Catskill Mountains
Greene County,
New York
Trails:
Devil's Path: Red Blaze
Hunter Mountain Trail: Yellow Blaze
Spruceton Trail: Blue Blaze
Colonel's Chair Trail: Yellow Blaze
Total Time: 8 Hours
Total Distance: 11.8 Miles
Hiking Partner:
Meir Fallen
I had actually planned to go on a two day hiking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but the plans fell through so I took the day off for a full day hike in the Catskill High Peaks. This hike took all day, with 3000 feet of total elevation gain. We started at Stony Clove Notch off Route 212, which is a deep valley surrounded by steep cliffs of 1500 feet surrounding both sides of the valley. We parked a the Devil's Tombstone State Campground, and took the Devils Path up its very steep ascent of Hunter Mountain.
At the 3500 elevation line, we veered off to the Hunter Mountain Trail, to its terminus at the summit, and then climbed the Fire Tower at the top of the mountain. Although the Fire Tower is closed at the top, you can still take it all the way up, and it affords an unbelievable panoramic view. We had lunch at Fire Tower, and then continued down the Spruceton Trail until the Colonel's Chair Trail. We took the Colonel's Chair Trail till its end at the top of the Skiing area, where there are further good views. The top of the skiing area is actually about 1000 feet lower then the mountain's summit.
We turned around back up the Colonel's Chair to the Spruceton Trail, and then went a bit more east on the Spruceton until the lean to and lookout. The lean to was brand new and just rebuilt. At this point we turned around back the way we came, and took a small detour at the Hunter Summit for the summit viewpoint that faces south. After that we continued back down the same route back to the car.
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| Map of the Route |
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| At the beginning of the Trail. Stony Clove Notch and Lake. |
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| At the 3500 Elevation mark on Devils Path |
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| The Fire Tower and Cabin at the Summit |
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| On Tower facing South |
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| From Tower facing east towards Kaaterskill High Peak |
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| Meir near the top with cabin below |
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| Facing northwest towards WestKill Mountain |
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| Looking up at the Tower |
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| A snowshoe hare at the top. This hare was huge, and it was really freaky how it following us for food. It must be a mascot on the top of the mountain. |
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| At an opening on the Spruceton Trail. Facing east towards Tannersville. |
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| View from Colonels Chair. Facing southeast. |
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| At the top of the ski lift. Facing East. |
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| Westkill Mountain from the Ski Lift top. Facing West. |
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| The Blackhead Range in the distance: Thomas Cole, Black Dome, and Black Head. Facing northeast from Colonels Chair. |
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| Me at the Hunter south viewpoint. |
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| Another view at the Hunter south viewpoint. Facing south. |
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| Yet another view at the Hunter south viewpoint. Facing southeast. |
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