Catskills 3500: Devil's Path (Classic Route)

Today, Marc, Alex, and I hiked up four Catskill Peaks (Indian Head, Twin, Sugarloaf (Mink), and Plateau). When hikers attempt to summit all four in a hike, they travel along the trail called Devil's Path. Devil's Path extends beyond these four mountains to three additional mountains and 23-miles. For today's hike, we only did the "Classic Route" of about 12.4-miles. I can see why they call this "Devil's Path." It is supposedly the most difficult hiking trail in the East - there is little water, difficult scrambles, and sheer cliffs. And if done in the winter, there is ice, steep ascents and descents, and lots of scary moments.

Our ascent going up Indian Head (looking back)

Lots of Climbing Up & Down Things

So many up and down-hill climbs

Alex Crushin' It!

This hike really challenged me...hard, and pretty much hurt me to almost breaking me. Actually, it did break me. There was a lot of pain - physically and emotionally with this one. I had taped my knees, used trekking poles, and took pain killers. But these four peaks still broke me.

We started at the Steenburgh Road parking lot trailhead. After hiking and ascending 2.2 miles, we summitted Indian Head (3,573 ft). When we were ascending up to Indian Head, there was this one part where the trail literally went straight up, like 90 degrees. I wish I brought some mountaineering crampons instead of just my microspikes. Even a harness with some rope should have been brought. It was scary trying to climb my way up smooth, slippery ice. But we made it and my knees were just getting tired, but not in pain (yikes, and this was the first peak). 

After summitting, you descend down into Jimmy Nolan Notch, but only for a short moment, as you begin to ascend again up to Twin Peak (3,640-ft). There were a lot more intense ups and downs getting on and off this mountain. Before getting down, we run into our car switch team (my colleague, David, and his brother). When you hike this trail, it is best to involve two cars, so you do not have to hike back to your car to get home. We switched keys, told each other which car it was, and where we would meet up when we all finished to switch our cars back. 

You then descend into Pecoy Notch and then here comes Sugarloaf Mountain. I think we had lunch before or slightly after this mountain. Sugarloaf is about 3,800-ft. The decline from this mountain really started to trigger some pain in my left knee. I was not quite sure how I was going to finish this last mountain. We descended into Mink Hollow and then began our last ascent. The last ascent was the steepest ascent of them all. That is when Devil's Path broke me. I was trying to climb over a huge boulder thing and my knees just about had it. I literally cried from so much pain. I felt such defeat and embarrassment for my weakness. After a little bit of rest, I conjured the rest of the strength I had and got to the top of Plateau Mountain (3,840-ft). The other part about Plateau that also pushed my patience, its length. Hence its name, Plateau's top is long. When we finally got to the descent, our daylight was dwindling (we were already pushing 9+ hours of hiking) and had maybe 1-2 more hours of hiking to go. The descent was painful for my knees and I think the last mile I was pretty much sledding down the trail on my behind. But around 6 and 7pm, we finally made it to the other car (after starting around 8am). 

This was a hard hike for me and I definitely pushed myself to it. I am proud that I did the most challenging hike in the East and to do it in the winter. I am definitely not discouraged of continuing my trek to accomplish all the Catskill peaks. I think that I may not try and do four-peaks in a row again.

TheChristyBel

Catskills 3500: Eagle Mountain

Got a text from my friend, Alex, the other day with an invitation to go hiking up in the Catskills. She told there is a program called the 3500 Club. The 3500 Club is an organization that people can join where they can summit all of the peaks in the Catskill Park that are over 3,500 ft. For someone who loves to summit mountains and pose...this seemed like a great activity for me to get involved in. You can read more about this program here.

The 3500 Club: There are about 39 peaks in the Catskill Park that are over 3,500 feet. Many have actual trails that lead to them, however, there are a few that you have to bushwhack to summit. So, you have to start somewhere: so my first mountain was Eagle Mountain.

We parked at the Seager parking lot and trailhead. The conditions were super snowy up here. We needed to wear winter boots and microspikes to get up to the summit. The hike was about 8.2-miles round trip. This hike also included a water crossing...however, you'd think in the winter, you can cross on ice. Well, this brook was flowing and it was not at all covered in ice. So we had to hike a mile up the brook just to find some trees and some available ice to help us cross!

We ate lunch at the Shandaken lean-to. The lean-tos in the Catskill Park are pretty nice. They come equipped with a pot, knife, a shovel, and an axe! At least that is what this one had in it. The port-a-john definitely looked updated, however, the door was OFF when we arrived. So whoever used it, was completely exposed and had a great view out into the forest.

Shandaken Lean-To

Missing a Door to the Potty!

Narnia

As we ascended more up to Eagle Mountain, the snow got more clumpy on the trees! It looked like Narnia up there! After about a mile of tredging through snow, we got to a huge cairn that was the summit of Eagle Mountain. There was no view like most summits I have done, a lot of the forest has grown in and over. So the cairn was a great sign of us accomplishing our goal.

I had a great time hiking with Alex and her friend, Mel. It is always nice when you hike with friends - you catch up, talk about everything and anything, and support each other along the journey! Super excited to add more mountains to my 3500 list!

Eagle Mountain is in the Books!

Summit Pose!
Eagle Mountain: 3,600-feet
Catskill Park, New York