Poet's Ledge, Viola Falls, Wildcat Falls, and Buttermilk Fal

[Pafumij678]

Hello all! My name is Joseph Pafumi. I've been hiking in the Catskills and Adirondacks since I was 12 years old. I'm from Long Island and try to get up to the Catskill's as often as possible. I've done most of Devil's path the past few weeks and it was beautiful. I'm planning this hike ( http://catskillmountaineer.com/KM-falls.html ) for this upcoming Friday. In my 13 years of hiking I've never seen a bear but this description say's that bears are everywhere in this area. Has anyone been here recently and seen any bears? Also does anyone know if there are any nice swimming areas around this hike? Thanks in advanced. I have hundreds of pictures of my hikes and many pictures of what I've done recently. Last Friday I hiked West kill from devil's tombstones and the Friday before I did an amazing Indian Head loop. I will be posting photo's soon.

[mike]

Welcome to the forum Joe. Feel free to post your trail reports and photos. We all like photos. Virtual hiking is always fun.

The Kaaterskill Mountain Range has the highest bear population in New York State. But, two years ago, hunters discovered this on this site, and they showed up and cleaned out 90% of the bears. That doesn't mean that they are not there. Still plenty around. I hiked about 25 days last year there, and saw about 10 black bears. But, I was hiking in regions most people don't go. There are places on this range that takes a lot of energy to get to. Most hunters just will not go that far in. If they shoot a 600 pounder, they still have to drag the bear out. If you make enough noise, they will move out of your way. You are most likely to see them from Poet's Ledge to Buttermilk Falls. Most people who hike there never see them. I would not be too concerned about them.

There are NO swimming holes along this trail. You will pass 4 streams, but there are not any places to go swimming.

The trail to Poet's Ledge and the trail across the falls are exceptional. You should enjoy it. If you like to camp, there is an unofficial site just east of Buttermilk Falls. It is about 200' off the trail to the north and near the edge.

[bikenhike]

If you go up there after it snows a couple inches, you might scare yourself. You'll see lots of bear tracks. Not as many as a couple years ago, but there are still some.

But, sometimes you can hike up there and never see anything. You don't see many from the Devil's Kitchen up to KHP. I wouldn't worry about them too much. They want to avoid you as much as possible.

[Pafumij678]

Thanks a lot guys. You put my mind at ease about the bears haha. I will take many pictures and show them off after my hike. Thanks again!