Catskill Pro's

[Steve-o]

I did not make this trip. (yet)
I was not able to nail -down a car camping site.
I was also not sure about the backpacking situation.

although, I appriciate all the positive information, I decided to postpone this trip for another time in the near future.

I actually went to VT on wednesday, set up camp at emerald lake campground,and then went to Mendon Peak.

Did Dorset Peak on thursday.
I origianally wanted to do Equinox on this same day but, early afternoon thunder storms kinda put a damper on things.

Did Equinox on friday morning and drove home.

Excellent hiking, I saw no-one for three days until I ran in to a woman and her dog a 1/2 mile before heading home.

If anyone has any questions about Mendon,Dorset or Equinox feel free to ask,
while it's still fresh in my mind.

Mid-Week Hiking For President!!!

I still plan on getting out to the Cat's
If you still plan on doing this trip, let me know.
It would be cool to get out with some VFTT'rs.

Stev-o

 

[Puma concolor]

Mid-Week Hiking For President!!!

Absolutely. I can't even recall the last time I hiked on a weekend. It's just a whole different world in the woods when no one else is to be found.

Mendon is a pretty tough cannister as far as NEHH goes. If you had no problem there, you should be set in the Catskills.

 

[Steve-o]

Mendon was fun,
except for the sh*t Fly's on the summit.
Watch -out for the logging trucks though.
You would'nt think a huge truck would be able to go down these roads, but they do.

Can't wait to get to the Cat's.
3 down, I'll need all the help I can get!

Stev-o

 

[tonycc]

I just arrived home from the Cats. Now I can provide some definitive answers to your initial questions. I'll file a full trip report later.

- The trail head is 180 miles from my house, I made this a day trip and was easily able to bag SW Hunter, Hunter and Rusk (the last two I solo'ed). Total trip time for me was 15 hours from door step to door step, and I never drove in the dark. So, yes, this is very doable. Actual loop time was 8.5 hours, with lots of breaks and spending almost an hour at the top of the fire tower drying off in the breeze.

- The herd path to SW Hunter is very nice and bagging this summit is a piece of cake from the col. I had a guide (thanks Trish and the mid-Hudson section of the ADK!) for this part of the trip, so finding it wasn't hard. Even without a guide the directions I've seen posted would have made it easy to find. I did run into a couple of guys who were exhausted from trying to find the cannister, they were convinced there wasn't one. I gave them directions and ran into them later at the fire tower, tired but satisfied.

- I didn't do the Colonel's Chair, 12 miles, three peaks and seven hours of driving didn't leave me with the desire to add another 2 miles. Besides, this section of trail between Hunter and the Hunter/Rusk Col was my least favorite of the trip.

- I went up the east ridge of Rusk from the col, I occasionally found faint herd paths which I would loose quickly. Didn't matter though, route finding to East Rusk is very simple. The summit of East Rusk is beautifully unique (not because of any views). I'm sure glad I zipped the legs onto my pants. There are lots of nettles, I got stung a few times right through the material. The ridge from East Rusk to Rusk was wonderful, the best part of the trip.

- The descent from Rusk was all off trail. I hit one short section of herd path while finding a way through a significant natural obstacle. Use both a topo and the NY/NJ maps. I ended up cutting through private land because the green means different things on the two maps.

Tony

 

[Steve-o]

hey Tony,
looking forward to reading your report.
I think you pretty muched summed it up though.

What do these pesky nettles look like?
I think I may have run into some of those on the bushwack to Mendon.
I've never had any issues in new england or the adk's.
If they're common in the cats I'll have to remember about the pants.

Thanks, Stev-o

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Stinging Nettles

They do exist through much of North America. They are particularly bad in the off trail areas of the Catskills. There appears to be a bumper crop due to the warm and wet summer. Some photographs and drawings here and here. They look a little like mint leaves but larger with serrated edges. Sometime the little stingers are readily visible and sometimes not. They are often thigh high, but as the summer wears on can grow above waist level. At times it seems like you are swimming through them. I have noticed that the caterpillars have nibbled on them, but in most cases they left the serrated edges intact. Long pants are unfortunately pretty much required for summertime Catskill bushwhacks.

For what it is worth Euell Gibbons was a big fan of stinging nettles and found many uses for them. As I see it he failed to consume enough of them.

 

[hermit]

Hi Tony,
I must have just missed you. I was at S.W.Hunter about 8:00 a.m. on 7-16.I did not see the log book in the canister,did you? I was at Hunter at about 9:00,and Rusk about 10:45,and back to my vehicle around 2:00.I called Scott Lane and ERD and reported the log book missing. I left a message for Scott,he maintains the canisters. I calculated about 15 miles and 4000' vertical ascent from rt214 for 3 peaks,climbing Hunter again on the return trip.