kmorgan
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 463
- Reaction score
- 47
The now infamous sub-group of the LI chapter of the ADK, the 3500 Perspirants, gathered for another set of Catskills peaks early Saturday morning at exit 32 of the Long Island distressway. On this expedition there were 4 of us, our driver Bill, Paula, Sue and myself.
We all watched the weather all week long as the chance of rain and thunderstorms steadily climbed to upwards of 50% chance depending on whose forecast you listened to. On Friday night we decided that a chance of 50% or less was worth going.
We made good time driving up to Big Hollow Rd and taking the advice of Jay_H and Double_Bow decided on a single vehicle loop hike in case the blow down between Black Dome and Thomas Cole proved to be too much for us.
Our plan was to follow the Black Dome trail up to the Batavia Kill trail, follow the Escarpment Trail around to the Blackhead Mountain trail to Blackhead's summit, then continue on the BD to Black Dome and possibly Thomas Cole.
Of our group Sue was the only person who needed all 3 peaks. Bill and myself only needed our second climb of Blackhead, having already done all 3 in the winter. Paula came along for the fun of it, having already done all 3 peaks in the off season she only needed Blackhead as a winter peak. (She just couldn't resist the company
).
The hike in following the Batavia Kill was very slippery. The rocks were coated with damp moss and made for tricky footing. Once we reached the lean-to on the BK trail the sun was making itself felt and the trail was considerably drier.
It was a very hazy day with limited but gorgeous views peaking in and out of the clouds. There were also plenty of black flies out whenever we happened to stop, so we tried not to stop too often or for more than a few minutes to take a quick picture and comment on what mountains we were looking at in the distance.
After summiting Blackhead I took a spill due to an ankle twist and in catching myself on one of my relatively new Black Diamond hiking poles managed to snap it in half at the binary lock for the lower half and perform a less than acrobatic face plant on the trail. Fortunately I didn't hurt my ankle and got off with just a small cut on a knee (I wasn't happy about breaking my pole, but at least I still had one hike with).
Once we reached the bottom of the col between Blackhead and Black Dome we started noticing more blow down on the trail itself. About 3/4's of the way up Black Dome we even stopped to do some quick impromptu trail maintenance by using the wood saw on a multi-tool to cut up some blow down and remove it from the trail (a little selfish, since we knew we'd be coming back down the same trail on the way back, but hey, we felt like pro's!).
After gaining Black Dome's summit we took a break at the overlook for lunch. The black flies were everywhere and I chose to try out my new Bug Baffler no-see-um rated shirt. Good stuff! Worked great.
At this point we had a decision to make. We had talked with some hikers who had come across Thomas Cole and they said there was considerable blow down on the trail, but they were able to negotiate it. Also, it being an out-and-back hike, we'd have another 1,000 feet of elevation gain (500 out and 500 back) plus we were hearing a lot more thunder. Since Sue was the only one of us who hadn't done Thomas Cole we discussed our options and let Sue have the final word on whether or not she wanted to go on for the 3rd peak.
Sue decided that Thomas Cole wasn't going anywhere and so we turned back. On the way down we stopped at the another viewpoint, a small rock ledge overlooking Blackhead, Acra Point, Burnt Knob and Windham H.P. Of course we had to take turns standing over the precipice and taking each others pictures, after all, the Views From the Top are what it's all about!
On the way out we took the BD back to the trail head, stopping at the spring on the way down for a cool drink and a splash.
We really lucked out. All day we were hearing nearby thunder, but no rain ever fell. When we were back on the road all the streets in the vicinity were wet from showers! We also heard from another group who hiked Kaaterskill H.P. that they got rained on a bit.
Great day, great people, great mountains! What more can you ask for?
PS. Jay, we saw you in the Windham H.P. parking lot as we drove by, sorry we didn't stop to say hi.
Pictures of the hike here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559293071XRKAQH?vhost=outdoors
Kevin
We all watched the weather all week long as the chance of rain and thunderstorms steadily climbed to upwards of 50% chance depending on whose forecast you listened to. On Friday night we decided that a chance of 50% or less was worth going.
We made good time driving up to Big Hollow Rd and taking the advice of Jay_H and Double_Bow decided on a single vehicle loop hike in case the blow down between Black Dome and Thomas Cole proved to be too much for us.
Our plan was to follow the Black Dome trail up to the Batavia Kill trail, follow the Escarpment Trail around to the Blackhead Mountain trail to Blackhead's summit, then continue on the BD to Black Dome and possibly Thomas Cole.
Of our group Sue was the only person who needed all 3 peaks. Bill and myself only needed our second climb of Blackhead, having already done all 3 in the winter. Paula came along for the fun of it, having already done all 3 peaks in the off season she only needed Blackhead as a winter peak. (She just couldn't resist the company
).The hike in following the Batavia Kill was very slippery. The rocks were coated with damp moss and made for tricky footing. Once we reached the lean-to on the BK trail the sun was making itself felt and the trail was considerably drier.
It was a very hazy day with limited but gorgeous views peaking in and out of the clouds. There were also plenty of black flies out whenever we happened to stop, so we tried not to stop too often or for more than a few minutes to take a quick picture and comment on what mountains we were looking at in the distance.
After summiting Blackhead I took a spill due to an ankle twist and in catching myself on one of my relatively new Black Diamond hiking poles managed to snap it in half at the binary lock for the lower half and perform a less than acrobatic face plant on the trail. Fortunately I didn't hurt my ankle and got off with just a small cut on a knee (I wasn't happy about breaking my pole, but at least I still had one hike with).
Once we reached the bottom of the col between Blackhead and Black Dome we started noticing more blow down on the trail itself. About 3/4's of the way up Black Dome we even stopped to do some quick impromptu trail maintenance by using the wood saw on a multi-tool to cut up some blow down and remove it from the trail (a little selfish, since we knew we'd be coming back down the same trail on the way back, but hey, we felt like pro's!).
After gaining Black Dome's summit we took a break at the overlook for lunch. The black flies were everywhere and I chose to try out my new Bug Baffler no-see-um rated shirt. Good stuff! Worked great.
At this point we had a decision to make. We had talked with some hikers who had come across Thomas Cole and they said there was considerable blow down on the trail, but they were able to negotiate it. Also, it being an out-and-back hike, we'd have another 1,000 feet of elevation gain (500 out and 500 back) plus we were hearing a lot more thunder. Since Sue was the only one of us who hadn't done Thomas Cole we discussed our options and let Sue have the final word on whether or not she wanted to go on for the 3rd peak.
Sue decided that Thomas Cole wasn't going anywhere and so we turned back. On the way down we stopped at the another viewpoint, a small rock ledge overlooking Blackhead, Acra Point, Burnt Knob and Windham H.P. Of course we had to take turns standing over the precipice and taking each others pictures, after all, the Views From the Top are what it's all about!
On the way out we took the BD back to the trail head, stopping at the spring on the way down for a cool drink and a splash.
We really lucked out. All day we were hearing nearby thunder, but no rain ever fell. When we were back on the road all the streets in the vicinity were wet from showers! We also heard from another group who hiked Kaaterskill H.P. that they got rained on a bit.
Great day, great people, great mountains! What more can you ask for?
PS. Jay, we saw you in the Windham H.P. parking lot as we drove by, sorry we didn't stop to say hi.
Pictures of the hike here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559293071XRKAQH?vhost=outdoors
Kevin
