camping on devil's path

[mrsmileyns]

Hi,

I have read various rules about camping being allowed below 3500 ft and 150ft from water. I also read a bit about the lean-to's and camping on the Devil's path - mink hollow, devil's acre, devil's tombstone, etc. I was wondering two things:

If someone was going to do the whole path in a 2 night trip - starting at about 10am the first day - which two spots might be good to tent camp at? What is "typical?" Also, at the shelters, is tent camping allowed if you are not going to stay in the shelter? Is there space etc?

[Jon]

It depends on the time of year. The rule for the 3500 ft is because of the presence of Bicknell's Thrush which is found above elevations of 3500 ft, but migrates to the island of Hispanola during the winter season. Still fires are not allowed above 3500 ft. anytime of year. If you are planning a hike before March, then you can camp anywhere. The notches or "col" in between each of the mountains makes for some decent camping. Just walk 150 feet (about 50 paces) from the trail, and make sure there is no streams or anything within 50 paces of where you dig your catholes. There is always a spot to pitch a tent, if you are creative enough (or if it's raining hard enough). Sometimes you just need to use your imagination.

I also learned that where you camp isn't as important as when you can fill up your water. Unless you're the incredible hulk and are going to carry 20 gallons of water, take a look at maps that show the natural springs. These are important because you can camp basically anywhere. It's not hard to find a small flat portion of woods, that is 150 ft away from trail/water to camp. It's hard when you wake up the next morning thirsty and have to go over a few mountains before you get water.

We had planned(going from east to west) to make it over to mink hollow (with a spring) on day 1, however that just didn't happen. We wound up camping in Pecoy Notch, but there is no natural spring there and we had to climb over Sugarloaf without water, and down to the Mink Hollow to the spring. So you should plan accordingly, and just be able to accommodate hiking too slowly or hiking quicker than you planned. The mileage of the trails isn't bad, but from each col to the top of each mountain is 900-1200 ft. I know that it seems cliche, but it's definitely called "Devil's Path" for a reason. I usually hike at about 3 mph, but with the weight and the elevation gain/loss I was only going about 1 mph.

I didn't see many places in Jimmy Dolan notch to camp, but if you only make it to there by Night 1, then a 2 night Devil's Path run won't be probable. Pecoy Notch is nice, but it is very small. The trail intersects where there is basically the only "flat" part of the notch. There is a Primitive campsite that is used often there, but it doesn't seem to be 50 paces from the trail. We camped a little further away from the trail off a little ledge past this site. The Mink Hollow lean to there is more room for tents than in Pecoy Notch. This is because it's a larger notch, and the flat area is huge. There is plenty of room for multiple parties by the lean-to. The next notch over is the stony clove (devil's tombstone) which you can camp at, however be sure to stop by the ranger's office since they'll want to charge you a fee. I would suggest, if it's early enough in the day and you have the energy to just put in the extra miles and try to pass the Tombstone and camp at the lean-to on top of Hunter. This was what we had originally planned.

Keep in mind we planned the hike for 6/30 so we had almost the maximum amount of daylight available to the northern hemisphere.

We dropped my car at devil's tombstone (with 1/2 our food and extra water in the trunk), and then had my wife drive us over to the Prediger Rd. Trailhead.
we had planned Day 1, Indian Head, Twin, Sugarloaf Night 1 Camp @ Mink Hollow
Day 2, Plateau,(refill water/food @ car)then hunter, sw Hunter, Night 2 Camp @ hunter lean to.
Day 3, Westkill, then backtrack to Devil's tombstone and go home.

We were only peakbagging however, we weren't trying to hike the extent of the Devi'ls path. We cut out the east side of Indian head, and came up the Notch trail, and we weren't planning on traversing Westkill (which takes up almost 1/3 of the devil's path alone), we were just going to bag the peak and head back to the car. It took us a lot longer to get up and down indianhead, and we took quite a few breaks at all the viewpoints on Twin Mountain. So the sun was setting and we didn't really feel like trying to hike over sugarloaf in the dark. Despite hiking up and down sugarloaf in the broad daylight, my friend still wound up falling on the way down sugarloaf (probably because he was dehydrated and he cramped) He twisted his ankle, and we decided to just quit after Plateau. It's a good thing I didn't leave my car on the other side of Westkill or we would have had some fun hitchiking over there!

I would say the best thing is to be dynamic, don't get caught up in 1 plan. Don't assume you're going to make it to the ideal campsite/water source on X night. Don't worry about what's "typical" or what other hikers do, or what other hikers are capable of doing. It's good to have goals, but sometimes people make dangerous decisions to meet those goals. If it's getting dark it's sometimes safer to just sit tight, and break camp instead of meeting your "goal" of making it over the next mountain. Ignoring reality is how hikers die or get seriously injured. Know your limits, be able to adapt your plan to suit reality.

Here's the album link from that hike. https://picasaweb.google.com/stelling.jon/DevilSPath I had a blast, enjoyed the scenery, and we took things at our own pace. Even though we didn't do the "typical" hike, and we did not meet any of our goals that we had set out.

[mrsmileyns]

thanks a lot for the info - if it is warm enough (or at least not icey) i may do this in mid/late march - if it is still too icey for me than possibly late april or may need to postpone to October - i'd like to do mid march if conditions cooperate