rhihn
New member
The weather for the day was a classic example of why not to make plans a forecast too far in advance. Originally calling for rain, the day ended up a picture perfect day, partly cloudy to mostly sunny, temps. In the 50s, gentle breeze. The idea was for us (Edelweiss, Peakbagr, Dick) do something on the easier side, given our group’s need to return early that day, so we chose West Stoppel Point and Stoppel Point. We first tried to cross the the East Kill, but heavy rains precluded that option. Walking up the road, we were soon greeted by private land, so we walked the marked trail around the land toward Dutcher Notch. The trail was rather non-descript, quite wet in spots due to rain, and it took a wide arc around the private land, so we lost some time. Arriving at the new bridge mentioned in Rik’s report (we decided the ‘06’ was done by the bridge builders marking the date of completion, and was not graffiti), we headed into the woods. After a short wet stretch through a spruce grove, we found ourselves in open hardwoods for the rest of the day. Though we picked one of the steeper spots to ascend, it was not “cliffy” at all. The ground and rocks were somewhat unstable due to the previous rains. That, coupled with fallen leaves, caused us to place our feet carefully. The Blackhead range was visible behind us – the only real “vista” on this mountain, though the woods themselves were quite beautiful. We came across the remnants of an old road about half way up. We tried to follow it for a short distance, but it seemed to descend, so we headed up again. Found a broken plastic party balloon near the summit, and packed it out. The summit was quite wide and expansive, and finding the true summit was a little bit of a challenge, but we did manage to find it. We spent some time eating lunch and talking. It was quite peaceful up there, until the quiet was broken by the sound of the 12:00 o’clock siren down below! Perhaps it was from East Jewett? Quite annoying. Given an additional four mile round trip to Stoppel Pt., we very reluctantly decided to forego that one, given the necessity of getting back early. Knowing that wet feet wouldn’t be too bad if we were a couple of hundred feet from the car, we decided to descend in that direction and take our chances crossing the East Kill. As we anticipated, no good way presented itself, so we waded across, getting feet wet in the process. A couple of hundred feet back to the car, where we changed and left for home. Stoppel Pt. will have to wait for another day. We continue to enjoy Catskill bushwhacking immensely!
Pictures will follow soon.
Dick
Pictures will follow soon.
Dick
