MAGIC-'06 in the catskills

[Jay H]

I am kind of trying to get a small group of catskill hikers together next month at the free sites in Sundown Wild Forrest, calling it

Mini-Antiestablishment-Gathering-In the-Catskills, aka MAGIC

November 3-5th. I am off friday and can snatch the campsites at Sundown and it's 2 weeks before deer/bear season. Lots of good hikes in the area, from waterfalls to 3500 peaks to bushwacks to hundred highest peaks.

Come one, come all..

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

I am kind of trying to get a small group of catskill hikers together next month at the free sites in Sundown Wild Forrest, calling it

Mini-Antiestablishment-Gathering-In the-Catskills, aka MAGIC

November 3-5th. I am off friday and can snatch the campsites at Sundown and it's 2 weeks before deer/bear season. Lots of good hikes in the area, from waterfalls to 3500 peaks to bushwacks to hundred highest peaks.

Come one, come all..

Jay

I'll pencil it in. Either way, don't save us a campsite. We'll be day tripping!

 

[Chip]

calling it

Mini-Antiestablishment-Gathering-In the-Catskills, aka MAGIC

Jay

Just as long as it doesn't stand for Major Aggrevation Generated In locating Campsite, I'll be fine.

 

[MattC]

My Abode Grants Ingress to the Catskills, so I won't necessarily need to camp, but I may anyway. I'll definitely be up for hiking that weekend at least. I have some ideas of my own, but I look forward to seeing what everyone else has planned as well.

Matt

 

[Kevin]

Jay... Sounds good to me... I'm in.

Kevin

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Hi Jay. Keep Steve and I in the loop -- we're tentatively interested.

 

[Jay H]

OK cool. Plans would typically be meet friday evening at the Sundown campsites and then we can plan hikes for saturday and sunday. I have friday off and will probably be doing something that day. If anybody needs directions to the site, let me know. Rt23A would still be closed that weekend which wont really affect getting to Sundown but keep that in mind.

Jay

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

We could come up after work on Friday. How far a hike in are the campsites? We haven't been to that area, so if you have directions handy, I wouldn't mind taking a look. Thanks!

 

[Jay H]

Sundown is car camping. There are a bunch of different sites so we'll have to be kind of flexible with parking and where we'll be. They sometimes have port-o-johns there but sometimes they remove it in the winter. No Showers. If you've ever done Peekamoose and Table from Peekamoose Road, the campsites are just a few miles or so west of the trailhead on Peekamoose road.

On Rt 28A, where peekamoose road Ts with Rt 28A there is a general store just east of there and there is gas back in Boiceville and a larger IGA store there too where Rt 28 meets with Rt 28A on the west side of the Ashoken Res.

From the NYS thuway, get to Exit 19/Kingston and take Rt 28 west. Take Rt 28West all the way to Boiceville and make the left onto Rt 28A after you pass Bread Alone and the Boiceville Inn on a service road. Then after a few miles on Rt 28A, make a right onto Peekamoose Road at a wooden sign. You probably wont see a Peekamoose Road sign but you'll see the wooden sign and a blue CR42 sign on Peekamoose Road. Then you need to go a bit..something like 10 or so miles til you get to the Sundown Campsites on the right, just west of the trailhead for Peekamoose/Table.

P.S. on Rt 28west from Kingston, you'll see a sign for Rt 28A left turn just a few miles from the exit, this is the long way around, it's faster to go to Boiceville then cut back to Rt28A. Or you can go through Winchell Corners but it's easiest to just go to Boiceville and back.

Jay

 

[hermit]

I would like to join in on some hiking. Sundown is only 12 miles from my house.

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Hey Ralph, I'm for that!...Don't know if I'll be camping, but a day hike on saturday would probably be best for me(depending on weather). Would like to meet up with the whole gang.

 

[Chip]

We'll have to set a "Meet and Greet" and a "Go" time as well as some planned routes for friday, sat and sunday Jay...Jay ?...Bueller...Bueller...

 

[Chip]

You probably wont see a Peekamoose Road sign but you'll see the wooden sign and a blue CR42 sign on Peekamoose Road. Then you need to go a bit..something like 10 or so miles til you get to the Sundown Campsites on the right, just west of the trailhead for Peekamoose/Table.
Jay

That appears to be about exactly "Bull Run" on rt42, no ?
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.ad...cat=&address=&city=bull+run&state=ny&zipcode=

 

[Doodles]

I would like to join in on some hiking. Sundown is only 12 miles from my house.Maybe the 2 plane wrecks on Van Wyck

I would be interested in Van Wyck and the two plane wrecks also. Hundred Highest in the area I would like possibly to hike. Red Hill, Little Rocky, Woodhill, Denman.
George

 

[Jay H]

Guys, yes Van Wyck would be spectacular this time of year with the folliage...

And it's also a HH...

Also, in the area is Little Rocky and Mombaccus which is over by Ashoken HP. Woodhull...Red Hill, Denman MT is also on the HH. Of course, peekamoose and table and the bushwacks...


I mean if we all meet friday night, we can plan saturday's hike, but I think the Van Wyck to Table/Peekamoose would be a fun thing to do that I don't mind repeating.

Chip, didn't you want to do the bushwacks? Ralph is your man!

If you take a look at your catskills map#43, find the Bull Run that you speak of and see where the PT trail goes north towards Peekamoose/Table. There is a brown DEC sign there for the trailhead parking. Further west, the next P you will see is Merrill field which is also sign and gated. This has some picnic tables and sometimes a port-o-john at the far end. the next 4 big "P"s marked on the map are the parking sites for the free DEC camping and is fairly obvious with signs and kiosks. Typically I park at the second one with the kiosk as it's less used and actually less of a walk in to the sites.

As you can see, it's a bit of a drive after you leave Rt 28A and it is a very very dark and desolate road so drive carefully. You wont really have cell reception either. but I think the campsites are hard to miss. If you get to a decent sized intersection, you've gone too far! You will pass a very nice house/lake and property of a person who owns a lot of land around Ashoken HP and Little Rocky... it's marked as private land on the catskills map.

Jay

 

[Chip]

I've got nothing against Van Wyck, but I need all the 35's over there yet.
I'd love to get Peek, Table, Lone and Rocky on Saturday, if that's do-able.

 

[RoySwkr]

Typically I park at the second one with the kiosk as it's less used and actually less of a walk in to the sites.

What is the rule about sleeping in vehicles there?

 

[Jay H]

Roy, don't know if there is a rule. Because the mtns in the catskills are fairly easy to do as dayhikes, I don't think sleeping in cars is as big down here as it is for the ADKs like for Allen, the Santanonis, The 5 Dixes, etc. I doubt you'd get bothered at all by anybody official except for maybe cars driving along the road. The parking is right off the shoulder from the road there. I've slept in my car at some places in the catskills. Other than rowdy teens partying, I haven't been bothered.

Jay

 

[hermit]

Chip,if you spot car at Moonhaw you may be able to also hike Balsam Cap and Friday Mtns.

 

[Chip]

Chip,if you spot car at Moonhaw you may be able to also hike Balsam Cap and Friday Mtns.

That's what I'd REALLY like to do. Anyone up for that ?