SW Hunter

[IndianChris]

Hi All,
Quick Question...

It goes without saying that my orienterring skills might need a little fine tuning however...
...is there a canister on SW Hunter ?
I'll be attempting it for the third time .
Thanks.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Canister

There is a canister on SW Hunter, and by all accounts it is still there. The log book had been stolen during the summer, but was replaced in July.

There is a herd path. The initial portion follows an old horse-drawn railroad grade ( Fenwick Lumber Company, 1903-1917). Portions of the Devil's Path and the Hunter Mountain Trail were also railroad grades.

Some clues to finding the herd path: The start is from the Devil's Path at the height of land (3540'). It is about 0.2 miles west of the Devil's Acre Lean-to and about 0.3 miles east of the Geiger Point lookout. The Devil's Path has red DEC markers. Immediately west of the herd path junction there is a tree on which the red markers on both sides have faded to near yellow. The herd path follows the narrow, overgrown, level, railroad grade. After about 0.5 mile on the grade there is a small drainage, turn uphill and climb about 200' elevation up the drainage. Above that the herd path meanders a bit on the flat summit but leads to the canister. Some bushwhacking is probably necessary in the winter.

Cairns are sometimes present at the two junctions, although they are not needed. Occasionally hikers use brush to block the continuation of the railroad bed at the drainage, which is not good as the railroad beds are historical artifacts and should not be unnecessarily blocked. Good luck.

edit ... A cautionary note: There are at least two other short paths in the area. These head off the Devil's Path west of the railroad grade and dead end at some campsites of marginal legality (3500'). If you find yourself on one of these head back to the Devil's Path and look again to the east.

 

[snowshoe]

Yes there is. It is not an easy one. What can trick some is if you use the Trail Conference maps it shows the highjest point as being large. If you use the USGS maps you will see that there is a higher point within what the TC maps show. When I did this with Jay H we started from the Spruceton side and started are bushwhach from the Diamond Notch shelter. The start was very steep and at times it gets thick. Then on a return trip down we just went down into the West Kill headwaters and follow the brook out. Hope this helps some. Take a look on a USGS map and you will see what I mean. Good luck and a happy Holidays

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Follow Mark's directions and you should be able to find it. I've found that once you turn left and up from the railbed, you go to about the highest point, and then bear to the left to find the canister. Have fun and good luck!

 

[funkyfreddy]

Don't feel bad, Chris. 2 of us Vftt'ers blundered around the summit for hours the first time we went up there (from the north) and failed to find it, mainly because of the lack of detail on the TC map as Snowshoe noted.

The 2nd time we did it in winter and went up from the lean to west of the summit. That time it was easier as we didn't have any herd paths to mislead us, and we found the canister quickly. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Jay H]

There are other markers to find SW Hunter too that aren't cairns, but I don't think it is appropriate for me to post this here... If you are interested though, just PM me and I can tell you... Though of course, it might be hard to find these markings in winter, but they do at least make it a helluva lot easier to find the herdpath to the canister...

Jay

 

[Snowflea]

A kinda-sorta related question...

What's the snow situation in the Catskills as of today?

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Catskill snow conditions

Stinkyfeet, mavs00 has opened up some Catskill sections on his website. Many of the VFTT Catskill hikers are posting reports there as well as here. There are some recent trail reports over there, including one from today.

Catskill snow is soft and wet. Depths are around 1' at higher elevation, with falling ice mixing into the soup. Snowshoes are still in use at elevation, crampons useful. Some bare rocks down low. The Doppler is showing some light snow over the Catskills currently. Temperatures are forecast to fall below freezing the next couple of nights so there will be some ice on the trails. Not much snow is forecast in the next 10 days, with daily highs in the upper 30s and low 40s. Snow could be just icy history soon.

 

[JimB]

Chris don't feel bad I've been up there 2 times also. I was using the same map with no detail and even climbed a gnarly tree, solo, in the winter once trying to see if there was any higher ground. I trampled all over before I decided I would really like to visit that mt again . Thanks for the greater detail on the location of that railbed guys, I have never found it though I've seen much of the remnants scattered around near the leanto.

 

[IndianChris]

SW Hunter - #35

Well, thanks for all the information people! It really helped.

I got to the height of land with map and compass in hand ready to tackle this peak. Once in the trees a little, I picked up the old railroad bed (I think) and followed a set of snowshoe tracks right to the peak.

It would not be fair to call this a bushwack since it was a piece of cake. Stayed dry, stayed warm and hardly pushed through any Balsams.

Beautiful red canister waitin' for me on top. It's my #35.

See trail conditions if interested.

Thanks again.
Talk soon

 

[imarchant]

Congratulations on your #35.

 

[funkyfreddy]

Congratulations on your #35.

Ditto! We sure do finish on strange ones, don't we? At least some of us do... my last 35 done for the 3500 list was Eagle. Still a long way's away from "finishing" the Catskill 100

 

[MattC]

Hike the 115, ERD and myself made those snowshoe tracks last Weds.-glad they helped. Congrats on finishing the #35!

Matt

 

[IndianChris]

Thanks. I remember Eagle. Another broad, flat peak but not as much dense forest on top like SW Hunter. Still gotta do two (Balsalm and Panther) of the other 4 winter hikes (why those 4?).

What's the 115? I've heard of the 111ers.

Last Wenesday? I saw a Matt and Dawn sign in on that day - 12/21. That must be you mcorsar, right? I saw someone in your party wrote a number too, like #1359. What is that about?

Thanks.

 

[ken]

It would not be fair to call this a bushwack since it was a piece of cake.

try it from the other end if you like bushwacks - go to the highest part of diamond notch - head staight up - when you cant go up anymore just keep going straight keeping in the middle of the ridge - just when you think you missed it... go down the hill continuing in the same direction - after the short downhill you will be gradually going back up hill right into the canister - sign it and make a left turn to take the railbed back out fot a nice loop (or continue on to hunter and down for a longer loop with a view)

What's the 115? I've heard of the 111ers.

you have to climb 115 peaks to become a 111er.

 

[MattC]

Still gotta do two (Balsalm and Panther) of the other 4 winter hikes (why those 4?).
Last Wenesday? I saw a Matt and Dawn sign in on that day - 12/21. That must be you mcorsar, right? I saw someone in your party wrote a number too, like #1359. What is that about?

Yes, that was our party that signed in on the solstice. The 1359 would be someone's 35er number, either Dawn, or our other friend Ted. Many members of the 3500 Club write in their number when they sign in. I can never remember mine.

The question about the winter requirement is a good one. I don't know why there is a winter requirement, and why it's those four. My guess is that the requirement was designed to make 3500 Club membership more challenging, since the peaks are "only" 3500' instead of 4000' like other NE high peaks. It also adds to the number of total climbs, since you must do the 4 winter peaks twice-for example, even if the first time you climb Slide is in winter, you have to climb it at least one more time. It's a weird little quirk of the 35ers. Obviously it also encourages winter hiking.

Do you have the tally sheet? Do you plan to actually apply for membership once you finish the winter requirements?

Matt

 

[IndianChris]

The bushwack up from Diamond Notch sounds cool. Lotta scree fields if I remember correctly from a previous summer hike. It's not as steep as the east face of North Dome is it? That was quite an adventure. I'll have to try that route to SW Hunter one of these days.

I'm definately going to apply for membership once I finish. Most likely this winter. Are you glad you joined?

 

[ken]

The bushwack up from Diamond Notch sounds cool. Lotta scree fields if I remember correctly from a previous summer hike. It's not as steep as the east face of North Dome is it? That was quite an adventure. I'll have to try that route to SW Hunter one of these days.

if you leave right at the height of diamond notch it will be like the east end of north dome (steep & cliffy) if you start just a little bit west (before you reach the height, but east of the leanto) you can avoid them - - also many of the cliffs on the east face of northdome can also be avoided by starting more to the north.

I'm definately going to apply for membership once I finish. Most likely this winter. Are you glad you joined?

you won't get the certificate, number or embroidered patch if you don't join (but you can still brag that you did them all) - it's good to join (only $10 a year).

 

[IndianChris]

Yeah, I'm gonna join. I want that patch.

 

[Jay H]

I've done SW Hunter twice from the Diamond Notch side and once from Devil's Acre leanto...

I can tell you that if you go right from DN leanto, it is very steep for a bit and when you get to the top of the ridge, it's really thick with spruce. And then you have to descent very slightly before getting to the canister. A different (better?) way that is slightly longer is to simply hike past DN leanto to get to the West Kill (by DN falls). Then hike upstream on the West Kill approx 1/2 mile (or more, use your watch to gauge the distance) and then hike up towards the ridge. It's very very steep here but does avoid the thick spruce.

This route that I mentioned is tough though for navigation because you can't exactly guarantee where on the flat summit of SW Hunter you arrive, more than likely you wont overshoot the canister, but there is that possibility. I did find a really good view towards the south when I did this hike solo last winter via this route.

Have fun, it is a nice hike this way...

Jay