Devils Path trip report

“Over Memorial day weekend, Nogranola, Lost Soul and myself headed up to the Catskills and Hit the Devils path. We went up and over Westkill then up Hunter and stayed at the shelter there. We continued around Hunter after Bagging South west Hunter the next Morning. Once we got down we decided to beat the traffic on the Thru way and beat it back to NG's for a cookout with Ribs, Grilled clams, Italian sausage, and Snow goose. and lots and lots of beer.

a lightning storm chased me out of my Hammock and John out of his tent (He was under the tallest tree on top of the mountain. It then poured pretty heavily but not enough to chase the resident Porky-pine away from chewing on the shelter.

I had a great time and am heading back in the fall to kick the DP's but I promise you.”

“My Pics


http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/572450501voIzkJ”

“Ha!!

There's been some backpacking going on!”

“Nice pics Dude!!!
Ya otta check out my Pictured Rocks trip!! Were going the end of june!!
You could fly to Milwauke and ride up with us from there!!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“ill give it a looksee Randal. great to hear from you. I figure its about dag blame time I headed up your way anyway.”

“Nice pics!

It just dawned on me...I don't think I've ever hiked with Lost Soul in warm weather. It took me a minute to recognize him without his puffy blue down jacket. :D

Glad someone is getting out there backpacking. ;)”

“Dates: 5/23-5/24
Location: Catskills, NY
Trail: The Devil’s Path
Miles: 16
Hikers: no_granola, lost soul, jackstraw

It was already noon and we were looking to grind out nine or ten miles so there wasn’t much time to waste. We got out of the car, drank some water and headed up the trail.

The first five minutes of climbing were pretty rough on my out of shape legs. Out in front lost soul had already begun to fade in and out of sight and the pre-summer sun did its damnedest to extract the moisture out of the lush spring leaves of the forest: just the kind of environment black flies enjoy. As it turns out, they also enjoy feasting on my flesh, but that’s the kind of thing you have to expect in the Catskills this time of year.

So we trudged on, lost soul up in front, me and jackstraw bringing up the rear like the splendidly old fat and slow fools that we are. It didn’t matter though. It was just good to be out with a pack on and heading uphill, over rocks and without too much in the way of mud. In fact, it was so good that we kept going uphill for about 2000 feet to the summit of West Kill. There ain’t much in the way of a view from the summit but we stopped and ate a well-deserved lunch anyway. The last stretch of the climb was fairly gradual but my legs were like rubber from the tight contour lines at the bottom of the hill. Man, I need to get my spare tire on a program.

The hike down the other side of West Kill was much easier so we made pretty good time on that leg, and when we got to the bottom we were greeted by a spectacular view and the roaring rush of Diamond Notch Falls. There’s nothing in the world quite like the sweet melody of a torrent, but alas one can only tarry so long beside a gushing falls before the call of the rocky path beckons. And so after some debate on a plan of action we decided to climb the next ascent and camp near the Devil’s Acre lean-to.

Well let me tell you something. That was a mistake right there. Jackstraw and I struggled with the 1300 foot climb and lost soul quickly passed out of sight up ahead. I don’t think I can remember a trip where I had to stop so often on my way up hill. We finally stumbled out onto a rock shelf at the top about an hour and a half later. Lost soul was sitting there in the sun, looking a bit chilled but very well rested. We joined him for a spell, taking in the view of Southwest Hunter Mountain and catching our breath. It was good spot to sit and a beautiful day to be alive. After a brief spell it was time to move on.

The lean-to and spring were less than a mile of level walking away and we covered it quickly. But upon our arrival we discovered that a young couple from New Jersey already occupied the shelter, sitting with their legs dangling over the edge of the porcupine-damaged Adirondack shelter floor. Greetings were exchanged and tents set up out back, and as we sat down to dinner I declared that it was clearly NOT GOING TO RAIN and that the weather fearcasters had been wrong once again.

I woke with a start at about 2:00 AM, the earth beneath me still quaking from the thunder blast that shattered the silence, a violent anti-segue from a calm night to raging downpour. Jackstraw and I both scooped up our sleeping pads and bags and hightailed it into the shelter. Sleeping in a hammock during a thunderstorm on top of a mountain didn’t seem like a great idea to him and sleeping in a tent at the base of the tallest tree in the area was not appealing to me. Instead we braved the threat of porcupine chews and quickly fell asleep with the wind whipping up and a heavy rain pummeling the roof.

In the morning the sun came out. We lounged around and had a leisurely breakfast while hashing out a plan for the day. It was 14 miles to the shelter we had planned to stay at, but it wasn’t feeling like a 14 mile day, especially not on this trail, which would have meant another 3000+ plus feet of climbing gain on the day. Instead we opted for a quick summit of Southwest Hunter without our packs. It was an easy peak as the unmaintained track was pretty well-beaten by the passage of many feet. Then we skipped back in to the shelter, packed up camp, headed for the summit of Hunter Mountain where we climbed the fire tower, ate lunch and trucked back down the mountain.

I’ll be back to give it another shot in the fall when I’m in better shape.


What I learned:

They call it The Devil’s Path for a reason.
I need to lose 10 pounds before I try this again.
I am indeed old, fat and slow.
I could be a weatherman. Making inaccurate weather predictions is easy.
Memorial Day hikes should be an easy 45 miles rather than a hard as hell 26 miles.”

“Stop beating yourself up, NoG.”

“Nice trip report. Hell, I just did a 4 mile day hike this weekend on rolling terrain and it kicked my azz. Kicking off the hiking season is always hard, but it gets better through the summer...”

“Thanks for the trip report & sharing the pics!!!......beautiful!!!!!
...why is there chicken wire on the signs????”

“Bears, my dear.....”

“they eat the signs?”

“Div= knows nothing about bears”

“I don't know if they eat them, but they claw the hell out of them.”

“2 things I am afraid of...bears & alligators”

“Nice TR guys, t'was a nice weekend to get out in spite of the weather.”

“cool pics and reports ya'lls. I love the DP. The view from the Hunter Mountain tower is awesome! When I was there a few years ago, it was totally socked in. You found SW Hunter canister? WE had trouble finding it, never did.

The signs have chicken wire due to the porkupines.”

“cool pics and reports ya'lls. I love the DP. The view from the Hunter Mountain tower is awesome! When I was there a few years ago, it was totally socked in. You found SW Hunter canister? WE had trouble finding it, never did.

The signs have chicken wire due to the porkupines.”