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I took advantage of the gorgeous weather on Saturday, 07/31/2010 and decided to try to locate the Mohawk Native American Camp Site at the base of Kaaterskill High Peak. I parked by the Platte Clove Parking Area and enjoyed a delightful walk along the Long Path in the cool morning air.

A little more than an hour from leaving my car, I found the cairn marking the path to the Mohawk Camp. The cairn is on the left side of the path if you are hiking north. I noticed there was another cairn on the right side of the path perhaps 200 hundred feet before reaching the path to the Mohawk Camp. My guess is that the cairn on the right side marks where to start the bushwhack to the Amphitheater. I may have to try that next time.
The path to the Mohawk Camp heads west and is fairly well defined. I only strayed off the trail once, but quickly realized my errant choice of direction. There isn't much to see at the camp, but it is still worthwhile, since it is a historical artifact of the area.
I then decided to try my luck at bushwhacking to the snowmobile trail. The Mohawk trail continues west a very short distance from the camp by going up a berm on the western perimeter of the camp site and then disappears. As I bushwhacked, I kept my direction to the west with a slight bearing to the north to ensure I wouldn't miss the snowmobile trail. Along the way, I found a small cairn which reassured me that I going the right way. After bushwhacking several hundred feet, I reached the snowmobile trail. One observation about bushwhacking: Distances can be deceiving and become very hard to measure. Although it can "seem" like you've hiked for half a mile, in actuality, you've only gone a few hundred feet!

I must say, the snowmobile trail is in DEPLORABLE condition. It is so overgrown with tall grass and nettles, that in many places, it completely disappears! When I first reached it from my bushwhack, I didn't even realize I found it. All I saw was a mudhole in front of me and a swath of tall grass on either side. Only after seeing the snowmobile markers on a nearby tree did I realize that I was on it.

Once on the snowmobile trail, I turned left (south) and headed towards the south access to KHP. Not more than two hundred feet from where I joined the snowmobile trail, I came to the plane wreckage. From the plane wreckage, it is about 3/4 of a mile to the large cairn, marking the south access trail to KHP. I continued south on the snowmobile trail for a short distance and had to turn around. The snowmobile trail was an impassable sea of mud, tall grass, and nettles. There was no way to continue. Compounding the problem was that I was wearing shorts. Nettles and shorts do not mix, as I learned the hard way!

I retraced my steps to the south access trail and climbed up to Hurricane Ledge. The view never ceases to impress me. It is absolutely spectacular! While enjoying my lunch and a much-deserved rest, I heard sirens and helicopters to the south in the area of Platte Clove. As I later learned, I hiker took a serious fall and had to be airlifted to the hospital. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with him.
After finishing my lunch, I hiked to the actual summit and then turned right (off the Twilight Park Trail) to check out the plane wreck. I remember Levi had a question about how to find the wreck and I hope the photo below helps. After descending a ledge (about 15 feet high), look for a partially fallen tree on your left. It is here that you want to turn left and bushwhack about 50-75 feet to the plane wreck. The photo below was taken facing back (i.e., west) from the direction I hiked. The ledge that you will descend is in the background and the partially fallen tree is to the right.
As I mentioned in another post, you cannot see the plane wreck from the trail due to the thick conifer forest. Also, please use extreme caution around the wreck site. The porcupines have done a thorough job of devouring the metal, leaving shards of razor-sharp debris everywhere. Please watch your step! I also noticed that people have apparently been taking pieces of the wreckage as "souvenirs". I cannot imagine why anyone would want to do that.
After returning to the summit, I tried to locate the West Access Trail. I remember Mike saying the West Access Trail comes in about 50 feet south of the summit, but I could not find a "definitive" trail. The best I could find was a very faint, narrow path running about 50 feet into the woods and then disappearing. The shot below was taken facing west/northwest. The Twilight Park Trail is in the foreground, and the West Access "contender" trail runs straight back and along the fallen tree in the center of the shot.
Curiously, I found a much better defined path heading in the same direction, but far from the summit and much closer to Hurricane Ledge. The shot below shows this second "contender". Once again, the shot faces west/northwest with the Twilight Park Trail in the foreground and the vague trail extending back into the woods just left of the brightly-lit tree on the right side of the shot.

Mike, are either of these trails the West Access Trail, or did I miss it entirely?
After returning to Hurricane Ledge to enjoy the view one last time, a group of hikers from the Platte Clove (formerly Bruderhof) Community arrived from the south access. They were so kind and friendly, and immediately welcomed me to join their group. After chatting for some time, they took me over to a ledge located about 100 feet west of Hurricane Ledge. I never knew it even existed! You have to "slink" your way through some thick overgrowth and then CAREFULLY lower yourself down a steep slope to a small rocky ledge at the bottom. The views are spectacular, especially the incredible view of Round Top Mountain to the west. I never realized how impressive Round Top is!

After returning to Hurricane Ledge, we parted ways as they continued to the summit and I wanted to head back to my car. Their kindness even went so far as to extending an invitation to me to join them for dinner that night. Regrettably, I could not join them as I was exhausted and had a long ride home.

I descended the south access trail back to the snowmobile trail, and then retraced my steps (including the bushwhack back to the Mohawk camp) back to my car. If not for the tragic fall in Platte Clove, it would have been a perfect day.

Great trail report!

The rock cairns about 200' before the mohawk indian trail will take you to the amphitheater. I want to do a bushwack this November from there down to Hawkeye Ledge and to Poet's Ledge. I think there are some great view points.

The hike from the Mohawk Indian camp to the snowmobile trail is a little rough. About 50 years ago, it was still a trail. I think there is a rock cairn at the top of the small hill by the camp. From there you just go the way you did.

The snowmobile trail has been ruined by the ATV operation that was using it illegally for years. There are some places where the water is 3 feet deep with mud and water. It really needs to be recut. We would need permission from the DEC to do that. They were thinking about making it a Mtn bike trail, but changed their mind.

I just love Hurricane Ledge. The view are just spectacular. The folks from the Bruderhof are so nice. I have met them a number of times. Didn't know about that ledge. Will have to check it out. I think there are also some view points on the east side.

The West access trail is about 50' south of the summit. The trail thru the woods is very slip. You can barely fit your shoulders thru the trees. It is also possible that a tree fell across the path, which would obscure it. Once you get 50' inside, the trail widens up nicely. But, you would never see the trail if you didn't know about it. I haven't been up there this year. So, who knows.

When I checked the weather late Friday, I realized that it would be a great hiking day. I wished I had checked earlier in the week. We could have made arrangements for a hike to KHP. Instead I did Eagle, which was a lousy hike. I kept thinking all day, that I wished we could have done KHP and RT together.

Hi Mike,

Thanks as always for writing. Honestly, we need to do a better job of meeting up! It would have been so much fun to explore with you.

It is truly a shame how the ATV's have ruined the snowmobile trail. If properly maintained, it could be one of the most beautiful and enjoyable hikes in the Catskills.

I suspect that the West Access "contender" shot near the summit is the "real McCoy". The trail fits your description perfectly as being very narrow and only being about 50 feet from the summit. I also suspect that the reason the West Access trail is so vague near the summit is because the area was originally cleared away for an observatory. That being the case, the trail would actually have "ended" when it arrived at the clearing (i.e., probably a hundred feet or so from the true summit). Thanks to over a century of growth, the area has reverted to a conifer forest and has pretty much obliterated any trace of the trail near the summit.

The next time I'm up there, I'll have to venture away from the summit and see if I can find where the West Access trail "starts". Hopefully, we'll do a better job of coordinating our schedules!

Rich