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Hiker killed in Kaaterskill Clove

Report or discuss current events in the Catskill Mountains.
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dave
Posts: 712
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: Acra New York

Hiker killed in Kaaterskill Clove

Unread post by dave »

A 56-year-old New Jersey woman was killed in the lower Kaaterskill Clove on Friday, August 19, 2016 between 5:00PM and 5:30PM. It is reported that she fell approximately 100 feet. The exact location is between Moore's Bridge and the bridge on the west side of Palenville, NY. This area is called Deep Chasm and Red Chasm. Deep Chasm has very high vertical walls through the rock, and the rock then turns to Red rock, and hence, the name Red Chasm. It is a dangerous place to hike. There is also a 90' tall water fall in this region that can sometimes be seen from Rt 23a.

It is reported that she died where she fell. The local fire department SAR teams had to use ropes to repel and extract her from the chasm. Rt 23a was closed for a period of time while they accessed and extracted her from the chasm. The following agencies were involved in accessing her and extracting her from the location:

Hunter and Tannersville Rescue Squad
Greene County Paramedics
Haines Falls Fire Department
Palenville Fire Department
Lanesville Fire Department
New York State Police
Greene County Coroner

She was transported to Saint Peter's Hospital in Albany NY for an autopsy. As of this date, her name has not been released until her family has been notified.

Image
Deep Chasm and Red Chasm are located in the lower left side of this picture, which was taken from the Harding Trail, and just past the stream that feeds the 90' waterfall.

Update (Aug 22) The hiker has been identified as Marcie Yates of Westfield, NJ. They were staying at the campground at North-South Lake. It was reported that she was hiking along a narrow trail, and fell off the trail down 100' cliff. It is also reported that she was found near Kaaterskill Creek. Our guess is that she was hiking down the Harding Trail, which is actually a road. She might have hiked down to the top of Deep Chasm Falls, and fell off.

It should also be noted that the 17-year-old hiker, Ezra Kennedy, that fell to his death at Kaaterskill Falls on July 27th was also from Westfield NJ. No known relationship between the two hikers.

Update (Aug 24) This information is from the NYS DEC. Hiker death: On August 19, 2016 at approximately 5:40 p.m. the boyfriend of a 60-year-old woman from Westfield, New Jersey, called 911 reporting the woman fell at Kaaterskill Falls. The actual location of the fall victim was corrected to route 23a closer to the Town line east of Kaaterskill Falls. DEC Forest Rangers responded and discovered a NYS Trooper and a Paramedic were already with the victim who was deceased. The woman's boyfriend said the couple and another man were hiking down to Kaaterskill Creek off of Route 23a when she lost footing and fell approximately 70 feet to the bottom of the gorge. Rangers worked on a high angle technical rope system to bring the victim back up to the top of the gorge. Once the victim was successfully brought to the top, a State Police investigator took photos. The coroner arrived at approximately 8:30 p.m. and determined the time of death to be 5:42 p.m. The Haines Falls FD, Tannersville FD and the Palenville FD assisted with the recovery.
dundee
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2014 5:01 pm

Re: Hiker killed in Kaaterskill Clove

Unread post by dundee »

Sad news. My thoughts to her family and friends.
mtnclimber
Posts: 496
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:46 pm

Re: Hiker killed in Kaaterskill Clove

Unread post by mtnclimber »

Seems like an odd place to go hiking. That area is notoriously dangerous. I guess that she might have been on the top of the waterfalls, and was trying to get a good view? Very sad outcome.
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