Devil's Path suggestions

[iagreewithjamie]

Hi all,
I spend most of my time in the Whites, but have been checking out the Catskills lately since they are closer to Worcester than the ADKs.
I've seen a few articles in Backpacker mag about the Devil's Path.

Having had my keister handed to me from some pretty nasty trails in NH, I'm curious how Devil's Path lives up to its rep as "The Hardest Trail in the East". I'm curious what makes it hard - steepness? distance? shrubberies?

The AMC and Backpacker tend to over-state everything. "Extremely Steep" to them simply means you have to look up when you hike... it doesn't imply hanging off the sides of a mountain like "Extremely Steep" may suggest.

So from real hikers who have done the Devil's Path... what's the real story? Is it really the hardest trail in the East?

 

[Tom Rankin]

I don't know if the hardest, but it does go up and down quite a few times, quite steeply. It's a lot of bare rock. It certainly has its moments. Your quads and your knees will feel it, especially if you are backpacking. I've done stretches of it as day trips, never the whole thing in a day, FWIW.

I'd recommend going West to East, as the dips get smaller that way.

It does have several leantos (very popular ones!) along the way if you want to camp. There are options for 1 night or 2 as well.

Tom (VP 3500 Club) Rankin

 

[dailey7779]

It is steep, sort of like heading up the twinway from Galehead Hut to South Twin or from Pinkham Notch to Wildcat 'E' Peak on the Wildcat Ridge Trail. However, the footing, while rough, I found was not as knee hammering as the Whites. The eastern section has back -to back -to back steep ascents and descents like this between the Twins, Sugarloaf, and Plateau. The Western section is more tame after another initial steep ascent up from Stoney Clove Notch (the half-way point). It's a lot of fun and challenging but I did not think it was as hard as what I read. I will say for me it felt more of a sufferfest at times because you're in the woods. There are some great outlooks but if you're used to the super huge views and above treeline hiking after a tough ascent, there is none of that on the DP!

Here are two trip reports I did from that area

Eastern Section out and Back

Western Section out and back

-Chris

 

[Mike P.]

It's like doing South Twin from the hut a few times, over & over. I did it in late April 2006 when I was training for my Presi-Traverse trip that June. Well, I did 1/2 of it, From Indian Head to Plateau. Spotted my car & rode my bike to the beginning. Those four 3500 footers were 15.05 miles and 4485 feet of elevation gain.

To do the whole thing you'd have to descend to 214 & then back up Hunter. (I've been up Hunter that way & don't plan on doing it again that way). After Hunter, Westkill is maybe the easiest although it's last so you'd be pretty beat.

2006 was a busy year for me, looking at Wildcat, up 19 Mile, up A over to D & down Polecat which I did that February, it's 12.15 miles & 3510 feet of elevation. (not sure the 12.15 includes the road walk back to 19 Mile.)

The trip I did after the four on the DP was 1/2 the pemi, (Franconia's, Garfield & Galehead.), I remember getting to Lafayette and thinking the first part was pretty easy.

The hardest? I don't know, but it's a lot of work with great views. I'd do it again if I get back to some semblance of fit.

 

[halfmoon]

I have done most of the significant traverses in the northeast; Devil's Path, Presidential, Great Range, etc. While they are all statistically similar, I did feel a little more "worked over" from the Devil's Path. In my humblest of opinions I would say the great range and devil's path are similar in ruggedness, and the presidential traverse is a distant third place. Others will strongly disagree, but the presidential traverse seems easy to me comparatively. That being said, I think the Whites are the most beautiful.

 

[halfmoon]

Got to thinking about my previous post, and just to present some data....Ben Nephew owns the fastest known time for the Presidential Traverse (4 hours 50 minutes) and the Devil's Path (5 hours 35 minutes). He also completed the Great Range in 6 hours 9 minutes. There has to be some allowance for how great of a day in had in these 3 instances, but assuming he was in similar shape for all three runs it would indicate that something with the Great Range and Devil's Path is slightly harder, whether that be grade, footing, ruggedness, distance, or elevation gain.