Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Yes, it's true, after helping Ryan finish his C35 a few weeks ago, we had to go back for the Catskill 3500 Club trip we had originally planned. After hearing the horror story that I posted a few weeks ago, several would-be hikers opted to skip this little jaunt. 
A few hardy hikers, such as Harry Rampe, a Catskill legend, joined us for some more punishment.
Actually, it turned out to be not so bad. We managed to ascend on the herd path we had beaten down 2 weeks ago for 90% of the time. This kept the nettle quotient pretty low. Not 0, but low. We still had a few places like this! The temps and humidity were much lower as well, and while this was not the most pleasant hike of the summer, it was not really that bad. We were up to the top of SH in a little over 2 hours. After a break, some food and water, we set off towards North Dome. We hit the col pretty well, but going down this sucker is steep! Be careful as you go down!
Up we went to ND, and this side is not too bad. The summit of ND has a geo marker, and we easily found marker #2, but we do not know where #1 is. After another break, we headed down the precipitous slopes of the East side of North Dome. If we thought dropping down SH was bad, this bad boy has some serious ledges! We started out a little South of where we wanted to be, but this turned out to be really cool. We came to an abrupt ledge that dropped WAY down the mountain. The views into the upper Spruceton Valley were amazing! This was not what I expected from a bushwhack peak for views! We could see Hunter, Rusk, Westkill, St. Anne, Slide, Cornell, Witt, and all kinds of other things, even the Ashokan Reservoir! From this vantage point, hawks, vultures, and ravens, the true denizens of this domain, soared effortlessly by.
The good part of getting 'lost' at this view point was that I could clearly see exactly where I needed to head to regain the Devil's Path. So, we bore away from the cliffs, always heading slightly North as we descended. After a while, I knew from 2 weeks ago, that we could just go straight down the mountain. We still had a ways to go to cross the stream, but we eventually found it, and immediately after, I stumbled right across the path. It was great to be on a trail, woohoo!
The rest of the way back to the cars was uneventful, aside from stopping to dunk our heads, and other body parts in the cool stream.
After finally finishing the hike, we headed to Brio's for some well earned grub and suds.
P.S. Every trip has some beauty, here are Cone Flowers, seen in several places along the way.
A few hardy hikers, such as Harry Rampe, a Catskill legend, joined us for some more punishment.Actually, it turned out to be not so bad. We managed to ascend on the herd path we had beaten down 2 weeks ago for 90% of the time. This kept the nettle quotient pretty low. Not 0, but low. We still had a few places like this!
The temps and humidity were much lower as well, and while this was not the most pleasant hike of the summer, it was not really that bad. We were up to the top of SH in a little over 2 hours. After a break, some food and water, we set off towards North Dome. We hit the col pretty well, but going down this sucker is steep! Be careful as you go down!Up we went to ND, and this side is not too bad. The summit of ND has a geo marker, and we easily found marker #2, but we do not know where #1 is.
After another break, we headed down the precipitous slopes of the East side of North Dome. If we thought dropping down SH was bad, this bad boy has some serious ledges! We started out a little South of where we wanted to be, but this turned out to be really cool. We came to an abrupt ledge that dropped WAY down the mountain. The views into the upper Spruceton Valley were amazing! This was not what I expected from a bushwhack peak for views! We could see Hunter, Rusk, Westkill, St. Anne, Slide, Cornell, Witt, and all kinds of other things, even the Ashokan Reservoir! From this vantage point, hawks, vultures, and ravens, the true denizens of this domain, soared effortlessly by. The good part of getting 'lost' at this view point was that I could clearly see exactly where I needed to head to regain the Devil's Path. So, we bore away from the cliffs, always heading slightly North as we descended. After a while, I knew from 2 weeks ago, that we could just go straight down the mountain. We still had a ways to go to cross the stream, but we eventually found it, and immediately after, I stumbled right across the path. It was great to be on a trail, woohoo!
The rest of the way back to the cars was uneventful, aside from stopping to dunk our heads, and other body parts in the cool stream.
After finally finishing the hike, we headed to Brio's for some well earned grub and suds.
P.S. Every trip has some beauty, here are Cone Flowers, seen in several places along the way.
