Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Yesterday (8/2/7), Laurie and I set out at 5:15 PM from where the Devil's Path crosses Rt. 214 (the Devil's Acre State Campground) to have dinner at the top of Hunter Mountain and catch a sunset! 
Hunter is my 2nd favorite summit in the Catskills, with a nice Fire Tower, offering extensive views of the Catskills. I'd never been on the connector from the Devil's Path to the Summit, so I got a little red-lining in as well!
The start of the hike is steep and covered with a lot of nettles. We took it easy but still managed 1200' of elevation in the first hour. It was not as hot as we feared, but it was hazy and humid for sure! The sweat was rolling off us as we went up. There were a few new trail re-routes on this section, so the Devil's Path just keeps getting longer!
When we reached the junction, at was about 6:45. We headed straight up the old jeep road, and were at the old fire tower sight at about 7:20. There was very little water on this route, but we did see a few streams trickling down the mountain. The storm devastation was moderate on this side, opening up a few new view spots.
We skipped the SW Hunter lookout and headed directly to the Tower. The tower area was LITTERED WITH TRASH! Fortunately, we had a large garbage bag, and it all fit inside, but barely! You should have seen Laurie trying to stuff it all in her pack!
After garbage detail, we headed up the tower. It was 73 at the summit and a gentle breeze was blowing. It was a little hazy looking, but we got nice views all around. We feasted on nuts, cherries, cheese and crackers, and 2 cold IPAs that we hauled up in an insulated container! Mmmmmm! Delicious!
After a little while, the Sun started sinking slowly in the West. It didn't quite make it to the horizon, disappearing in a low cloud, but we were pretty satisfied!
We got ready to leave, and headed down the Becker Hollow trail at 8:20. By 8:45 we had to put on head lamps. The spring was flowing on this side. We saw a porcupine waddling down the trail and got a few pictures of his fat butt! The Becker hollow trail is very steep and very rocky! It also suffered a great deal from the Spring storm. Many large trees are snapped off and the only good from this is that there are now lots of views while coming down the trail. In many places as we hiked yesterday, we could see that the trail crews had labored mightily to clean up the trails! Thanks again to all who helped!
We got back down to the road at about 9:35. We took a quick break and started the road walk. We found that we could walk in the dark, following the white line on the side of the road. The stars were shining nicely! We were careful to turn the lights on when we saw cars approaching. By 10:05, we had made it back to the car. It seemed like forever walking back *UP* to the Notch!
Overall, we enjoyed this hike, and plan to do it again, maybe when the moon is full!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h1.jpg - Trash galore!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h2.jpg - Fire weed
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h3.jpg - Dinner is served!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h4.jpg - Sunset thru the tower
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h5.jpg - Going...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h6.jpg - Going...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h7.jpg - Gone!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h8.jpg - Porky
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h9.jpg - Crossing the stream at the end
Hunter is my 2nd favorite summit in the Catskills, with a nice Fire Tower, offering extensive views of the Catskills. I'd never been on the connector from the Devil's Path to the Summit, so I got a little red-lining in as well!
The start of the hike is steep and covered with a lot of nettles. We took it easy but still managed 1200' of elevation in the first hour. It was not as hot as we feared, but it was hazy and humid for sure! The sweat was rolling off us as we went up. There were a few new trail re-routes on this section, so the Devil's Path just keeps getting longer!
When we reached the junction, at was about 6:45. We headed straight up the old jeep road, and were at the old fire tower sight at about 7:20. There was very little water on this route, but we did see a few streams trickling down the mountain. The storm devastation was moderate on this side, opening up a few new view spots.
We skipped the SW Hunter lookout and headed directly to the Tower. The tower area was LITTERED WITH TRASH!
Fortunately, we had a large garbage bag, and it all fit inside, but barely! You should have seen Laurie trying to stuff it all in her pack! After garbage detail, we headed up the tower. It was 73 at the summit and a gentle breeze was blowing. It was a little hazy looking, but we got nice views all around. We feasted on nuts, cherries, cheese and crackers, and 2 cold IPAs that we hauled up in an insulated container! Mmmmmm! Delicious!
After a little while, the Sun started sinking slowly in the West. It didn't quite make it to the horizon, disappearing in a low cloud, but we were pretty satisfied!
We got ready to leave, and headed down the Becker Hollow trail at 8:20. By 8:45 we had to put on head lamps. The spring was flowing on this side. We saw a porcupine waddling down the trail and got a few pictures of his fat butt!
The Becker hollow trail is very steep and very rocky! It also suffered a great deal from the Spring storm. Many large trees are snapped off and the only good from this is that there are now lots of views while coming down the trail. In many places as we hiked yesterday, we could see that the trail crews had labored mightily to clean up the trails! Thanks again to all who helped!We got back down to the road at about 9:35. We took a quick break and started the road walk. We found that we could walk in the dark, following the white line on the side of the road. The stars were shining nicely!
We were careful to turn the lights on when we saw cars approaching. By 10:05, we had made it back to the car. It seemed like forever walking back *UP* to the Notch! Overall, we enjoyed this hike, and plan to do it again, maybe when the moon is full!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h1.jpg - Trash galore!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h2.jpg - Fire weed
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h3.jpg - Dinner is served!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h4.jpg - Sunset thru the tower
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h5.jpg - Going...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h6.jpg - Going...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h7.jpg - Gone!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h8.jpg - Porky
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/h9.jpg - Crossing the stream at the end
