MattC
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- Sep 2, 2004
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Coldfeet and I walked Plateau end-to-end today. I met him and his friend Jack @ the Notch Lake parking lot, and we drove around to the place where the paved part of Mink Hollow Rd. dead-ends on state land. We geared up and headed south on the unmarked, old Mink Hollow Rd. Everyone had snowshoes on right from the get-go. It was maybe 8-10 inches of powder w/ ice crust on top, just about what we expected after Friday's freezing rains. We broke through the crust w/ almost every step, and thus it was hard going.
Coldfeet's friend only had time for a short walk, so he just came up to the leanto w/ us. We rested there for a bit, had a snack, and then Jack left, while Coldfeet and I headed west on the good ol' Devil's Path. We had seen one guy at the junction. He had come from the south end of the Mink Hollow Trail and was headed up Sugarloaf, and claimed he had seen fresh bear tracks a little ways back.
The crust-over-powder conditions were unrelenting all the way up, and some of the steep areas were quite a chore to climb. There were places where you had to break the crust, stamp down the powder, step up, repeat, just to make a little progress. The forest was also very thoroughly coated with ice. Many birch and spruce branches were bowed and broke off at the slighest touch. As Coldfeet put it, everything was like glass! Tough going, but beautiful. As we ascended views opened up of Sugarloaf, Kaaterskill High Peak and Rountop, and along Mink Hollow. We could also see Overlook over Sugarloaf's shoulder from one lookout ledge.
Finally, we made the summit plateau and began the 2-mile trek across. After a brief lunch stop at the true peak, we continued on through the still-difficult snow conditions. At this point we had seen quite a few tracks-bobcat, grouse (or was it turkey?), and a deer or two. After a tough, but enjoyable schlog across the top, we came to the first of the lookouts on the far end. KHP/Roundtop, and the southern Escarpment. The next ledge offered a vista including the same, plus the Blackheads. Finally the open ledge at the far end revealed the southern Catskills in all their glory, along w/ Hunter to the west.
Then it was back down. We opted for crampons, since the little chute directly below the ledge was icy and didn't allow much room for snowshoes. The trail on this side seemed like it had broken out more recently than the Mink Hollow side, so we stayed w/ the spikes for the entire descent. The icy crust remained everywhere. The through-the-trees views of Stony Clove were great on the walk down, and the few hemlocks on the lower slope were the first non-iced trees we had seen all day. We made good time on the descent and were back at my car at about 4. Several ice climbers were also returning to their cars after their day on the nearby walls.
Our next mission was to drive my car back into Mink Hollow to retrieve Coldfeet's van. Easier said than done. I couldn't get up the hill towards the end of the road, so we had to walk a short distance. We drove back, CF gave my car a little push w/ the van, and we were on our way to Tannersville for hot chocolate, then back to New Paltz, where CF wanted to crampon-shop @ Rock N' Snow.
So, the icy rain has resulted in some tough trail conditions, not to mention dicey driving on the back roads. It was a lovely time to be out though. Hard to believe it's still not "real" winter...
Matt
Coldfeet's friend only had time for a short walk, so he just came up to the leanto w/ us. We rested there for a bit, had a snack, and then Jack left, while Coldfeet and I headed west on the good ol' Devil's Path. We had seen one guy at the junction. He had come from the south end of the Mink Hollow Trail and was headed up Sugarloaf, and claimed he had seen fresh bear tracks a little ways back.
The crust-over-powder conditions were unrelenting all the way up, and some of the steep areas were quite a chore to climb. There were places where you had to break the crust, stamp down the powder, step up, repeat, just to make a little progress. The forest was also very thoroughly coated with ice. Many birch and spruce branches were bowed and broke off at the slighest touch. As Coldfeet put it, everything was like glass! Tough going, but beautiful. As we ascended views opened up of Sugarloaf, Kaaterskill High Peak and Rountop, and along Mink Hollow. We could also see Overlook over Sugarloaf's shoulder from one lookout ledge.
Finally, we made the summit plateau and began the 2-mile trek across. After a brief lunch stop at the true peak, we continued on through the still-difficult snow conditions. At this point we had seen quite a few tracks-bobcat, grouse (or was it turkey?), and a deer or two. After a tough, but enjoyable schlog across the top, we came to the first of the lookouts on the far end. KHP/Roundtop, and the southern Escarpment. The next ledge offered a vista including the same, plus the Blackheads. Finally the open ledge at the far end revealed the southern Catskills in all their glory, along w/ Hunter to the west.
Then it was back down. We opted for crampons, since the little chute directly below the ledge was icy and didn't allow much room for snowshoes. The trail on this side seemed like it had broken out more recently than the Mink Hollow side, so we stayed w/ the spikes for the entire descent. The icy crust remained everywhere. The through-the-trees views of Stony Clove were great on the walk down, and the few hemlocks on the lower slope were the first non-iced trees we had seen all day. We made good time on the descent and were back at my car at about 4. Several ice climbers were also returning to their cars after their day on the nearby walls.
Our next mission was to drive my car back into Mink Hollow to retrieve Coldfeet's van. Easier said than done. I couldn't get up the hill towards the end of the road, so we had to walk a short distance. We drove back, CF gave my car a little push w/ the van, and we were on our way to Tannersville for hot chocolate, then back to New Paltz, where CF wanted to crampon-shop @ Rock N' Snow.
So, the icy rain has resulted in some tough trail conditions, not to mention dicey driving on the back roads. It was a lovely time to be out though. Hard to believe it's still not "real" winter...
Matt
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