Devil's Path traverse 6.27.09

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Juniper

Active member
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
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Location
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Participants: Ferrisjrf, Gillian, Sasquatch, Juniper, Adventurous, 7Summits, Swamp, Nif, Mookie, Dr. Wu and UFC

Jason put this trip together (thanks JF!) and I joined at the last minute. I had originally planned to spend the weekend in the Great Gulf, but the forecast of more rain sent me further south where the weather was supposed to be better. This was my first trip to the Catskills, and I was excited to see a new area.

We spotted cars Friday evening and headed out on Saturday morning at 7:35 at the eastern trailhead at Prediger Road. The first peak along the way is Indian Head, then down and up again to Twin. Down again and up to Sugarloaf. At this point Nif and Mookie were hiking up ahead and the rest of us were together, but I was near the back of the hiking train. Somehow I missed the hiking pole instructions left by the group and missed the side trip to a viewpoint where everyone was hanging out:confused:. I continued on alone down the steep descent to Mink Hollow.

After a snack, I began the climb up to Plateau. This was the hardest climb of the day for me, and I was having serious thoughts of ending the hike when I reached the midway point. At the top of the climb, the trail flattens out and provides an excellent trail running opportunity. It was here I came across KMac and two companions who were also doing the full traverse. Nice to meet you! The trip across the plateau was very speedy and pleasant, but the trip down 1400ft to Rt 214 was a knee crusher. At the 14 mile mark I arrived at our lunch cache (aka Swamp's truck) to find Jen and Mookie. Much confusion and speculation followed regarding the whereabouts of all the people I thought were hiking ahead of me!

During our lunch break and while waiting for everone to arrive, the rain started. Hoping that it would be a quickly-passing storm, Jen huddled under the tailgate of the truck while Mookie and I took shelter under some nearby trees. The rain did finally subside to a drizzle as the rest of the group arrived and we got ready for the second half of the hike.

The rain stuck around for the rest of the hike, although it was never a fulll-on downpour. We climbed up the trail towards Hunter, but elected not to make the hike out to the summit. Following a reasonable descent, we began the steady climb up to West Kill. Most of us were really feeling the hike at this point, but with Jen in the lead we marched at a steady pace up to the elusive summit. No mistaking this one, complete with cairn and sign for once. At this point it's only about 4.7 miles to the cars, and we know there is a nice 300ft PUD somewhere along the way. We made quick progress down hill, pushed our way over that last little climb and then quick progress again the rest of the way. Most of us decided to run much of the last couple of miles - it felt good to do something else with our bodies! Back at the cars at around 8:20.

All in all...a difficult hike. Approximately 24.2 miles, 8300 ft of elevation gain give or take. I personally thought it felt harder than a presi traverse, but that may have been due to the wet conditions. Others thought it felt easier. Nasty wet feet and blisters:eek:, stinging nettles:eek:, miles of mud:eek:. A great day overall with a reliably fun group of fellow hikers. Check this one off the list!

I took very few photos, mostly due to the wet weather. I know 7Summits and others will have more. Here are mine Devil's Path

Rebecca
 
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That Bird Was A Douche!!

Great day! I think the tone was set when some strange chirping bird disturbed Caveman's wilderness experience, Sasquatch exclaimed, "that bird was a douche!" The hike only got better... the collective I.Q. of the group only got worse. Once we made it to Twin and most of our hangovers were long gone (made for a tough start of the day) Caveman turns to me and said, "I have a story for you..." And proceeds to tell me of all people a story about his "new friend." From there conversation over the next 16 hours or so (if you count the campground later) devolved into a bizarre, homoerotic nightmare.... another night to remember ending, once again, with an incident involving boyscouts and Caveman speaking in tongues before wandering off onto the highway. The fact that we stayed at Devil's Tombstone Campground must've been significant

The physical realities of the hike were interesting and fun... steep, wild, ledgy ups followed by wet, nasty ill-defined (many teaser summits along the way) peaks and then steep, wild, ledgy downs, 50 ft wide notches, go up again! lots of mud; as Rebecca said, the skies unloaded on us while we were coming down Plateau (she was somewhere else) and pretty much didn't let up with the wet nasties the rest of the day. I kinda hoped for rain anyway -- added to the fun, caused a few falls but didn't dampen any spirits. Ain't no Devil gittin' the best of us today. We took our time but banged that hike out in 12:40 +/- ....

Many props to Mookie for providing excellent blackbean & cheese crack quesadillas and to Caveman for telling us that story oh and the rest of you amazing crew! Greatest group of people in the world.

-Dr. Wu
 
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Great report and photos, looking forward to more. Congratulations all on the hike.

Sorry about the rain and mud. It is becoming one of those summers in the Cats. At least you did not suffer from the heat, just hazy and humidity. The amount of mud is somewhat unusual for most summers in the Catskills. However, the nettles are always there. :D
 
Sorry about the rain and mud. It is becoming one of those summers in the Cats. At least you did not suffer from the heat, just hazy and humidity. The amount of mud is somewhat unusual for most summers in the Catskills. However, the nettles are always there. :D
No need to apologize for the rain. We actually had sun/clouds for the first part... rain only added to the fun and excitement for the second part! It did bum out our plans to do Hunter, I guess... although I was sort of glad not to do SW Hunter considering the nettles :)

-Dr. Wu
 
No need to apologize for the rain. We actually had sun/clouds for the first part... rain only added to the fun and excitement for the second part! It did bum out our plans to do Hunter, I guess... although I was sort of glad not to do SW Hunter considering the nettles :)

-Dr. Wu

Sorry I couldn't join ya, I realized awhile ago when JF sent me the email, I volunteered to help re-build the leanto on Hunter that burned a few years ago and I also carpooled with hermit so I stayed at his place saturday night.

It poured on us at about 11;45 for like 10 minutes but then it was on-off for rest of the day.

the herdpath to SW hunter is not nettly at all, because it's mostly high up in the conifers. the Nettles like the really wet drainages that aren't usually found in the conifers unless there is a stream through it and even then, the tree cover precludes most of the undergrowth that need sunlight....

Jay

p.s. we must of seen some of your cars at the Spruceton road trailhead, to get to the worksite trailhead, we all passed the western terminus and I did note a bunch of VT/MA plated cars and saw them when we left around 4pmish..
 
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All in all...a difficult hike. Approximately 24.2 miles, 8300 ft of elevation gain give or take. I personally thought it felt harder than a presi traverse, but that may have been due to the wet conditions. Others thought it felt easier. Nasty wet feet and blisters:eek:, stinging nettles:eek:, miles of mud:eek:. A great day overall with a reliably fun group of fellow hikers. Check this one off the list!
A lot of people dis-respect the Catskills, until they hike them! :D

Well done folks! :cool:
 
wicked fun.
got some love for those cats, but.....
4.5 hours of a drive totally sucks!
The nettles are pretty damn cool though, almost makes it worth the drive!

Glad Caveman was able to share his story with me around the campfire, missed it during the hike. I dont think the Scout leader enjoyed the story as much as us, heck it was 11:30 and we all knew that 10:00 was quiet time. think we broke that "rule"!

Fun times indeed....
 
It was a fun day indeed. The climb up Plateau was my breaking point. I hadn't been feeling well all day and the relentless climb up to Plateau did me in. I took my time...not by choice and found the group perched on an outlook. I told them to go ahead without me...I was going to head back to the campground at the bailout point.

Well...somehow, my body and spirit began to rejuvenate during the flat 2 miles across Plateau. I began to second guess my decision to bail...I didn't want the devil to get the best of me. I continued hiking with Swamp and Gillian to the end of the ridge where we found the rest of the group. I told them that I changed my mind and that I was going to continue. I didn't want to stop my momentum so I continued on to the truck where I found Rebecca, Jen and Mookie hiding from the rain.

The last half of the traverse was smooth sailing. I wouldn't know whether the DP was harder or easier than the traverse's in the Whites since this was my traverse. I definitely got my butt kicked by the devil but I'm looking forward to tackling some of the NH traverses/loops now.

Thanks Steve for sharing your story...the traverse wouldn't have been the same without it!!! Another great day out with an awesome group.

One more thing...stinging nettles suck!!! Let's just say that I found out what they were the hard way :(
 
oh yeah, i gotta give props to jen for setting a perfect pace, all day long.
wicked glad you were there to pace me or i probably would have burned out at some point.
 
It was a fun day indeed. The climb up Plateau was my breaking point. I hadn't been feeling well all day and the relentless climb up to Plateau did me in. I took my time...not by choice and found the group perched on an outlook. I told them to go ahead without me...I was going to head back to the campground at the bailout point.

Well...somehow, my body and spirit began to rejuvenate during the flat 2 miles across Plateau. I began to second guess my decision to bail...I didn't want the devil to get the best of me. I continued hiking with Swamp and Gillian to the end of the ridge where we found the rest of the group. I told them that I changed my mind and that I was going to continue. I didn't want to stop my momentum so I continued on to the truck where I found Rebecca, Jen and Mookie hiding from the rain.

The last half of the traverse was smooth sailing. I wouldn't know whether the DP was harder or easier than the traverse's in the Whites since this was my traverse. I definitely got my butt kicked by the devil but I'm looking forward to tackling some of the NH traverses/loops now.

Thanks Steve for sharing your story...the traverse wouldn't have been the same without it!!! Another great day out with an awesome group.

One more thing...stinging nettles suck!!! Let's just say that I found out what they were the hard way :(
You kicked ass!!!!!! I was wicked glad that you decided to continue on. It's great when you feel like you've been beaten and then suddenly find yourself reaching deep down inside to find a little bit more and keep on going! Or... maybe you realized that you wouldn't get to hear any more about Steve (UFG) and his "new friend" :p

Great hike! Hey, this might have been the first big hike that we've done together!

-Dr. Wu
 
You kicked ass!!!!!! I was wicked glad that you decided to continue on. It's great when you feel like you've been beaten and then suddenly find yourself reaching deep down inside to find a little bit more and keep on going! Or... maybe you realized that you wouldn't get to hear any more about Steve (UFG) and his "new friend" :p

Great hike! Hey, this might have been the first big hike that we've done together!

-Dr. Wu

I think it's actually the first time we've ever hiked together. Partied together several times but never hiked. Looking forward to the next big event and hopefully more UFG stories :D!!!
 
I think it's actually the first time we've ever hiked together. Partied together several times but never hiked. Looking forward to the next big event and hopefully more UFG stories :D!!!
The key here is to ask UFG more probing questions so as to assertain exactly what happened that evening. Notice that after only 12 hours of interrogating we established that at the time of occurrence he was actually lying face down on his bed wearing silk underwear and a smoking jacket. And it wasn't Black Hawk Down that he was watching....

The thing about hiking with this group is that we almost immediately distinguish between truth and fantasy. Hope we all hike again soon!!

-Dr. Wu
 
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I told them to go ahead without me...I was going to head back to the campground at the bailout point.

Well...somehow, my body and spirit began to rejuvenate during the flat 2 miles across Plateau. I began to second guess my decision to bail...I didn't want the devil to get the best of me.

The force is strong with you Young Adventurous......we cannot afford that you join the dark force.......a wise choice you made......

obi-wan_kenobi.jpg
 
Oh Geez....I think Mats is trying to pump you up for the Pressie!!!!! Good hike everyone, we absolutely must do it again soon!!!

Nice to hang with y' all. Maybe next time UFG will bring his friend :eek:
 
"The Little Devil"

NOT so little. It was quite an adventure for us as well, Kmac, pedestrian,
and myself. It was great to see you in the "Cat's". It was amazing how fast you all were. Although we were much slower, we DID finish and it will
remain within me, a completion of a very challenging hike.

Well done. And fun for all!
 
Congratulations, all! I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on the DP versus the Pressie traverse.

I'm kind of jealous I didn't do the DP that same day but in the opposite direction. But my weekend in the Whites sure made up for it. :)
 
Nice hike even in a rainy day, thanks to the fun group and UFG's story, we managed to defeat the Devil's effort to deter our goal and marched to the finish line as planned.

Catskill is beautiful in its own way. The one feature that stand out the most to me is the abundance of interesting rock formations, slabs of rock and boulders everywhere along the trail. Many interesting rocky slabs to climb, cool rock corridor and tunnel to travel through, lots of fun especially shared with group of fun loving friends. You guys are awesome!

Here are some of the pictures I took from the hike.

Fun fun!
 
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