Devil's Path dayhike Trip Report

“I got off of work at 530pm friday, went home had dinner and pcked up my gear. I was on the road by 730pm. Mapquest said it was 350 miles to Devils Tombstone CG and that it was a 6 hour drive. It turned out to be nearly 400 miles and more than 7 hours of driving (I went through Philly and directions called for avoiding philly via NJ turnpike and plus I hit a lot of traffic jams on the way). I got to the CG at 3am and drove thru the sites a few times to see if I could find the other guys. I couldn't. I then pulled off in a parking area and shut my eyes for an hour. At 530 I then drove through the sites again and saw a group of guys getting stuff together for a hike. I got out and asked if they were with TT and they said yes. Then Pennsy got out the tent, "Comrade EarthNsky". Good, I made it. I was tired though after not sleeping the night before. We got to the TH around 630 and started hiking. The trail starts out as a nice walk in the woods for a mile or so. It quickly changes after that when you start climbing up Indian Head. On the way up, I stopped to change into shorts and eat some food. The group continued on. I was a ways behind the group after that. The views on the top of Indian Head and Twin were very nice and I always love walking in Spruce and Balsam forests. You could see the Hudson River from many of the views.

While I was in the notch between Indian Head and Twin I heard someone calling my name. There was a rock cliff in front of me and I looked up and saw LT looking down. I then climbed up the steep slope towards Twin, got to the overlook where LT was, awesome views and then continued my way to the summit. Somewhere on the way to the summit the trail made a hard right turn and wasn't marked. I looked all around for the trail and couldn't find it and finally became disoriented and ended up walking a mile in the wrong direction the trail. I realized I was going the wrong way when I got back to the overlook where I saw LT before. crap. Now I was really far behind the group. So I hiked back up the steep climb up Twin, found the right trail and took in the views at the summit. In the notch below I caught up with JMitch and LT Hiker who were waiting for me. Thanks guys. We Climbed up and over Sugar Loaf which was another steep climb/descent. On the way up Plateau Mtn. we pumped water. LT went ahead. JMitch and I stayed together. Neither of us had trail maps and were new to the trail. The sign in between Sugar Loaf and Plateau read "Plateau 3.4 miles, 1240 elevation gain". I figured it was going to be a gradual climb up Plateau. Not! It was straight up the side of the mountain and in my opinion, the hardest, steepest climb of the first half of the trail. Once on top though it was nice going for more than a mile. Not many views though. The descent down off of Plateau was steep and rocky(lots of loose rocks). Legs wanted to run and it was necessary to apply the brakes the entire way down. The whole down I was thinking about whether I wanted to stop in the middle or do the second half of the trail. I was feeling pretty good. I was really tired though from not sleeping the night before. It was also 2pm. I figured I would make the call when I reached the road. JMitch was of the same opinion. We heard a waterfall nearby but the trail never went over to it. Pepsi radio'd me (I was carrying the second radio) that they were going up Hunter on the other side of the road. MFParker was with him and Pennsy wasn't too far behind, Sirpete stopped at the road. I advised that I was with JMitch and LT was a few minutes ahead. We got to the road and met up with Sirpete and LT and chilled out at the picnic benches at the pond there. After sitting for a few minutes I was pretty sure I wasn't going to do the last 13miles. I was still feeling pretty good but I was really tired and I was thinking about dinner and a nap. JMitch also decided he wasn't going to do the last 13 miles, same with LT. We went back to the campsite, listened to the Beatles Abbey Road album 5 times and talked about some mountains and hiking trips. I ate my dinner, it started to rain and it was 5a'clock. I decided to hit the road. I stopped at my dad's at about 1130pm. Still have 150 miles to go. I took a few photos, I'll post them soon.”

“I left before Pennsy, Pepsi and MFParker finished. I hope everyone made it ok. The Devils Path is a really hard trail and dayhiking the entire 26mile trail is a major feat. Congratulations guys. I hiked about 14 miles including my backtrack and felt pretty satisfied when I got to the halfway point. I think the Devils Path would make an excellent overnight trip. Maybe one day I will finish it.”

“To dayhike a path like that is such a waste of a good trail.”

“Wow, what a surprise. Another post by Buddur telling others to hike HIS hike, not ours.

Last year, Backpacker mag called the Devil's Path the toughest dayhike in America. A group of us, who have been on this trail numerous times, thought it would be fun to give it a shot one day. It's not about "uberness" or competition, but just something different to do as a personal challenge. Tom, your post really pisses me off.

Anywho, back to the trip. The Devil's Path is a brutal 26 mile trail in the NY Catskills that goes over 7 rocky peaks with 9000 ft of elevation gain.

I'll pick up where Comrade EarthNsky left off. First of all, the guys who did not continue have nothing to be ashamed of. The first part of the hike is 13.5 miles with 5300 ft elevation gain.

When Pete decided he was going to head back to the campground, I headed back up the trail. MFParker and Pepsi were a little bit ahead of me so I had some carrots. The climb out of Devil's Tombstone towards Hunter MT was steep and rocky, but knowing there was only one more major climb left (Westkill) made it somewhat easier.

Once on top, the trail was gentler for a few miles before descending to Diamond Notch. Down, down, down, knowing that up, up, up was next wasn't all that comforting. The 2.5 1500' climb up Westkill was a steady ballbreaker. I finally caught up to Pepsi on the summit and we hike the remaining 4.5 miles together.

It started to rain the last hour or so but we were mostly protected by the trees. We met MFParker's wife about 2 miles from the trailhead. She hiked in a ways to meet up with her husband. Wasn't that nice? We informed her that he was a bit behind us, and we continued on. Pepsi even started jogging a bit. LOL! The man is an animal to have much energy left.

We got to the trailhead at 6pm. Wow, what a day! 11 1/2 hours is a loooong day on the trail. I got into some dry clean clothes, while Pepsi headed back up the trail to make sure MFP was ok. Did I mention that Pepsi is an animal?

MFP and his wife came out soon after, and Pepsi and I headed back to camp. We had planned to cook steaks on the campfire, but since it was raining, we thought we would have to go out to eat. I was extremely pleased to drive into the cg and see a huge tarp over the picnic table and the fire roaring. Soon after the steaks were cooking and we had a great feast. Thanks guys!! :o)

This morning, Jmitch headed up to Kaaterskills Falls and the rest of us drove home. Lthiker had breakfast at Sweet Sue's in Phoenicia. What an awesome breakfast! I highly recommend Sweet Sue's to anyone for a post hike meal in the Catskills. Get there early though as this place is popular.”

“Congrat's you guys.”

“whoa!”

“dang my editing! I meant to say that Pepsi is an animal to have that much energy left. The hike up to Westkill was 2.5 miles with 1500' elevation gain. Lthiker and I had breakfast at Sweet Sues, not just him. Kinda weird to give a food report if I wasn't there, no?”

“That's an awesome hike guys.”

“It was a thorough buttkicker.”

“Congrats to all of you! Sorry I couldn't have been there.”

“BTW Comrad Earthnski where did you put Pansy's, I mean Pennsy's walkie talkie?”

“Oh yeah I forgot to say "It was what it was"”

“I put it in the tent. Did he not get it?”

“One of the tent dwellers must have it. I told them that's were I saw it but Lthiker insisted that it was in my truck.

I haven't unpacked all my gear yet, I still have my day pack to go through. I will check promptly. I last saw it sitting on top of Lthikers daypack.

Now that I think about it Lt, when I moved your pack from out of the doorway it was on top, did you do something with it when you noticed all the water leaking in the tent. Perhaps you used it to soak some of it up?”

“the Taj Mahal leaked?

btw - I'll get you for the pansy remark. ;o)”

“guys, congraduation!!!! I wish one of you can show me the photos about this trip.

pennsy - Did you take some photos?”

“Wanna - I left the camera home for this trip. We backpacked the Devil's Path last year around the same time if you want to see those pics. pics from LAST year's Devil Path trip.”

“It's the coming of the apocalypse.”

“pennsy - thank you for the photos. By the way, I went to the zoo in DC today. I took some pictures also. Like animals? please go to my web page and take a look. :o)”

“Glad to hear everyone had a great time. It rained for most of the day and night around here.”

“Woah, Pennsy, slow down cowboy. I wasn't trying to jerk anyone's chain, and I certainly wasn't telling anyone how to hike. To hike that trail in one day is quite a feat and congrats to everyone who did it. And I mean it. But I still think y'all are nuts for speed-demoning through such a killer trail.

And the trip report was great. Even yours EarthNsky...14 miles in that terrain is still quite a day.”

“wow, cool pics pens. that porcupine looks like a real prick though....”

“Congrats on accomplishing an insane feat. I can't wait to do this hike someday. Hiking is considered by many to be a sport, and I admire those who take themselves to physical extremes. You guys did just that, and my hat's off to you.”

“the Taj Mahal leaked? no I moved Lt's daypack and when I set it down I must have laid it on the nozzle for his Platupus. It leaked a bit of water out in the tent.

But on the bright side that side of the tent floor is really clean :)”

“I think pennsy didn't bring a camera so there would be no proof if he did it or not!!!


lol

good job guys.....ps, paintballing was great too; better than I thought.”

“Wow, congratulations to everyone on this trip. For me, Ohio actually turned out to be better than I expected, and while it didn't exactly have 4-figure elevation gain, it did present it's own challenges -- like how not to get poison ivy or how not to slide down the muddy slope on your @$$...

I still want to get up to the Devil's Path, though, sometime when my knee is back to 100% (I have a feeling I'm going to need that -- which is why I bailed on this to begin with...)”

“i didn't get home until 7pm last night.

the trail is tough, very tough. plateau took a lot out of me. it's a nice trail, lots of scrambling, though i did expect more views, it's mostly a very rugged trail through the woods. the views i did see were excellent, especially from twin.

i wasn't able to finish due to time and mild cramping in my left thigh, but i'll be back. pennsy, pepsi, and mfparker did an amazing job. pepsi's pace is unreal. as always, the company was excellent and i got to meet many new people, including pepsi, mfparker, pete, and earthnsky.

lthiker, i thought you were going to the falls!! anyways, i was at the parking lot after y'all left and one of the brothers/rangers magically sneaks up on me and appears out of the air, it's the short-haired brother. he's looking sad and forlorn. he says to me, "i see your buddies didn't fill out the reply card." so i had to assure him that i would, he got a little happier. i gave a glowing report. these two rangers are in a class by themselves.

i then drove to kaaterskill falls and bastion falls. the flow was good. i was able to scramble to the second level of the falls and hiked under the overhang behind the falls- incredibly beautiful. i then hiked to sunset rock and inspiration point, the views were excellent. i then hiked to ashley falls, a cascading 30 foot waterfall. finally, i drove home.

great weekend.”

“Great reports and pictures all, what an adventure.”

“Sorry about ditching you for the falls trips. I thought I told you that I wasn't going to go, oh well.

This was my second time on the Devils path, the first time we did it in 3 days and enjoyed the veiws and the sights and even stopped to smell some flowers.
I felt really good on this hike although my up hills are still too slow, that is what killed me. I was actually jogging some on top of Platuea trying to catch up to the front runners. I could tell I wasn't too far behind since the rocks still had wet foot prints on them. At the start of the down hill off Platuea I came accross some day hikers that said I was only about 5 minute behind Pete I think. Then came that Downhill, it kicked my butt!!!! It is one of those downhills that is to steep to just walk down but not steep enough to step down the rocks. You are in constant braking mode and your legs just take a beating. Halfway down my knee started hurting.
I reached the bottom at 1:45 and really wanted to continue but I knew that the downhill off Hunter and off Westkill would probably put my knee in really bad shape. I need to get my left knee in better shape.
I officially threw in the towel. Pete and I walked back to the campsite and I changed into clean dry clothes while we waited for Jmitch and Earthnsky.

Looking back I am really glad that I stopped. I would not have finished until 8 at the earliest and by then it was raining pretty good.

I think that a fall Devils Path Day hike revenge might be in order.”

“yeah, a fall hike maybe what the doctor ordered.”

“And another trip thread heads for the bottom!

I just finished unpacking my bags and Panssy's radio was not in them. I will lok in my car really good later today.

My thighs hurt so bad right now I can hardly walk up and down stairs.”

“I'll have to think about this fall revenge trip. Seem there are going to be a few then.”

“Craziness and couldn't come from a more deserving group! My knee hurts just reading this thread!”

“sorry I didn't get any group shots. We spread out 2 miles into the hike. My knee is still a little sore. I want to finish the hike. It was a fun trail. Glad I made the last minute decision to join.”

“Yo Comrade, your pics are great. Thanks for being the only one to bring a camera.

Haven't heard from Pepsi yet. My guess he's back on the trail but doing it in reverse.

By golly, my legs still function. I went for a short trail run tonight to see if I could still put one in front of the other. The legs feel heavy but they still work and I didn't fall down. Woohoo!

"Craziness and couldn't..."
Tango

Ummm Tango, you forgot a word before couldn't. Was it charming, dashing, handsome, or perhaps brilliant?”

“Great pictures, I sent my camera off to be repaired today, hope it dosen't take long.

The hike, and the great food after was absolutely the best.

How about the Escarpment Trail next?”

“If you want something crazy you could do the Adk Great Range plus the MacIntyers. 28+miles, 13 high peaks, and almost 14,000feet of elevation gain and loss.
lol”

“Hmm that sounds like fun!”

“That sounds like an awesome hike. What is the highest elevation? Anything above treeline?”

“I would say yes.”