffic this trail experiences.  At every flat, peaceful area we passed, there was inevitably a neatly arranged primitive fire ring and typically a rustic log bench for a make-shift seating area.  One would not have to worry about where to spend a night in this section when reaching a shelter was not possible. We passed several AT thru-hikers on their way to Maine going in the opposite direction.  Also a pair of hikers doing the NY section only for about a week. What a great experience they are having. We wondered how many miles a day they were able to go in this heat and humidity. They were all in great shape and seem to be weathering it better than us, even with their heavy packs on.  Water was their biggest concern since most streams were dried up or stagnant at this time.  The trail Angels were evident in this section and we passed many empty water jugs, a few partially empty and some full ones in a cooler.  In fact a guy was loading new ones into the cooler at West Mombasha Rd. as we passed by.  I took the time to thank him, even though I didn’t need any water.

Jeff, with Sterling Forest in the backdrop

A green caterpillar

A tree arch

The weather forecast said rain after 1PM and like clockwork the rain began then and it felt good.  It stopped after 10 minutes and it wasn't really enough to even begin to cool me down.  In fact, we finished the hike completely soaked to the core from sweat and not from the rain.  I do tip my hat to the thru-hikers enduring the August heat and humidity (and heavy rains when they come).  The heat saps an incredible amount of energy and is a big factor in anyone considering a long August hike.  I was curious and weighed myself when i got home and found I lost a few pounds during the day even though I drank over 2 liters of fluids. So I didn't really maintain hydration even if I thought I was doing a good job on the trail. I think only rest periods can allow for that under such conditions.  The next time, I’ll bring electrolyte tabs for a better recovery since I lost a huge ration of salt in the process as well.  I actually craved salty corn chips and ate them up later like a pig.  It’s an unusual feeling to eat salty junk food without guilt. 

A really good website for the local New York AT trails exists at: http://www.cnyhiking.com/ATinNewYork.htm

Elk Pen - West Mombasha Rd on AT

West Mombasha Rd to County Rd 5 on AT

Overall this was a really nice section to hike, and challenging enough for most hikers looking for a bunch of fairly steep, but relatively short, ups and downs to train on.  My legs (and knees) felt great afterwards and I could have gone a few more miles in that department, but I'll have to admit that Jeff and I were both happy to get out of the heat and head to our homes for the comfort of a cool pool and AC.  

Trail Stats: 0 on the LP, 8 miles on the AT bypass.

Link to Next section on the LP (AT-SRT) Bypass