Doubletop Plane Crash or Crashes

[Aesop74]

Using the Search Feature I just finished reading the Alpine Plane Crash thread from May 2005. I am going to hike to Doubletop from Graham (I have permission in the works) and wanted to go see the crash or crashes (2) on Doubletop. Can anyone supply me with information or a location from the summit?? Thanks.

 

[Jay H]

The plane crash on Doubletop is easier to find from Biscuit Brook side, not from Graham, but either way, the crash site is somewhat on the SE face of the southern peak of Doubletop. Not the summit where the canister is, so if you get to the canister on Doubletop from Graham, you just need to go south to the southern peak and then look for herd paths leading to the SE. You may see property border markers (yellow paint splotches) which is what many hikers use as a handrail to get to DT. I believe the crash is just slightly north of these lines and just below the final ledge which gets you up to the spruce trees on the southern ridge. So you want to drop off the ridge, might be a minor scramble depending on where you drop off and then kind of traverse the sidehill just below the ridge til you hopefully come across the crashsite or perhaps the herdpath back to biscuit brook. There are a couple of good viewpoints at this level too because once you drop off the ridge, the thick spruce clear out pretty much.

Might be GPS coordinates around. I might even have them somewhere...

Jay

 

[imarchant]

Using the Search Feature I just finished reading the Alpine Plane Crash thread from May 2005. I am going to hike to Doubletop from Graham (I have permission in the works) and wanted to go see the crash or crashes (2) on Doubletop. Can anyone supply me with information or a location from the summit?? Thanks.

Jay's description is accurate. As far as I know there is only one crash on Doubletop. It is a BEECH 58 (BARON) that crashed 9/21/1983, Registration #N6657R located @ 3,760' it is located just north of the Gould property line. Here is a link to the NTSB report #NYC83FA253 I have GPS waypoints at home. Here is a picture

 

[Aesop74]

Thanks

That is great information guys! Thanks for the pics and descriptions. I think I should be able to get there based on what you've told me.

 

[hermit]

I think that there is a military plane on the north pk.,But Jay and I back in 2005 could not find it.We did find the one on the South pk.

 

[Aesop74]

Trail from Graham to Doubletop

Is there a well marked herd path from Graham to Doubletop or this pretty tough to do without a compass, gps, etc??

The route to Graham from Balsam Lake seems okay but I'm wondering what the route is like to Doubletop.

 

[Jay H]

You will have thick areas around Graham summit (other than the road back towards Balsam Lake) but there should be a feint path to go through. There is some steep areas on the way to Doubletop too and I believe it might be nettle infested. I think the first time I did Doubletop, a friend and I did it as a super long dayhike. From biscuit brook, we hiked to Doubletop, went over to graham, then back to doubletop, then down through Frost Valley and then walked back to our car. It was like ~17 miles. There might be a small herdpath between Graham but it might not be worth it to really try to follow. Much like following the yellow blazes to DT from Biscuit Brook, it's faster and a lot easier to simply point yourself with the compass and hike. Definitely bring a compass with you, on all bushwacks in the catskills... Erh, on all bushwacks everywhere.. I use my compass in the ADKs too, myself.

Jay

 

[mudhook51]

There is a second crash site with a military plane somewhere . This is a older wreck.

 

[Aesop74]

A Challenge

Okay, that is what I thought. I have a good compass, a garmen GPS and the AMC maps so I should be in good shape, though stinging nettles really suck after a while

 

[Tom Rankin]

You will have thick areas around Graham summit (other than the road back towards Balsam Lake) but there should be a feint path to go through. There is some steep areas on the way to Doubletop too and I believe it might be nettle infested.

The nettles are very healthy this year! Wear long clothing.

There are some cliffy areas when going down Graham, but they are easily avoided. Just keep an eye on where you are heading if you have to side hill.