Mt Pisgah and Little Pisgah - Cat100's

Peakbagr · May 6, 2008

Temps - just right. Bugs - OK for this time of year and Ralph was the bug magnet anyway. route - Right as planned. Woods - really nice.

We started high up on Weaver Hollow Rd and parked right next to a DEP sign that the locals apparently overlooked. Took a combination of woods roads and easy 'whack up to Mt Pisgah's summit. The top was breezy and refreshing and we had long views over the tops of the open ski slopes. It was hard to leave the sun, breeze and views to resume our hike.

We walked the ridgeline pretty much staying right on the bearing all the way across. A nice mix of woods roads, not-bad prickers and an abundance of Trout Lillies and Trillium. Just above the last drop to the Pisgah-Little Pisgah col we came on an open field and the adjacent area appeared to be an overgrown field. Took our lunch just below this spot and sharp-eyed Ralph found what looked like the remains of a deer skull, complete with teeth. A short drop to the col and short whack to LP's summit and then it was the down elevator to the new DEP gravel lot on Weaver Hollow Rd.
What also was nice about the day: The company, easy pricker-going, and Bookah didn't tangle with a porky or roll in poop like last trip.
Pictures to follow.

Bookah 86/102

Edelweiss · May 7, 2008

What a beautiful day! No complaints except for a few persistent black fly swarms. The prickers were manageable and open woods during much of the hike were spectacular. I have never seen such an abundance of trout lilies.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...8079_602828017306&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

80/102

hermit · May 9, 2008

It was a beautiful day out hiking in the Western Catskills.Great company and great pictures.I remember skiing at Bob Cat in the 1970's,it may have been called something else back then.T-bars are a blast to ride.I remember Pico Peak in Vt. had one on the Giant killer trail that would send you airborne.
61/102

Peakbagr · May 10, 2008

Sorry about the sideways first one. Trip photos here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...a&Uy=1amc7k&Ux=0&UV=715711046855_885233310210

ColdRiverRun · May 10, 2008

Some nice shots. It's a lucky catch to find eggs at that stage of development, and the Red Trillium in perfect bloom.

Ralph, head net and short sleeves? Do you also go with the puffy winter coat and shorts?

The huge old growth tree always makes me think what would it of been like without the logging. Probably makes the current conditions the toughest to whack through especially up in the Daks. Just post hurricane especially!

Peakbagr · May 10, 2008

The Trillium were in the shade(usual habitat), but the photos look SO much better at large size instead of squeezed into the photo share site. They like to face the ground so that shot was taken laying down and shooting up.

Re the bugs. Early black fly visitors are the males. They swarm but don't bite. A little pesky from time to time but nothing like the ADK 'whacks where you pick up a significant entomological caloric intake from the deer, horse, house and black fly ingestion.

Ralph was just stylin' for the camera.

One of the beauties of the Catskill 'whacks is the discovery of old stone fences, woods roads and the big old oaks, sugar maples and hemlocks that escaped the blade. I sometimes wonder what the woods looked like in the time of the Native Americans, or when the early homesteads were in place.
Ralph was remarking about the the back-breaking work that must have gone into clearing the woods, digging and hauling the stumps, and then rooting out and moving and stacking the stones for the fences. Some of them go long distances following the contours of the land.