Source to identify Catskill Mtns in distance?

[Hank]

I do a fair amount of road biking throughout the Gunks. There are places where the Catskills appear in the distance, looking north. However, I am ignorant as to what I am looking at. Is there a source that shows the profile of the Catskills from different directions so that I might ID them?

Thanks

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I checked my Catskill books, and I did not find a good reference that I could recommend. On the inside cover of Alf Evers' book The Catskills there are three profiles with the mountains identified. But these are from vistas within the Catskills, and would not help much with a view from Shawangunks. If you have photos that you can post, the Catskill/Gunk hikers among us should be able to help with the identification.

The discussion of mountains listed below is from right/east to left/west. From many locations in the Gunks you will see the entire "Devil's Path" mountains on the far northeast (right). From Skytop these will appear directly above the Mohonk Mt House. Typically you can see Plattekill, Overlook, Indian Head (somewhat scalloped appearance), Twin (compact with two summits), Sugarloaf (rounded), Plateau (long profile that slopes gently to the left/west), Hunter (with SW Hunter on the left), Westkill (a long ridge), North Dome, then several smaller mountains somewhat difficult to differentiate.

Then Ashokan High Point (a somewhat elongated pyramid with a lower knob on the right/east, and if you have good eyes you will notice a deep glacial gash far down its right side which is Wagon wheel Gap. To the left of Ashokan High Point is a long ridge (Little Rocky).

Then 3 or 4 high bumps - which are in a wide cirque so one is often hidden from a Gunks view. In the northern Gunks you may see Wittenberg, Cornell, Balsam Cap (with Friday hidden behind). In the southern Gunks you are more likely to see Balsam Cap, Friday, Cornell (with Wittenberg hidden behind).

You may see a lower peak (Rocky) then Slide Mt, the highest point on the horizon which slopes gently to the west/left. Lone may appear in front of Slide -- it appears as an elongated pyramid if you do see it. Then two mountains: Table (a short flat plateau) and Peekamoose (in front) which will appear as a bump somewhere along the flat profile of Table depending on your location. Left of that from the southern Gunks you may see Doubletop, Graham, and Balsam Lake Mt.

 

[Hank]

Mark, thanks for shedding light on this issue. Unfortunately, I don't have a server to which I can post a photo. However, I will see if I can find a picture and follow your description. I have noticed that there are actually 2 distinct ranges which you have elucidated as those to the northeast being the Devil's Path. Does that mean this is where the Devil's Kitchen lies? I do know it is along the eastern edge.

 

[Jay H]

If you are driving to the Gunks from NYC as your avatar implies, you will get a great view of the Devil's Path as well as KHP/RT and the smaller southern and eastern peaks like Overlook from the NYS Thruway a few miles before exit 18, which is New Paltz. Easily making out Twin and Indian Head before getting a wider view of the eastern Devil's Path and the surrounding peaks.

This is just before you get a view of the 'Gunks and Smiley's tower and Bonticue Crag, etc. etc.

Jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have noticed that there are actually 2 distinct ranges which you have elucidated as those to the northeast being the Devil's Path. Does that mean this is where the Devil's Kitchen lies? I do know it is along the eastern edge.

Yes there are two distinct ranges of the Catskills. The Catskill name was first used to describe the northern Catskills. The southern range was initially known as the Shandaken Mountains. These were thought to be inferior and lower (at least by the large hotel owners in the northern Catskills). After Arnold Guyot firmly established that Slide Mt was the highest mountain in the two ranges, the Shandakens were quickly annexed into the Catskills.

The Devil's Path is a 25 mile hiking trail which passes over Indian Head, Twin, Sugarloaf, Plateau, the col between Hunter and SW Hunter, and Westkill. The range continues west over some additional trailless peaks beginning with North Dome.

The early settlers imagined the Devil's handiwork in many areas if the Catskills. The name of the trail was probably derived from the Devil's Kitchen (near the eastern end), the Devil's Tombstone (a glacial erratic between Plateau and Hunter), and the Devil's Portal some cliffs on the eastern slopes of Hunter.

The Devil's Kitchen is at the top the Platte Clove just north of Plattekill. There is also a Devil's Kitchen lean-to just south of the Devil's Path before the initial ascent of Indian Head. And there is a DEC campground at the Devil's Tombstone, also just south of the Devil's Path.

That view from the Thruway that Jay mentions is a good one. Also if you head out of NYC on I-684 and then head west on I-84 - there also a sweeping Catskill view from I-84 coming down the long hill east of the Taconic Parkway.

 

[MattC]

I'm having a really vague memory here, like I've seen some postcards with Catskill peaks pictured and identified. Perhaps it was at Catskill Office and Art Supply on Wall St. in Kingston? Not sure.

Matt

 

[Hank]

"The Devil's Kitchen is at the top the Platte Clove just north of Plattekill. There is also a Devil's Kitchen lean-to just south of the Devil's Path before the initial ascent of Indian Head. And there is a DEC campground at the Devil's Tombstone, also just south of the Devil's Path."

- I have cycled up Clove Platte Road on a road bike. You really get a feel that these mountains are an erroded plateau as you go from a steep ascent to the flatlands above. One day I would like to do some hiking here. If only I could sqeeze more time out of life...

"That view from the Thruway that Jay mentions is a good one. Also if you head out of NYC on I-684 and then head west on I-84 - there also a sweeping Catskill view from I-84 coming down the long hill east of the Taconic Parkway."

- On a bike ride cutting through Putnam and Dutchess Counties last month, we crossed over I 84, if I am correct, on Mountain Top Road and caught just this view.

Would you say Storm King is in the Ramapos or Schunnemunks? Or neither?

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Would you say Storm King is in the Ramapos or Schunnemunks? Or neither?

There is an excellent geology overview map in the front pages of the New York Walk Book. Storm King and most of the Hudson Highlands and Ramapos are very early Pre-Cambrian igneous rock created by an early continental collision. Storm King is essentially part of the Ramapos.

The Catskill plateau was created much later during Devonian period as run-off from the eroding Arcadian Mountains. Schunemunk is an isolated bit of the Catskill plateau that was close enough to the series of continental collisions to become folded. The Shawangunks are from the Silurian and a bit older than the Catskills. The Devonian Catskill strata that was above the Shawangunks and other points in between the Catskills and the Schunemunk has entirely eroded away. You could say that Schunemunk is a Catskill orphan that has had a rough life. The Shawangunks are an older cousin of the Catskills and as accident prone as the Schunemunk. The Ramapos and Hudson Highlands are unrelated dinosaurs by comparison.

 

[Jay H]

Schunemunk is in Orange county and on the other side of the thruway.. yeah, it's had a rough life, partly owned by the 4-star corporation which you can see from the thruway and having a train line go through it though that is fairly neat.

Lots of accidents have occured there in recent memory including somebody being killed by a rockfall on the cliffs not terribly long ago I think.

The bluestone in the catskills is sometimes referred to as Devonian Bluestone, in fact there are some quarries online that refer to that face that I found when I was looking into buying some.

Jay

 

[Hank]

Then I suppose the Catskill bluestone was taken by barge on the Delaware Hudson Canal to the Hudson then down to New York City where it was used as paving stones.

Where was that quarry?

 

[Jay H]

Lots of quarries in the catskill's Michael Kudish's book is the obvious source if you're interested:

"The Catskill's Forest: A History" by Michael Kudish

Has a map identifying the various quarries and other industries in the catskills with a map of the forests on the other side.

Jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Then I suppose the Catskill bluestone was taken by barge on the Delaware Hudson Canal to the Hudson then down to New York City where it was used as paving stones.

The Delaware and Hudson Canal was built to transport anthracite coal from Honesdale and Carbondale in northeastern Pennsylvania to the Hudson for shipping to NYC. For the most part the Catskill bluestone was transported by carts, railroads, and later trucks to Kingston, Saugerties, and Catskill for shipping to NYC. There are also still many bluestone sidewalks and cellars in all three of those cities.

Back to the question of identifying the Catskills peaks. In the back of my mind I have a gnawing thought that I have seen an annotated profile plaque somewhere in the Gunks. Thinking out loud (so take it with a pound of salt) - perhaps it is at the top of Skytop. Wherever, I don't believe it was very detailed. Or maybe it is at the relatively new Slingerlands Pavilion at Spring Farm at the northern end of the Mohonk Preserve. There is a nice Catskill view at that pavilion. And nearby is perhaps one the best views of the Catskills. It is at the top of the hill on the Spring Farm Road, just a short distance up from the Spring Farm trailhead parking area. The locals call it the Million Dollar Catskill View. You have a full sweep from the southern Catskills to the Devil's Path. I believe even the toy Cairo Roundtop can be seen at the extreme east.

 

[Hank]

I have caught a glimpse of this the "Million Dollar Catskill View" descending Mohonk on 6 at the bend over the open field where 6 and 6A merge.

There is also a great view descending 44/55 west of Minnewaska. You can see till tomorrow. But I couldn't get a cell on Verizon last year when my beeper went off.

 

[kurtq]

QUOTE]In the back of my mind I have a gnawing thought that I have seen an annotated profile plaque somewhere in the Gunks.[/QUOTE]

I too remember such a plaque. I believe it is on the front porch of the Mohonk Mountain House itself. There are (were) a bunch of rockers on the porch and on the railing was posted a plaque that named the mountains in the view. The Devil's Path range I remember.

Kurt