[Pictures]
It was bound to happen. With spring in full force in the ADK High Peaks and training needed for some upcoming hikes, I was forced to look elsewhere for some mountains. The other option was the Tongue Mt range, but Val convinced me to (finally) give some Catskill peaks a try. Our goal was for Sugarloaf and Twin. We opted for just Sugarloaf because of threatening weather and a time constraint.
We arrived and spoke briefly with a rookie Assistant Ranger. He was cheerful and seemed surprised by our itinerary (perhaps I explained it wrong).
The trail splits about a quarter mile in and we went right. There's a few water crossings of moss covered brooks where I stopped to snap some photos.
The climb starts gradually and you end up following a contour for a mile or so until you reach the first set of intersections (Devil's Path). It's from here it gets steep with several moderate rock scrambles. We ran into Unadogger (Sabrina) and a few other hikers doing the entire Devil's Path as a dayhike. Even as far away from my normal haunts as I could get I still ran into someone I knew!
The clear skies were starting to fade in/out of building clouds. We had started about 8:45AM and it was after 11AM now. There was a chance for thunderstorms in the afternoon so we knew we had to keep a decent pace if we were to avoid getting soaked.
The scrambles were fun and the trail was generally dry. Bugs were minimal until later when the black flies would start to swarm.
At the top we initially walked right past the yellow marked side trail and had to back track. We also ran into the Assistant Ranger and ended up spending lunchtime at the lookout trading stories and predicting the weather (think we did as good as the professionals that day).
The descent into the col toward Twin Mt went smoothly. The col itself was suprisingly open, probably a result of logging which there were a lot of indications of throughout the day. I felt good and knowing it was 1,000' to Twin I opted to call it a day knowing it could rain and we eventually needed to pickup my friend later. We'll probably do all or sections of the Devil's Path someday.
On the hike out we ran across a larger beaver dam and an old rock quarry with some interesting and creative engineering done by bored hikers/locals.
Considering it was less than 90 minutes from home I would definitely do more Catskill hikes in the future. At no time was I easily wowed like I would be in the ADK HP, but there's a charm and beauty of its own down there. Well worth the gas and time!
It was bound to happen. With spring in full force in the ADK High Peaks and training needed for some upcoming hikes, I was forced to look elsewhere for some mountains. The other option was the Tongue Mt range, but Val convinced me to (finally) give some Catskill peaks a try. Our goal was for Sugarloaf and Twin. We opted for just Sugarloaf because of threatening weather and a time constraint.
We arrived and spoke briefly with a rookie Assistant Ranger. He was cheerful and seemed surprised by our itinerary (perhaps I explained it wrong).
The trail splits about a quarter mile in and we went right. There's a few water crossings of moss covered brooks where I stopped to snap some photos.
The climb starts gradually and you end up following a contour for a mile or so until you reach the first set of intersections (Devil's Path). It's from here it gets steep with several moderate rock scrambles. We ran into Unadogger (Sabrina) and a few other hikers doing the entire Devil's Path as a dayhike. Even as far away from my normal haunts as I could get I still ran into someone I knew!
The clear skies were starting to fade in/out of building clouds. We had started about 8:45AM and it was after 11AM now. There was a chance for thunderstorms in the afternoon so we knew we had to keep a decent pace if we were to avoid getting soaked.
The scrambles were fun and the trail was generally dry. Bugs were minimal until later when the black flies would start to swarm.
At the top we initially walked right past the yellow marked side trail and had to back track. We also ran into the Assistant Ranger and ended up spending lunchtime at the lookout trading stories and predicting the weather (think we did as good as the professionals that day).
The descent into the col toward Twin Mt went smoothly. The col itself was suprisingly open, probably a result of logging which there were a lot of indications of throughout the day. I felt good and knowing it was 1,000' to Twin I opted to call it a day knowing it could rain and we eventually needed to pickup my friend later. We'll probably do all or sections of the Devil's Path someday.
On the hike out we ran across a larger beaver dam and an old rock quarry with some interesting and creative engineering done by bored hikers/locals.
Considering it was less than 90 minutes from home I would definitely do more Catskill hikes in the future. At no time was I easily wowed like I would be in the ADK HP, but there's a charm and beauty of its own down there. Well worth the gas and time!
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