The hike started out great, with the weather at just the perfect temperature for staying comfortable. Unfortunately as we continued up the trail I quickly realized that we would not be making good time as some in the group were lagging behind. We adjusted our pace so that we all stayed together, but many were frustrated with the slow progression.
We encountered a few fallen trees along the way. This one had a neat root structure and was pretty sizeable.
I then chased a toad into this group of plants… And promptly realized my mistake! My arms and legs were itchy and on FIRE! Lesson learned the hard way…
Looking closely makes you understand much better…
This broken tree is right along the path and is held up by another tree. Very dangerous if this thing were to let go while someone is near it. It will land right next to or on the trail.
We continued up the trail and made the left on the unmarked trail to the Native American campsite. Along the way we spotted our first bear track.
The lens cap in this picture is for a 77mm lens (~3 inches), but the outside diameter is slightly larger than that.
We found our way up to the Loop trail relatively easily without having to go through much brush (again, thanks for the helpful information on the hiking/trail section of this website!) Once on the loop, which was very muddy, we took a right to get to the north side of the peak and climb up that way. We were expecting to see the first plane crash, but realized after awhile that we must have bushwhacked too far east and missed it. We planned to catch it on the way back down.
Here is another print, which I believe is a domesticated dog print. (Please correct me if I’m wrong, not so good with differentiating dog and coyote prints)
We passed this cool rotting tree stump, very nice moss and color to it! I decided this one was worth a quick picture.
We saw this Allegheny Dusky Salamander on the trail and watched him scurry around for a bit.
The second and final bear print that we saw, still on the loop trail between the plane crash and the trail junction.
After passing the trail junction we made the left to head up the trail towards the peak. I certainly underestimated the length of the difficult portion of the climb and would not have taken everyone with us had I known. This is a view looking back down the parts we had begun to climb.
A view looking up at a very jagged crack in the rock structure. This was my favorite area of the trail, tons of moss, water slowly making its way down the rock faces and lots of elevation gain!
More water and moss. I really liked this one as well.
Just a bit more to reach the peak!
One of the two markers at the top.
Three views from the top.
By this point the group was anxious to get back to the bottom so we I did not get to all of the ledges at the top, which was a big disappointment. We also looked for the plane crash for a very brief time, but did not reach it. So we started back down the mountain.
I didn’t take any more pictures on the way back down as I was focused on keeping the group moving safely back to the lot. We hiked back down to the loop trail, which took significantly longer than expected. Started to make better time once we were on the loop. We then reached the plane crash and took 10 minutes to look around. As we started back towards the Native American campsite we found the entrance point but the trail was much harder to follow in the opposite direction. We ended up just south of the campsite which if you continue to move east from will lead you to a very steep ravine. The group became anxious as we continued to lose daylight. I knew the correct direction thanks to my compass and kept everyone calm, while I tried to find the easiest path back to the campsite. We headed north for about 200 feet and found it. The trail was still difficult to follow even after the campsite and we did some pretty good bushwhacking, but eventually came out on the trail. As we headed down the trail one person twisted their ankle and I knew at that point we would be walking in the complete darkness before we made it out. Thankfully we had multiple flashlights and a decent sized group of people so I was optimistic that we would be fine. We continued to the trail junction to Huckleberry Point at an incredibly slow pace and at this point it was dark. Continuing the remaining mile to the parking lot was still slow going, but we made out just fine. What should have been a 5 hour roundtrip hike turned into an 8 hour trek, with us crossing the gate to the parking lot just before 9pm. I learned my lesson and as much as I like to have anyone come along for a hike, I will only be taking people that I know have had moderate to difficult hiking experience. We did everything right and had all the correct supplies and tools. The only thing I would have changed was to get to the trailhead much earlier next time.
Regardless, as much as everyone was exhausted (and some in pain) by the end of the trip, everyone on the hike was glad that they went and really enjoyed the challenging experience! I will be back to Kaaterskill High Peak in the future, but have many more places to explore first!
P.S. Here is a picture of the sky from Friday night… 30 second tripod mounted exposure.
