We arrived around 9 AM in the morning at the parking lot on Stork Nest Road. Someone had already showed up and was hiking up to Stoppel Point. As we headed up, many of the leaves were down. But, there were a few trees that were hanging on for dear-life. But, most of the leaves were on the ground, which made the hike a little slippery. We ran into one very nice hiker (from Stoppel Pt). Had a nice talk. He was heading down, while we were heading up. We took a short break at Dutcher's Notch. Then we headed up the hill towards Arizona Mtn. We negotiated the professionally made switchbacks. Even had some fun going through the "Stone Tunnel" on one of the switchbacks. Then, we headed up the last section that went straight up. The leaves were a little slippery, but we got up to the top after some effort.
We then headed to the first view point. This view point looked over the East Kill Valley. You can clearly see Capra Lake, which is owned by NYS Mental Health. We stopped and had lunch. Beautiful place for lunch. We then headed up to the next view point just before Arizona Mtn. We had a great view over the Hudson Valley and Acra Point. We took some pictures, and then headed back.
We stopped at Dutcher's Notch and had another good conversation with another hiker. Then we headed back down the old carriage road. It was a beautiful day, and we had the opportunity to see some of the great view point. Ironically, this trail is rarely used, but has some of the best views in the Catskills. Here are some of the pictures:
Beginning of the trail to Dutcher's Notch
Beginning of the trail to Arizona Mountain
First view point that looks over East Kill Valley with Capra Lake
First view point that looks over to Stoppel Point
Trail to Arizona Mountain
View Point #2 - Looking over the Hudson Valley
View Point #3 - Looking at Acra Point
The path through "Stone Tunnel"