Hodge-Podge of hikes

[mike]

On Saturday Rich and I met at the end of Laurel House Road. Our plan was to met here at 8:30 am. We agreed that we could not get across Lake Creek with all the water. We then moved up into South lake and took the snowmobile trail. Then we would head to Layman's Monument. We then had a list of other things we can do. Rich wanted to take some new pictures of Haines Falls. I took one, but it did not come out very well. A tripod would have helped.



Well...we got the bridge, but missed part of Haines Falls. Will need to go to Council's Bluff to get all of the falls. It was cold and windy. We then headed back to Kaaterskill Falls. We then noticed that the Falls were iced over. We decided to come back late in the day. We wanted the sun to shine on it. We then looked for the Old Glen Mary House. Rich had an idea of where it might be. It is a real possiblity. We then headed to the stone house to look at the pond and compare it to picture. The water was flowing into the holding area. From here we headed up to South Lake. We looked at the water tower and the turntable.

From here we headed down to below Bastion Falls. Walked down the hill to the Kierstead Tannery and Buttermilk Falls #6. But before we got there we found about 50 of these tracks:



Hint: It's not a bear. We then headed down to Buttermilk #6. Rich took lots of pictures of the Tannery and Buttermilk #6. Two days ago the water was 10-15' deep. Wow! The water was still high so we couldn't cross the creek. From there we moved up to the junction of Lake Creek / Santa Cruz Creek / Kaaterskill Creek. Took a few pictures. Rich got some nice ones of Santa Cruz Creek. I didn't get any good ones. I did get one of this tree growing in the rocks of the steam.



We then headed up Lake Creek towards Bastion falls. We took a few pictures of the raging water. Lake Creek could not be crossed or forded. Deer could not cross either. Just too dangerous. So, we hiked up the bank and finally come out on Rt 23a near Bastion Falls. It was a nice hike.

From there we headed up Rt 23a and checked out the upper part of old Rt 23a. We were real tempted to head down to Delmura Falls and then up to the bottom of the Five Cascades. But, it was going to be dark shortly. We also saw some scat that might belong to the tracks.

From here we headed up to Kaaterskill Falls. Took some pictures of iced up falls:



After 7.5 hours we were done. We both headed home.

[mike]

Bobcat has prints of about 2 to 2-1/4" at most. These were 3 to 3-14". The stride was way to long for a Bobcat. Most likely a female Puma. The stats fit perfectly.

Furthermore, the region was isolated by high cliffs and two raging streams on the other sides. The animal would have to jump 20' or more to get into the area. Even the deer and bear could not get into this region.

The Scat was found about a mile away. At first we thought that it might be a small bear, but the shape was too formed to be a bear. May or may not be related.

[dave]

Here is a cat tracks guide:

[dave]

Greg

We already have a very significant amount of information on these tracks. We really don't need help making the determination. We have a pretty good idea of what the conclusion will be. But, we want to keep an open mind on the matter. We already have some very qualified people who have collected data and reviewed it. The information has been presented to some leading experts for them to review, visit, and comment on the evidence. Once they have had a reasonable amount of time to review it, we will present more information.

We want to remain neutral and allow experts to make their comments freely so that all possibilities have been presented and considered. The evidence is the what it is. We don't want to manipulate or force an outcome. We want to approach this from a scientific direction.

NYS will not say that Mountain Lions exist until it is irrefutable that we have a breeding pair. We understand their position. Sometimes people capture them from out west and then release them in the mountains once they grow out of control. These tracks will not change their position, and nor should it. Then some people believe that the State has been working on a reintroduction of Pumas since 2001. We don't want this position to dominate this incident. Some people want to force the State to acknowledge that they exist, and they have fabricated evidence to try and force their position. We don't want that either.

In the past no one has presented good evidence of tracks. This is a special opportunity. We don't want the public going there and destroying the evidence by trampling all over it.

As things progress, we will present more evidence to the public. But, right now we want to approaching this from an intelligent direction.

We understand that you are trying to help. But, we are way ahead of you. Hopefully in the near future, we can present more information.

[mike]

Rich is very busy this week, and he asked me to post some of his pictures from our hike:

Buttermilk Falls:


Kaaterskill Falls:


Kaaterskill Falls:


Santa Cruz Ravine:


Tree growing in the rocks - junction of Lake Creek & Kaaterskill Creek:


Junction of Lake Creek & Kaaterskill Creek:


Lake Creek:


Lake Creek:


Layman's Monument:


Along Lake Creek - above Kaaterskill Falls:


Kiersted Tannery:


Kiersted Tannery:


Kiersted Tannery:


Water Tower next to Rt 23a:

[mtnclimber]

Great pictures guys! Kaaterskill Falls looked awesome. One of these days I will have to hike the Kaaterskill Creek. You guys always seem to find some of the best places.

But, those tracks are HUGE! Pretty scary. Would it be dangerous to go down there?

[bikenhike]

OMG! A Mountain Lion? Do you think that he lives down there? You guys took some awesome pics. I have never seen K Falls so ice up. Looked beautiful.

[rkugel]

Mike, thank you so much for posting my shots. As I feared, this week is fully living up to being "hell week".

Also, thanks to everyone else for your kind words and interest. Mike and I had a great day, though we were definitely a little more vigilant when we found those tracks. The thought of a mountain lion in Kaaterskill Clove is pretty frightening!

[mike]

OMG! A Mountain Lion? Do you think that he lives down there?

Right now all evidence points to that. But, we are being careful to examine all possibilities. Most likely he was just passing thru. This region was sell known for Mountain Lions in the 1700's and 1800's. They can run 50 miles in a night, so it is possible that he is long gone. The real question is if he will become a regular visitor to this area. This region is very remote and rugged. In spite of it's incredible beauty, very few people hike down there.

As I feared, this week is fully living up to being "hell week".

Rich, I am sorry to hear that you are having a rough week. But, it doesn't surprise me. Glad to get some of those great photos up. It's going to be warm Saturday, so I might try to see if I can get up Buttermilk Ravine To Waterfall #2. We'll see.

[mike]

There have been cougar sightings from the Adirondacks to the Catskills over the last couple of years. In the past year, we have heard about sightings on Rt 214, East Windham, Oak Hill, etc. We even had a report of a cub in Oak Hill. From what we have seen from this gal, is that she passed thru this area once.

In the Winter months many of the deer migrate in and out of the Catskills. Where we found these tracks is one of the migration paths. One other big migration path is East Windham. When it snows, the deer head down in elevation. If the snow gets too deep, they will leave the mountaintop for the valley floor. Last year when we had 7-8' of snow around March 1, an incredible migration occurred. In the field on the NYS Thruway it looked like someone had corralled around 100 of them. It was quite the sight.

Bobcats were severely impacted last year during the epic snow storm. Prior to the epic storm last March, there was a good population of Bobcats in the Catskills. Today, we only know of two living bobcats in the Catskills. I am sure there are a few more we haven't found, and some that might have migrated in. One of those known bobcats is within 3 miles of these tracks. But the scat from this bobcat is small. Even if there was an extremely large Bobcat, it still would not leave prints this large and a long stride. Furthermore, it could not jump 30+ feet across the raging creeks. Only a cougar could do that. But, right now we want to rule out any possibility of this claim.

Once we release more information, we want there to be no doubt of the claim. You can't be 100% sure that there is not another explanation, but we want to be 99.99% sure.