2010 was a great year for hiking for me. I started winter hiking and was able to knock off 24 of the 48 - 4,000 footers in New Hampshire. I adopted the Sphinx Trail and was able to clear back the trail above treeline hopefully making it more enjoyable for hikers. I also was able to do most of the hikes I was looking forward to such as a Pemi Loop, full Presidential Traverse, a Franconia Notch Loop, hiking the abandoned Adams Slide Trail, Devil's Path (Catskills) and hike trails I've never been on like the Six Husbands, King Ravine, Great Gully, Davis Path, Madison Gulf, etc etc. I did however come up short of hiking 1,000 miles in the mountains this year, although it's kind of difficult having to drive from RI and gas prices are ridiculously high so I may never be able to achieve this but that's ok.
For 2011 I have set some goals which are the following
1. Finish the Winter 48 - 4,000 footers
2. Hike the Adirondack 46'ers
3. 24 hour hut to hut Traverse
4. Mahoosuc Notch Traverse
- Along with the usual Pemi Loop and full Presi Traverse and maybe a few other killer day hikes!
2010 Stats:
- 728.1 miles hiked
- 120 - 4,000 Official 4,000 foot summits hiked
- 244,950 elevation gained
January
Tom, Field, Willey: 9.8 miles (3,500 elevation gain)
North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid: 9.6 miles (3,450 elevation gain)
Tecumseh: 5 miles (2,400 elevation gain)
Washington, Monroe: 8.4 miles (4,100 elevation gain)
8 Peaks, 32.8 miles (13,450 elevation gain)
February
Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond: 22.8 miles (4,700 elevation gain)
S. Carter, M. Carter, Cater Dome, Wildcat "A", Wildcat "D": 15.8 miles (6,200 elevation gain)
8 Peaks, 38.6 miles (10,900 elevation gain)
March
E. Osceola, Osceola: 7.5 miles (3,300 elevation gain)
Madison, Adams, Jefferson: 15.5 miles (6,500 elevation gain)
5 Peaks, 23 miles (9,800 elevation gain)
April
Lincoln, Lafayette: 9.0 miles (4,200 elevation gain)
Pierce, Eisenhower, Monroe, Washington: 13.0 miles (5,650 elevation gain)
6 peaks, 22 miles (9,850 elevation gain)
May
Zealand, Hale: 21.5 miles (4,300 elevation gain)
Washington: 11.3 miles (5,100 elevation gain)
Galehead, South Twin, North Twin: 14.4 miles (4,400 elevation gain)
Devil's Path "East" (Catskills): 26.2 miles (9,100 elevation gain)
Pemi Loop: 32.5 miles (9,500 elevation gain)
Jefferson, Adams, Madison: 16 miles (6,050 elevation gain)
18 Peaks, 121.9 miles (38,450 elevation gain)
June
Jefferson, Washington, Monroe: 13.8 miles (5,200 elevation gain)
Eisenhower, Pierce, Jackson: 18.7 miles (4,650 elevation gain)
Full Presidential Traverse (North to South): 23 miles (9,100 elevation gain)
Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette, Cannon, N. Kinsman, S. Kinsman: 28.1 miles (9,900 elevation gain)
21 peaks, 83.6 miles (28,850 elevation gain)
July
Devil's Path "West" (Catskills): 23.8 miles (6,150 elevation gain)
Adams: 11.8 miles (5,000 elevation gain)
Washington: 14.8 miles (7,000 elevation gain)
2 Peaks, 50.4 miles (18,150 elevation gain)
August
Adams, Jefferson: 13.0 miles (6,000 elevation gain)
Washington, Monroe: 15.0 miles (5,850 elevation gain)
Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond: 22.9 miles (4,750 elevation gain)
North Twin, South Twin, Zealand, Hale: 18.0 miles (5,300 elevation gain)
North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid: 11.1 miles (3,000 elevation gain)
Washington: 14.0 miles (6,150 elevation gain)
Adams: 13.1 miles (4,600 elevation gain)
Lincoln, Lafayette: 8.9 miles (3,900 elevation gain)
17 Peaks, 116 miles (39,550 elevation gain)
September
Hale, Zealand, South Twin, North Twin: 18.0 miles (5,300 elevation gain)
Wildcat "D", Wildcat "A", Carter Dome, S. Carter, M. Carter: 20.0 miles (6,500 elevation gain)
Hancock, S. Hancock: 9.8 miles (2,650 elevation gain)
Jefferson: 7.0 miles (3,400 elevation gain)
Passaconaway: 10.0 miles (3,800 elevation gain)
Isolation, Washington, Monroe: 30.7 miles (8,000 elevation gain)
16 Peaks, 95.5 miles (29,650 elevation gain)
October
Adams: 9.4 miles (4,500 elevation gain)
Washington, Monroe: 11.1 miles (5,000 elevation gain)
Chocorua: 9.0 miles (2,800 elevation gain)
3 Peaks, 29.5 miles (12,300 elevation gain)
November
Zealand, West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff: 20.2 miles (5,100 elevation gain)
Eisenhower, Pierce, Jackson: 12.5 miles (3,750 elevation gain)
Madison, Adams, Jefferson: 15.3 miles (5,800 elevation gain)
Cabot: 10.7 miles (4,000 elevation gain)
Appalachian Trail (Shenandoah): 20.0 miles (4,300 elevation gain)
11 Peaks, 78.7 miles (22,950 elevation gain)
December
Liberty, Flume, Waumbek: 16.4 miles (6,700 elevation gain)
Hale, Zealand: 19.7 miles (4,350 elevation gain)
5 Peaks, 36.1 miles (11,050 elevation gain)
Showing posts with label Devil's Path. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devil's Path. Show all posts
"The Devil's Rejects"
Date of Hike: 7/11/10
Devil's Path/SW Hunter Spur Trail: 13.3 miles
Route 214: 1.8 miles
Becker Hollow Trail: 2.0
Spruceton Trail/Road: 6.7 miles
Total Miles: 23.8 (6,150 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- After I week off from hiking I was ready to get back into a weekend in the Whites, unfortunately with rainy cloudy weather and no views on the higher elevations I decided to head west to the Catskills!
- Having already took on an out n' back of the Devil's Path eastern section in May (click here for that trip report) I returned to do an out n' back of the western section. However within a couple of miles I had made up my mind to change up my hiking plans.
- Unlike the grueling, excessively steep, and fun east section of the Devil's Path the west section for the most part is tame, easy, and other than Diamond Notch Falls, can get kind of boring at times.
- In order to make the day more challenging I looked at the maps and came up with a pretty killer loop hike that involved the Devil's Path, some road walking, a 4,000 footer, a carriage road trail, and some more road walking all of which created a hike I'll call "The West Kill~Hunter Range Traverse"
- On trail at 6am, Stony Clove Notch (Route 214) 11:30am, finished at 4pm. Weather was in the mid to high 70's and humid, partly cloudy skies, good views from the outlooks and fire tower.
- There were not many highlights while hiking the west part of the Devil's Path or the spur trail to SW Hunter summit. I didn't see a single person, there weren't many views, the "cave" was well a little sub-par, I fell hiking down to Diamond Notch Falls which was bad enough to knock the lens off my camera rendering the zoom function useless and making most of the pictures I took out of focus. However, Diamond Notch Falls was beautiful and a great spot to cool off, the lean-to between the Hunter mountains was old but well built, and I found it humorous that some of the trail signs were wrapped in gridded wire to keep porcupines from ripping them to shreds!
- At Stony Clove Pond I took a much needed break to refuel before I started my road walk to the Becker Hollow trailhead. The walk on Route 214 was exciting for a little while but after about ten minutes I just wanted it to end because my feet where taking a beating on the pavement.
- The hike up Becker Hollow trail to Hunter Mountain's summit was pretty grueling as the temps were now pretty hot and the humidity was starting to get to me. While ascending I finally ran into other people hiking in a big group of about ten or so who were going extremely slow but enjoying their hike.
- There were some pretty good views to the east above 3,500 feet, excellent views near the 4,040 foot summit to the west, and super 360 degree views from the old fire tower.
- The hike down Spructeon trail was fun as the trail is an old horse carriage road with easy grades with great footing. There is a fairly new lean-to the trail passes by that has been assaulted by a porcupine in one spot and a spring with water dripping into an old barrel where I was able to cool off from being a little overheated.
- The final stretch was the road walk along Spruceton Road back to my car, this was much more fun than walking along Route 214, this section of road has a few old houses and old farms in the middle of nowhere and was very enjoyable and picturesque.
- Once back at the car I was pretty exhausted, hiking in the Catskills while fun becomes tiring because all hiking is in the woods and lack open views, it's more of a mental grind to me. However the weather was great, I was able to do a super long hike, and the hike up Hunter Mountain was awesome!
Pictures: Click here for all Pictures
Devil's Path/SW Hunter Spur Trail: 13.3 miles
Route 214: 1.8 miles
Becker Hollow Trail: 2.0
Spruceton Trail/Road: 6.7 miles
Total Miles: 23.8 (6,150 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- After I week off from hiking I was ready to get back into a weekend in the Whites, unfortunately with rainy cloudy weather and no views on the higher elevations I decided to head west to the Catskills!
- Having already took on an out n' back of the Devil's Path eastern section in May (click here for that trip report) I returned to do an out n' back of the western section. However within a couple of miles I had made up my mind to change up my hiking plans.
- Unlike the grueling, excessively steep, and fun east section of the Devil's Path the west section for the most part is tame, easy, and other than Diamond Notch Falls, can get kind of boring at times.
- In order to make the day more challenging I looked at the maps and came up with a pretty killer loop hike that involved the Devil's Path, some road walking, a 4,000 footer, a carriage road trail, and some more road walking all of which created a hike I'll call "The West Kill~Hunter Range Traverse"
- On trail at 6am, Stony Clove Notch (Route 214) 11:30am, finished at 4pm. Weather was in the mid to high 70's and humid, partly cloudy skies, good views from the outlooks and fire tower.
- There were not many highlights while hiking the west part of the Devil's Path or the spur trail to SW Hunter summit. I didn't see a single person, there weren't many views, the "cave" was well a little sub-par, I fell hiking down to Diamond Notch Falls which was bad enough to knock the lens off my camera rendering the zoom function useless and making most of the pictures I took out of focus. However, Diamond Notch Falls was beautiful and a great spot to cool off, the lean-to between the Hunter mountains was old but well built, and I found it humorous that some of the trail signs were wrapped in gridded wire to keep porcupines from ripping them to shreds!
- At Stony Clove Pond I took a much needed break to refuel before I started my road walk to the Becker Hollow trailhead. The walk on Route 214 was exciting for a little while but after about ten minutes I just wanted it to end because my feet where taking a beating on the pavement.
- The hike up Becker Hollow trail to Hunter Mountain's summit was pretty grueling as the temps were now pretty hot and the humidity was starting to get to me. While ascending I finally ran into other people hiking in a big group of about ten or so who were going extremely slow but enjoying their hike.
- There were some pretty good views to the east above 3,500 feet, excellent views near the 4,040 foot summit to the west, and super 360 degree views from the old fire tower.
- The hike down Spructeon trail was fun as the trail is an old horse carriage road with easy grades with great footing. There is a fairly new lean-to the trail passes by that has been assaulted by a porcupine in one spot and a spring with water dripping into an old barrel where I was able to cool off from being a little overheated.
- The final stretch was the road walk along Spruceton Road back to my car, this was much more fun than walking along Route 214, this section of road has a few old houses and old farms in the middle of nowhere and was very enjoyable and picturesque.
- Once back at the car I was pretty exhausted, hiking in the Catskills while fun becomes tiring because all hiking is in the woods and lack open views, it's more of a mental grind to me. However the weather was great, I was able to do a super long hike, and the hike up Hunter Mountain was awesome!
Pictures: Click here for all Pictures
Devil's Path
Southwest Hunter from Hunter Mountain Summit
Hunter Mountain Fire Tower and Cabin
Spruceton Road
"The Devil's Playground"
Date of Hike: 5/22/10
Devil's Path
Prediger Road Trailhead to Stony Clove Notch NY 214: 13.1 miles (4,800 feet elevation gain)
Stoney Clove Notch back to Prediger Road Trailhead: 13.1 miles (4,300 feet elevation gain)
Total Miles: 26.2 (9,100 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- My original plan was to hike the Devil's Path in one day East to West in June but after last weeks hike in the lingering annoying snow I had had enough so it was time to go on a kick ass endurance hike with my favorite daypack on! I was going to see if I could find a car spot or try to join in on the huge group doing a one day traverse of the Devil's Path on Sunday until I took a closer look at my maps and guide book.
- The Devil's Path is 24.5 miles with an elevation gain of around 8,250 feet, however I noticed that most of the steep and fun sections are located on the eastern part of the trail and if I did an out and back of that it would be 26.2 miles with a gain of 9,100 feet! So I figured bring on the hike I will call..."Devil's Playground"
- On trail at 5:30am, Stony Clove Notch 11:00am, Minor hallucinations 4:37pm, finished 5:15pm. Cloudy with hazy sun, temps in the 60's, light wind above 3500 feet, good views from the many outlooks.
- The best way to describe this hike is "elevation up, elevation down" there would be six times throughout the hike where I would ascend over 850 feet at a time. Along with the gains and losses are about a half dozen vertical scrambles best described as "Chutes or Steeps" which were a blast to go up and pretty easy to find excellent grips.
- The "Steeps/Scrambles" reminded me of the "Chimney" between Osceola East Peak and Mount Osceola except not as high. As for the "elevation ups" they were equal to the Wildcat Ridge Trail from Route 16 to Wildcat "E" Peak.
- I had trouble getting into a good hiking pace until I finally saw some views below Indian Head Mountain and got to the first and most fun scramble (click here for video clip) followed shortly by another quick scramble where an old tree and its roots are conveniently placed to help you up.
- I hit my first wall of the day coming down Sugarloaf Mountain and up to Plateau Mountain but once on Plateau the grade is flat for a good mile plus and I zoomed along the ridge and then made good time on the steep descent to Stony Clove Notch.
- I refueled and relaxed for about 15 minutes and then it was time to rehike in the opposite direction and a battle through seeing the same terrain again. Hiking back up to Plateau Mountain I chatted it up with two guys who I met earlier who hiked the Devil's Path to Mink Hollow the day before and where hiking the remaining miles to the end of the Devil's Path at Spruceton Road!
- Hit another wall hiking back up to Sugarloaf Mountain but caught my 5th wind for the hike up to Twin which has the second most fun scramble on the trail, it's wet, steep, and like the other scrambles has great foot and hand-holds making it lots of fun....just wish it were longer!
- Hiking up to Indian Head I knew it would be my last ascent so I was in good spirits especially as I passed two guys, one an old hippie and the other one best described as a pirate, all that was missing was an eye patch and a parrot on the shoulder, they smelled...like weed, as where I smelled like a weed after 20 plus miles...Happy Hiking!
- The last two miles were a battle of the wills (Lincoln Woods/ Wilderness trail style!) as I had run out of water, my legs were wasted, and I started "sightseeing" hallucinating.
- A pretty kickass hike for endurance hikers, the pros - lots of ups and downs with major elevation changes which will keep pushing you as well as the fun "Steeps". The cons - lack of continous views, when you hit a wall you can't just take a break and take in the views and get a boost of energy as if you were above treeline, instead you're in the woods and just have to suck it up!
Pictures (Click here for all pictures)
Devil's Path
Prediger Road Trailhead to Stony Clove Notch NY 214: 13.1 miles (4,800 feet elevation gain)
Stoney Clove Notch back to Prediger Road Trailhead: 13.1 miles (4,300 feet elevation gain)
Total Miles: 26.2 (9,100 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- My original plan was to hike the Devil's Path in one day East to West in June but after last weeks hike in the lingering annoying snow I had had enough so it was time to go on a kick ass endurance hike with my favorite daypack on! I was going to see if I could find a car spot or try to join in on the huge group doing a one day traverse of the Devil's Path on Sunday until I took a closer look at my maps and guide book.
- The Devil's Path is 24.5 miles with an elevation gain of around 8,250 feet, however I noticed that most of the steep and fun sections are located on the eastern part of the trail and if I did an out and back of that it would be 26.2 miles with a gain of 9,100 feet! So I figured bring on the hike I will call..."Devil's Playground"
- On trail at 5:30am, Stony Clove Notch 11:00am, Minor hallucinations 4:37pm, finished 5:15pm. Cloudy with hazy sun, temps in the 60's, light wind above 3500 feet, good views from the many outlooks.
- The best way to describe this hike is "elevation up, elevation down" there would be six times throughout the hike where I would ascend over 850 feet at a time. Along with the gains and losses are about a half dozen vertical scrambles best described as "Chutes or Steeps" which were a blast to go up and pretty easy to find excellent grips.
- The "Steeps/Scrambles" reminded me of the "Chimney" between Osceola East Peak and Mount Osceola except not as high. As for the "elevation ups" they were equal to the Wildcat Ridge Trail from Route 16 to Wildcat "E" Peak.
- I had trouble getting into a good hiking pace until I finally saw some views below Indian Head Mountain and got to the first and most fun scramble (click here for video clip) followed shortly by another quick scramble where an old tree and its roots are conveniently placed to help you up.
- I hit my first wall of the day coming down Sugarloaf Mountain and up to Plateau Mountain but once on Plateau the grade is flat for a good mile plus and I zoomed along the ridge and then made good time on the steep descent to Stony Clove Notch.
- I refueled and relaxed for about 15 minutes and then it was time to rehike in the opposite direction and a battle through seeing the same terrain again. Hiking back up to Plateau Mountain I chatted it up with two guys who I met earlier who hiked the Devil's Path to Mink Hollow the day before and where hiking the remaining miles to the end of the Devil's Path at Spruceton Road!
- Hit another wall hiking back up to Sugarloaf Mountain but caught my 5th wind for the hike up to Twin which has the second most fun scramble on the trail, it's wet, steep, and like the other scrambles has great foot and hand-holds making it lots of fun....just wish it were longer!
- Hiking up to Indian Head I knew it would be my last ascent so I was in good spirits especially as I passed two guys, one an old hippie and the other one best described as a pirate, all that was missing was an eye patch and a parrot on the shoulder, they smelled...like weed, as where I smelled like a weed after 20 plus miles...Happy Hiking!
- The last two miles were a battle of the wills (Lincoln Woods/ Wilderness trail style!) as I had run out of water, my legs were wasted, and I started "sightseeing" hallucinating.
- A pretty kickass hike for endurance hikers, the pros - lots of ups and downs with major elevation changes which will keep pushing you as well as the fun "Steeps". The cons - lack of continous views, when you hit a wall you can't just take a break and take in the views and get a boost of energy as if you were above treeline, instead you're in the woods and just have to suck it up!
Pictures (Click here for all pictures)
Platte Clove and Katterskill High Peak
Devil's Path (Sugarloaf Mountain)
Devil's Path (Twin Mountain)
Notch Lake
Twin Mountain
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