On Sunday I headed to the Ashokan Reservoir to do a difficult hike. While it was difficult, it was also very rewarding. While it was only 7.7 miles, it took 7 hours to complete. It also had one of the largest elevation gains of 2,800 vertical feet.
Balsam Cap mountain has a beautiful ledge that overlooks the Ashokan Reservoir. Today was a Blue-bird day with clear blue skies. Perfect for this hike. Friday Mountain is known to be difficult. Mainly because it is surrounded by steep and difficult ledges. There are two access points up thru the ledges. I planned on doing both breaks in the ledges.
I was too tired to visit the B-25 air force jet that crashed around 2,700'. The snow was great. No snow on the bottom, but 4' of snow on top. I snowshoed from 1900' up to 3660'.
Here are some pictures:
Views of the Ashokan Reservoir
Views of Cornell mountain & Wittenberg Mtn from Balsam Cap Mountain
Views of the Devil's Path & the Ashokan Reservoir from Balsam Cap Mountain
Views of the Devil's Path from Balsam Cap Mountain
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Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
- mike
- Posts: 1442
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm
- Location: Ravena, NY
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- Posts: 496
- Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:46 pm
Re: Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
Wow! those photos are great. what a nice day to be hiking. I see a lot of snow up there on top. I have heard of this hike many times, but never thought about doing it.
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- Posts: 134
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:53 pm
Re: Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
Nice hike. I would really like to visit the b-25 plane crash some time
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- Posts: 143
- Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:54 am
Re: Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
Mike, the photos are beautiful. My favorite is the shot looking north of Cornell and Wittenberg. Stunning! Likewise, I would also be interested in seeing the B25 plane wreck some time. I've attached a link to a website listing documented plane wrecks in the Catskills.
http://chayden.net/Catskills/Notes/AircraftCrashes.html
Thanks,
Rich
http://chayden.net/Catskills/Notes/AircraftCrashes.html
Thanks,
Rich
- dave
- Posts: 712
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:14 pm
- Location: Acra New York
Re: Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
We now have the Balsam Cap Mtn and Friday Mtn hike on-line. The map on this link shows where the plane crash is: http://www.catskillmountaineer.com/SMW-bc-friday.html
- mike
- Posts: 1442
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm
- Location: Ravena, NY
Re: Balsam Cap & Friday Mountains
I was too tired to hike down to the plane crash. It was a LONG day. But, I do want to return to the plane crash. I have a long list of hikes over the next month. The Cheyden site has removed some of the information.