Devil's Path with A VengeanceTrip Report and Pics

“Great time had by all, and our butts got kicked. Trip report and pictures are up on my website. Below is a direct link.

http://www.jamieofthenorth.com/Devil's%20Path%20Death%20March.htm

Thanks to everyone who went for a great time! Nice to see old friends and make new ones.”

“LMAO..first of all...what's up with Blaine? why is he not wearing blue?

second...love the picture of pennsy...wonder how he feels about it..

Next...great TR. I think I need to get in a little bit better shape before I try this one... but who knows...maybe next year.

Glad you did't pass out! dang...one should know better huh? I am almost sure that this is how alot of mistakes are made...and hikers get hurt. [nag, nagg, nagg...yeah....heeheehee]”

“Excellent TR, I've only done half of the Devils Path and it kicked my a$$. A true test of mental and physical toughness. Great job you guys!”

“awesome!”

“Nice report, pictures and sounds like everyone had a great time.”

““LMAO..first of all...what's up with Blaine? why is he not wearing blue?

Gemini
7:44:56 PM
6/05/05"

Obviously, he didn't get the memo.”

“I am home and had an awesome weekend. I didn't finish the trail again this year, but still feel like I got a satisfying weekend of buttkicker hiking in. Pics to come soon!”

“Artex, your trip report and pics are awesome! You got some really good'uns. I had trouble getting good photos cuz the sun was so bright, but your's came out great.

Good job on the hike too!”

“Been home for about 2 hours now after stopping off at my dad's today. For my first New York hike of the year (some home turf, eh?), I only did Twin, Sugar Loaf, and Plateau with Sacco and Chrissy, but then again, we knew we weren't going all the way and started out a bit later than the rest of the gang (we're such slackers).

Sugar Loaf kicked my butt once again, and contrary to popular consensus, I thought it was much harder than either Twin or Plateau; I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

We also got a nice reminder of why summer hiking/camping in New York is so awesome. Though it got real hot and muggy during the day (yes, upper 80's is considered grotesquely hot for New York), at night it cooled to a real comfortable 65 or so. We even all put on long pants eventually as the sun went down (though I'm still not sure if that was for the cooler temps or to protect ourselves from the insane amounts of bugs that seemed to own those woods...)

Anyway, I had an awesome time and can't wait to do something in New York again. At only two hours away from home, this is one of the closest trips to home I've done all year...”

“Yikes, I was happy that I was able to do a little over 7 minutes on the treadmill before my back had a twinge and I had to stop! I feel like such a wimp after reading that!

Sounds like a total kick butt time! Nice pics but not enough them! Good to see Pens is still alive.”

“chrissy was pissed that we got up late and only did half the trail. she says she coulda done the whole thing.

ok, i'm lying. i was still pretty impressed that she did half of it with phantom and i as this was her first hike of the year!


wish we coulda stayed sat. night and hung out with you guys. anyways, congrats to ya'll!

-except for dave. he belongs in an insane asylum.
last edited: 6/06/05 7:56:43 AM”

“Awesome Dude!

Well done!”

“so who's up for dayhiking the escarpment trail sometime this year?”

““so who's up for dayhiking the escarpment trail sometime this year?”
sacco
9:13:36 AM
6/06/05
ignore this user

Hmmmmm?”

“rather than hijack this thread

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/38619,1.php



BTW, hey artex - that's a real spiffy site you got. very cool”

“That trail kicked my A$$. I was not prepared like I should of been.
The pre-hike we did friday to bag 2 peaks probably didnt help the cause.
Now I know for next year.”

“Congrats to ALL who participated, whether you hiked the whole trail which is an awesome achievement, or decided to hike a part and admire the views.”

“gotta say, I'm not about killing or hurting myself in any stretch of the imagination, and mileage and time is irrelevant to me but I admire your accomplishment. Excellent tale! Hope you feel better soon.”

“I met Crazypace at his house at 6am on friday and we were on the road towards the Catskills by 630am. We made excellent time getting there and were having breakfast as Sweet Sues in Phonecia, NY (awesome breakfast) before 10am. They have the most awesome omlettes there and those blueberry muffins looked amazing, but somehow we resisted getting them.

around 10:30 we went up to the campground (Devils Tombstone) and met Gerry and he described in depth his disdain for his partner. We asked if we could set up camp and he said no, check in time was not until 12, however, he would allow us to drop our things off at the campsite. ??? Anyway, we did just that.

It even seemed like it was raining, it was in fact raining catapillar poo. The gypsy moths are devestating the trees there. Some of the mountain sides were completely void of leaves. Very sad. Gypsy Moths (worms) are more pollution than living species. I kill everyone I see.

Crazypace and had planned a small easy dayhike to Peakamoose and Table Mtns as a warm up for the Devils Path asault and we arived at the trailhead at 1230 after checking out Buttermilk Falls and a few other un-named waterfalls along Rt 42.

We quickly geared up and hit the trail. The trail is not a buttkicker, but it is a continuous climb and is a tad steep in some areas. There are several awesome vies along the way. We bagged both peaks and were back at the car before 430. It was an almost 9 miles round trip with around 3000 foot of gain. Maybe this warm up hike was not such a good idea afterall. Lesson learned. Sorry Crazypace.

Still, it was a very nice hike and Crazypace bagged his first Catskill 35er, Peekamoose. I got my 8th (Peakamoose) and 9th (Table).

We went back to camp and each set up our campsites as everyone else filtered in throughout the evening.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5am and were on the trail by 6:17. We were hauling ass out of the gates, but as the climb up Indian Head started we all broke up into smaller groups. I stayed with Lumberzac and Crazypace.

Our plan was to keep a steady pace, but not to go for speed and try and keep up our energy. The hills up all of the peaks are relentless climbs and the descents are nothing short. Still, the challenge is awesome. By the time we started down Sugarloaf, you could feel that the sun was in full force and the heat was starting to swelter and the humidity was intense.

We took a break in Mink Hollow and had some food and Gu. Thus began the climb up Plateau. That hill kicked all of our asses, especially with the sun blaring down on us. It's a 1200+ climb in a mile, very steep and rocky and the sun beats right down on you. It took us nearly an hour to climb it.

Once on top, the going got much easier. For two miles it was relatively flat. Right at the end of Plateau there are some nice views down into Stove Clove Notch and of Hunter Mountain. We then started the descent off of Plateau. The descent is not super steep, but it's steep enough to make you want to run, but with all the loose rock and talus, you have to keep thje brakes on. The constant braking is a knee killer.

I felt pretty good still at the bottom and wanted to continue, but Crazypace and Lumberzac weren't feeling up to it. We hung around Crazypace's campsite and I decided not to go forward as I would be the last in line and I was tired and didn't think it wouldn't be a good idea to attempt 13 more miles by myself.

the entire day I was kicking myself for not continuing, but I think it was a good decision. I will be back. I admire Lz and Crazypace for making a wise decision. It's never a good idea to push it and risk getting hurt.

Saturday night we all hung out at Pennsy's site and cooked steaks before going to bed.

Sunday, Pennsy, Crazypace and I checked some waterfalls out in Delaware Water Gap NRA and then got some icecream near Stroudsburg.

After leaving Crazypace's house around 3 I went and hiked up the west side of Lehigh Gap on the AT and then onto the North Trail, dropped down to Devils Pulpit. I didn't complete the loop, but I think I got about four miles of hiking in. It was really hot and I was anxious to get home.

Looking back, I think it was definitely a full wekend of some awesome hiking and as always with this group, the best company one could have in the woods.

pics to follow tonight.”

“Great report EarthNSky! Yes, no more "warm-up" hikes next time! :-) But we all had a blast and that's the important thing. I think it's safe to say we all had big fun.

Thanks Manuka, Stikmon and everyone else for the kind words. Consider coming along next year, whether for the challenge of the whole path or just part of it.

Glad you like me little website, sacco.. thanks!
last edited: 6/06/05 1:48:46 PM”

“but wasn't into backpacking till I moved to the flatland of SE Missouri. Thank goodness for company travel which has enabled me to learn backpacking. Wish I was back in the PA area to hike with my fellow chooches. We used to day hike up to New Paltz and other such places, but never backpacking...one of these days the Daks and the Catz will be mine to hold.”

“Artex - Great report and pics, but I agree with Tango. More pics on your trip reports, dammit! Tango - I'm glad I'm still alive too. :o)

What a difference a few degrees makes. Last year, I cruised through this hike, but it had to be 15-20 degrees warmer this year, and the ole legs seized up climbing up Hunter. Still a great weekend and I'm already looking forward to DP III next year.”

“there are some vibrations in the works Pennsy, I'll keep you posted.”

“Part of my general photography strategy is take a crap load of pictures, and then weed out the crap. I only took 20 total, so the pickings were slim. Hopefully the others will have some stellar pictures. :-)”

“Congrates guys wish I could have been there! Definately next year.

No Baby yet but it is getting close. We have had a few close calls where we thought it was definately coming, even called some friends to come over and wathe the other kids but they were just false alarms.”

“...and as always with this group, the best company one could have in the woods. - EarthNSky

Are you suggesting the rest of us aren't as good of company in the woods? Pffft. I see how you are.

Good trip reports, people, all of you, you know who you are.”

“I mean the vast majority of trail talkers in general.

We missed you LT, keep us posted on the baby. When will you be able to get back out on the trail?
last edited: 6/06/05 7:48:44 PM”

“Maybe if I am supper nice to my wife I might be able to go out for a weekend or two this fall.”

““Maybe if I am supper nice to my wife I might be able to go out for a weekend or two this fall.”
LtHiker
9:16:06 PM
6/06/05

You just have been hungry when you typed that. :-)”

“Lol, nope just super anxious to go hiking. I am hoping to get out on some small hikes with my son this summer or early fall. I have been scoping out some short 2-3 mile hikes into some cool spots that a 3 yo would enjoy.”

“Thanks for the in depth scoop folks. I just unloaded a bundle to get my Motorcycle Safety class under my belt, else I would have been there. Your trip reports and are the next best thing to being there.”

“Maybe you can sneak out this fall and come do the 3-day version of the Devil's Path. From the looks of it, I may have quite a crowd showing for that trip.

Details here.”

“I guess I'll add my own trip report about this hike as well. I'll give a little background so you can understand my pace. I seem to be locked in a race with myself where I'm always trying to 'one up' myself or top my last run, hike, snowhoe, etc. I'm also training for a 50K trail race (Wakely Dam Ultra) so I was using this hike and the Escarpment hike that I did two weeks ago as training.

As for the hike. This was my second time meeting up with some VFTT'ers and some folk from thebackpacker.com and once again I found that you all are a great group of people. I learned alot and it was great to finally talk with some people that have the same passions, hobbies... Alot of people I know think I'm nuts to be so active and do these hikes. They don't understand the feeling that you get when you're standing on some peak, or standing before some beautiful waterfall, etc and realize that most people you know are still asleep and there you are feeling "alive" and living life to it's fullest. Now without delay onto the trip report:

We started the hike at 6:15 and it seemed a little rough as it was taking longer than i expected to get into the swing of things and for my body to get warmed up. The whole way up Indian Head I kept finding myself wondering how I was going to do 20+ more miles of this. Artex and ATRunner were right behind me for most of the climb. We stopped for a breath and Artex mentioned that he wanted to slow down. He mentioned stopping at the peak of Indian Head, so i went ahead planning on stopping there and waiting for him to catch up. I proceeded on at my own steady pace (which seemed slow to me but turned out to be a pretty quick pace). The peak of Indian Head didn't have a marker, sign, etc so I cruised right on by it without noticing. By the time I realized that I had passed it I was already descending to begin the next long climb (which was repeated numerous times over the course of the day).

I stopped for awhile hoping they would catch up but decided to go on and figured that they would catch up to me. The miles started to fly by and I kept plodding along stopping at the views (which were amazing) and seeing if anyone was near by me. A few times I heard voices behind me but they never seemed to catch up to me. I'm slow on the descents so I think they would close the gap between us then and then I would start the ascents (which are my strenth) and the gap would widen. It started to get warm and I found myself drenched on the ascents. The worst portion of the trail (for me at least) was the section between the peaks of Sugarloaf and Plateau. There is a very nasty downhill with you climbing, jumping and trying to not hurt yourself as you descend down a very steep mountain side only to head right up a very steep and long climb up the other side. At the top of Plateau I started to get into the "zone" and then I just started cruising from that point on.

I reached the campground (roughly the halfway point) after 5 hours of hiking and decided to relax, eat lunch and fill my water bladder and wait for someone to catch up with me. I waited about a half hour then decided to go ahead. My legs were aching a little from the roughly 6000' of vertical and ~14 miles of hiking that I had already accomplished so i decided to head out before I changed my mind about the second half. I ended up running into two from our group at the trailhead but they stopped to eat lunch so i proceeded on. At this point I got myself in the "zone" and found myself actually enjoying the 1500+' climb up Hunter. I couldn't believe that I had hiked over 15 miles but yet I felt great. I proceeded on passing a few hikers along the way. I stopped at the falls for a snack and sat at the top of the falls enjoying the view and then carried on at my usual pace.

The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful except for two things. The last 200-300' climb over West or Westkill (not sure which one) seemed to pop up out of nowhere after I had begun what I thought was my final ascent and after a little swearing at the map, trail builders, etc I pushed myself over it. As I descended from this point the mosquitoes as well as the gnats decided to test my sanity by swarming me. They were everywhere and I couldn't swat at them quick enough. I knew I had only 1.5 miles left so I decided to jog/run the remaining portion so that I could be free of the swarm and keep my sanity. I made it to the parking lot after 9hrs 15min of hiking/10 hours with breaks feeling pretty good. Lumberzac and a few others from the group were sitting there looking pretty relaxed waiting for us. They seemed surprised that I was already done.

I ended up doing most of the hike solo and only passing about 5-6 other hikers the whole day but really enjoying the solitude and peacefulness of the whole day. It was definately a warm day though because i went through 8 liters of water over the course of the hike! Looks like I finally nailed down my nutrition needs though. Next time I'll try and make a point of staying with the rest of the group.... although I knew that if i slowed down and didn't hike at my optimal pace i would've been hurting worse. I had to go to a wedding the next day so I drove back to the campground, packed up my stuff and headed down to the city. I woke up the next day tired but not sore at all. I was very surprised to say the least.

All in all a great hike and weekend. I don't know if I would say that my pace is insane but it's just my natural gait.

-Dave”

“Hey guys,
Ya' make us all envious. Wish I could've attended. Like Jackstraw, I had to take my motorcycle safety course last weekend. Sounded like a great challenge and a lot of fun.”

“I think it was the 4 huge sausage sandwiches
you ate the night before and that fancy beer you brought (which was good BTW).
Still very impressive display of manliness!
You set the bar very high now for future attempts at this trail.”

“has this guy been tested for performance enhancing drugs?

somebody needs to piss test this guy

he's makin us all look bad”

“Sounds like you just volunteered yourself to hold the cup sacco.
8D

Next year as long as I get some hiking in beforehand, I'll be finishing the entire trek.”

“not me zac, i don't think i could keep up with him long enough to even test him!

you could probably do it though”

“If could finish within a half an hour of the guy, I'd be stoked. 10 hours is an awesome time. He's already a legend in my book.”

“i bet i could finish within a halfhour of him-


on a 2 mile hike”

“hey goat- how'd you like the 'carpment trail?

i'd like to do it this year”

“I just want to finish the freaken thing !!”

““I just want to finish the freaken thing !!”
Crazypace
2:16:48 PM
6/07/05
ignore this user

Ditto”

“I just want to finish the freaken thing !!”

“Hmmm you may be right Crazypace. I remember telling you (as i was eating my 4th Sausage Sandwich) that you have to eat a ton because you're going to need all that energy for the next day of hiking. I was laughing at all the replies to my post. What really enabled me to hike at such a good clip was hiking the Escarpment Trail 2 weeks prior (and a healthy dose of trail running).

The Escarpment Trail is a pretty nice hike. It's about 23 miles long and about 5000' of gain of which about 4000-4300' of that gain is accomplished in the first 13-14 miles. I thought the end (around North Lake) was rocky but no more rocky than parts of the Devil's Path.

Now what will be the next hike? Except for maybe doing the Pemi Loop in August sometime I can't find any really hard hikes in the East. If anyone's interested I'm doing the Great Range Traverse on June 25th. Let me know if you guys are doing any other hikes.”

“so how long did it take you to do the carp trail?”

“I knew it, the secret is "sausage sandwiches"The sale of sausage will skyrocket before the next big hike !”

“sorry in advance, CP...

i just couldn't resist
last edited: 6/07/05 2:52:54 PM”

“sorry ? Huh? what did I say ?”