Trip Report - Canyoneering in the Cloves
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:51 pm
There's been a couple of posts on the forum about rappelling around the Catskills and I thought I'd add a few pictures and notes from some of my trips this summer. I picked up the canyoneering bug while living out west for a few years and I was pretty happy to put my gear to use on a few local routes in Kaaterskill and Plattekill Cloves.
Plattekill Creek is my favorite. The flow is great and first five falls (Plattekill down to Lower Rainbow) are great rappels by any standards and it is easy to scramble canyon-right back up to the start. Evergreen Falls is a nice rap too but it is a bit more of a walk down and the falls past it aren't particularly good for rappelling (of course the jumping and swimming is lots of fun). Forum member Jon posted a great little map to this area that shows the falls and the way around them to the top.
Nearby Black Chasm is a popular ice climbing spot, and although it is only a single long cascade, it is nearly 250' anchor-to-ground (but it is stepped so probably under 200' vertically). It makes for a nice splashy rappel and is worth the hike up. It is easy to step up as a multiple-pitch.
Kaaterskill Clove has some nice routes that are well worth the visit too. Forum member Mike posted a great map showing the waterfalls in that area.
For anyone heading out there, a 200' rope and a 120' rope with a 100' pull cord will work well for all routes. There are scattered ice climbing bolts and webbing but those usually aren't in the best location for summer rappelling. Of course there are lots of trees. As a rule we "ghosted" everything, meaning we pulled the webbing down behind us so as not to leave any litter behind, and I'm hoping other rappellers will follow that trend.
I'll be running some trips next summer through my northeast canyoneering and waterfall rappelling meetup next summer: www.meetup.com/Northeast-Canyoneering/
-Andre
Plattekill Creek is my favorite. The flow is great and first five falls (Plattekill down to Lower Rainbow) are great rappels by any standards and it is easy to scramble canyon-right back up to the start. Evergreen Falls is a nice rap too but it is a bit more of a walk down and the falls past it aren't particularly good for rappelling (of course the jumping and swimming is lots of fun). Forum member Jon posted a great little map to this area that shows the falls and the way around them to the top.
Nearby Black Chasm is a popular ice climbing spot, and although it is only a single long cascade, it is nearly 250' anchor-to-ground (but it is stepped so probably under 200' vertically). It makes for a nice splashy rappel and is worth the hike up. It is easy to step up as a multiple-pitch.
Kaaterskill Clove has some nice routes that are well worth the visit too. Forum member Mike posted a great map showing the waterfalls in that area.
For anyone heading out there, a 200' rope and a 120' rope with a 100' pull cord will work well for all routes. There are scattered ice climbing bolts and webbing but those usually aren't in the best location for summer rappelling. Of course there are lots of trees. As a rule we "ghosted" everything, meaning we pulled the webbing down behind us so as not to leave any litter behind, and I'm hoping other rappellers will follow that trend.
I'll be running some trips next summer through my northeast canyoneering and waterfall rappelling meetup next summer: www.meetup.com/Northeast-Canyoneering/
-Andre