Mt. Sherrill and North Dome Mt
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 3:41 pm
On 8/29/16 I hiked Mt Sherrill and North Dome Mountain from Peck Hollow in Shandaken. I figured Id share this experience because I think these mountains are usually approached from West Kill.
The NYNJTC Maps mark it as a parking area. Its right along a driveway to private property, you would have to park the cars in line to the left of the driveway and you would be blocked in. No room to park on the road, its pretty tight. I would ask the land owner if its ok to park by his driveway. Along the Peck Hollow stream is an old quarry/logging road. Its a slow elevation gain along the stream for about a mile to a mile and a half.
You can pretty much see Mt. Sherrill a good part of the way. And let me tell you, theres a ton of stinging nettles, like Ive never seen before, waist high. I spent a lot of time wacking them with my hiking pole as I went along. The col in between North Dome and Mt Sherrill is really neat, saw some views of Panther Mt and a glimpse of Halcott I believe. I wonder if anyone has seen these views before. Im sure it looks great in the winter. It was about 3,000ft here and only Beech and Birch were in the way. I hit Mt. Sherrill first, signed in at the canister. My first canister/bushwhack. There was a faint herd path and then once I hit the rock bands the route was pretty obvious to the top of Sherrill.
Headed down the back of Sherrill to stay on the ridge and down to North Dome. I thought there would definitely be a herd path over here once headed up North Dome but its very overgrown, a few bands of rocks to go around but nothing major like Ive heard coming from the West Kill side. North Dome is a very large mountain and I was wondering the top for a while for the canister. Many herd paths at the top leading all different directions. Finally found the canister and signed in. I went searching for the view point for a while, took about 45 mins to find. I was about to give up, but after finding it Im glad I kept searching for it. Heading down North Dome is pretty rough, only hit three cliff bands. Luckily found a very wide dry stream bed and I took a chance and followed it which lead down really close to the car, probably saved an extra mile. Looks like it formed from a heavy washout, possible from Hurricane Irene?
The plan originally was to keep the mileage minimal to about 6.50-7 miles this way versus coming from West Kill which is about 9.50-10 miles supposedly. But I drifted off a few times which threw me off course. I would still like to try it from the West Kill side. But overall it was a very neat experience which has put me at 21 of 35 Catskill High Peaks. By far I think this was the toughest hike I have done. My mileage app said 8.50 miles, my friends app said 10 miles. Give or take. Im sure I forgot some stuff, any questions just ask.
A quick breakdown, Times are approx(since I looked shortly after I arrived):
Departing the car: 10am
Col between Sherrill and North Dome: 12pm
Sherrill Canister: 12:30pm
North Dome Canister: 2:00pm
View on North Dome: 2:40pm
Back at the car: 5:10pm
Youtube clip from View on North Dome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgPcRwsyGjY
Thanks for reading
The NYNJTC Maps mark it as a parking area. Its right along a driveway to private property, you would have to park the cars in line to the left of the driveway and you would be blocked in. No room to park on the road, its pretty tight. I would ask the land owner if its ok to park by his driveway. Along the Peck Hollow stream is an old quarry/logging road. Its a slow elevation gain along the stream for about a mile to a mile and a half.
You can pretty much see Mt. Sherrill a good part of the way. And let me tell you, theres a ton of stinging nettles, like Ive never seen before, waist high. I spent a lot of time wacking them with my hiking pole as I went along. The col in between North Dome and Mt Sherrill is really neat, saw some views of Panther Mt and a glimpse of Halcott I believe. I wonder if anyone has seen these views before. Im sure it looks great in the winter. It was about 3,000ft here and only Beech and Birch were in the way. I hit Mt. Sherrill first, signed in at the canister. My first canister/bushwhack. There was a faint herd path and then once I hit the rock bands the route was pretty obvious to the top of Sherrill.
Headed down the back of Sherrill to stay on the ridge and down to North Dome. I thought there would definitely be a herd path over here once headed up North Dome but its very overgrown, a few bands of rocks to go around but nothing major like Ive heard coming from the West Kill side. North Dome is a very large mountain and I was wondering the top for a while for the canister. Many herd paths at the top leading all different directions. Finally found the canister and signed in. I went searching for the view point for a while, took about 45 mins to find. I was about to give up, but after finding it Im glad I kept searching for it. Heading down North Dome is pretty rough, only hit three cliff bands. Luckily found a very wide dry stream bed and I took a chance and followed it which lead down really close to the car, probably saved an extra mile. Looks like it formed from a heavy washout, possible from Hurricane Irene?
The plan originally was to keep the mileage minimal to about 6.50-7 miles this way versus coming from West Kill which is about 9.50-10 miles supposedly. But I drifted off a few times which threw me off course. I would still like to try it from the West Kill side. But overall it was a very neat experience which has put me at 21 of 35 Catskill High Peaks. By far I think this was the toughest hike I have done. My mileage app said 8.50 miles, my friends app said 10 miles. Give or take. Im sure I forgot some stuff, any questions just ask.
A quick breakdown, Times are approx(since I looked shortly after I arrived):
Departing the car: 10am
Col between Sherrill and North Dome: 12pm
Sherrill Canister: 12:30pm
North Dome Canister: 2:00pm
View on North Dome: 2:40pm
Back at the car: 5:10pm
Youtube clip from View on North Dome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgPcRwsyGjY
Thanks for reading