rhihn
New member
t's been a while since I posted a trip report of our hikes, but thought I should post one for a Cat3500 Club hike. Joanne and I took four others up Plateau Mt. from Rt. 214-Notch Lake side of the mountain. It's been a while since we've hiked it from this side. Only one of the four had been up the mountain before. We checked and double-checked the forecast, which was uncertain up to the last minute, though it proved accurate: cloudy skies with some sun in the AM, increasing clouds and periods of hit-and-miss showers, temps in the 50's.
As advertised, we took a leisurely pace up the steep side, with several breaks. No snow was to be seen down low. Rocks were mostly dry, though wet where spring runoff was present. A few trout lilies were starting to sprout (no flowers), and another one whose technical name I think is "pretty little yellow flower". We heard woodcocks in the woods about half-way up. As we got higher there were patches of snow in the woods, but still none on the trail. Just below the viewpoint the trail was considerably wetter, with a good stream flowing from one of the rock faces.
Four of us climbed the rock face to Orchard (Orchid?) Point lookout, while two opted for the work-around. Weather remained good enough for us to get good views of Hunter, SW Hunter, West Kill, St. Anne, Belleayre ski area, to name a few. We then hit the conifer section across the plateau. I was reminded of how beautiful this section is. For those who haven't been there, in the summer it's a lovely walk across a mostly flat, mostly pine duff trail, with woods thick with ferns. However, on this day, though it started out mostly bare, snow depth soon increased to 1-2 feet off-trail. There are a couple of other good viewpoints, including "Danny's lookout, from which we could see the Blackhead range, Kaaterskill HP (?), Sugarloaf, and what I assume was Tannersville in the valley below. There was considerable evidence of post-holing on both sides, and the usual monorail to walk on. Though supportive, it slowed us down a little, and most wore Microspikes. Just past the "new" trail (Long Path down to Silver Hollow) the weather started to go south, and by the time we got down to the lookout, we were in a slow but steady drizzle. Still nice in-your-face views of Sugarloaf, though. We were greeted by a couple of nearby thrushes in both directions just before the final lookout.
It rained similarly across the rest of our return on the plateau, and subsided just as we started our now slippery descent to Notch Lake, which proceeded without incident.
We weren't alone. One other person hiked to Orchard Point and back down. We passed one other couple and a larger group of 8-10.
Evidence of campfires was present in a few places, in spite of warnings and regulations.
There is/was a set of car keys in the register box, in case anyone reading this is missing them!
The excellent company made this trip go by quickly! We're looking forward to leading our next 3500 club hike.
A few of Joanne's pictures will follow.
As advertised, we took a leisurely pace up the steep side, with several breaks. No snow was to be seen down low. Rocks were mostly dry, though wet where spring runoff was present. A few trout lilies were starting to sprout (no flowers), and another one whose technical name I think is "pretty little yellow flower". We heard woodcocks in the woods about half-way up. As we got higher there were patches of snow in the woods, but still none on the trail. Just below the viewpoint the trail was considerably wetter, with a good stream flowing from one of the rock faces.
Four of us climbed the rock face to Orchard (Orchid?) Point lookout, while two opted for the work-around. Weather remained good enough for us to get good views of Hunter, SW Hunter, West Kill, St. Anne, Belleayre ski area, to name a few. We then hit the conifer section across the plateau. I was reminded of how beautiful this section is. For those who haven't been there, in the summer it's a lovely walk across a mostly flat, mostly pine duff trail, with woods thick with ferns. However, on this day, though it started out mostly bare, snow depth soon increased to 1-2 feet off-trail. There are a couple of other good viewpoints, including "Danny's lookout, from which we could see the Blackhead range, Kaaterskill HP (?), Sugarloaf, and what I assume was Tannersville in the valley below. There was considerable evidence of post-holing on both sides, and the usual monorail to walk on. Though supportive, it slowed us down a little, and most wore Microspikes. Just past the "new" trail (Long Path down to Silver Hollow) the weather started to go south, and by the time we got down to the lookout, we were in a slow but steady drizzle. Still nice in-your-face views of Sugarloaf, though. We were greeted by a couple of nearby thrushes in both directions just before the final lookout.
It rained similarly across the rest of our return on the plateau, and subsided just as we started our now slippery descent to Notch Lake, which proceeded without incident.
We weren't alone. One other person hiked to Orchard Point and back down. We passed one other couple and a larger group of 8-10.
Evidence of campfires was present in a few places, in spite of warnings and regulations.
There is/was a set of car keys in the register box, in case anyone reading this is missing them!
The excellent company made this trip go by quickly! We're looking forward to leading our next 3500 club hike.
A few of Joanne's pictures will follow.
