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July 12, 2004 |
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Black Chasm
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We hesitate to write about dangerous places, where incautious people could easily get hurt or find themselves in trouble. We also hesitate to give up the Catskills' most precious secrets - hidden places that deserve to be left as unspoiled as possible. Just this once, however, we'll break our own rules on both counts and tell you about Black Chasm.
The name itself, "Black Chasm", conjures up awe-inspiring visions of jutting rock precipices; cliff walls leaning out over dizzying heights; and vultures circling out over a tiny blue ribbon of stream winding through the bottom of an almost bottomless canyon. Such romantic visions are typically associated with famous places such as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite Valley, where millions of people flock to see some of Earth's most dazzling marvels of nature, but even here in the Catskills we have a few places like the Kaaterskill Clove and Platte Clove where the reality of the dramatic landforms holds up rather well to the romantic ideal. Few other places, of course, have such a lofty romantic ideal to live up to, thanks to the Hudson River School of landscape painters.
Black Chasm is part of the Platte Clove (Town of Hunter, Greene County); being a side-clove coming into the Platte Clove proper. Most people who live or spend time in the Catskills know that "clove" means a steep, deep valley, or notch in the mountains. Black Chasm is a steep drop-off along the Cold Kill Brook, a tributary of the Plattekill Creek. The Cold Kill drains the flanks of Plattekill Mountain, with the stream joining the Plattekill from the south, downstream of Plattekill Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. As far as notable Catskill landmarks go, Black Chasm is somewhat unique in that it is more widely known to ice-climbers than it is to hikers. Ice climbers ascend the frozen cascades of the Cold Kill, where it flows down through Black Chasm, as well as the numerous frozen seeps and side streams that spill into the chasm from the high, steep north-facing mountainside.
We recently explored Black Chasm on a sunny afternoon. The hike in is from Platte Clove Road, through The Catskill Center's Platte Clove Wilderness Preserve. Park at the DEC parking area just off the north side of Platte Clove Road, at the head of the Clove, and walk west on the road two tenths of a mile to where The Catskill Center's green hiking trail leaves the road on the south side, near the red cabin (elevation 1,840 ft). The hike in on the green trail is only about three quarters of a mile before leaving the Platte Clove Preserve and entering State Forest Preserve. The Platte Clove Preserve trails have rather new interpretive signs along them that tell visitors about the history of the area and common forest trees - check it out!
The second half of the green trail follows the old Overlook Road (once used by quarrymen and guests of the old hotels, now a hiking trail), which continues of the Platte Clove Preserve and into the Forest Preserve. About a tenth of a mile into the Forest Preserve there is a trail junction, with the Devil's Path going to the right and leading to Indian Head Mountain, and the Overlook Trail going to the left and leading to Echo Lake and Overlook Mountain. Make a left here and hike another two tenths of a mile to the lean-to sited right on the trail, next to Cold Kill Brook (elevation 2,270 ft). Finding Black Chasm from here is merely a careful bushwhack down the creek bed until you can't follow the stream any further without wings (only another tenth of a mile). This is just what we did, being careful to avoid nettles, and even more careful not to slip on wet rocks.
A couple small waterfalls and short cascades mark the start of the Black Chasm drop-off (starting about elevation 2,000 ft), and then a very long cascade abruptly drops the little stream some hundred feet or more. We could have stopped here and been content, but instead we pushed east around the flank of Plattekill Mountain, following the 2,000 ft. contour from the top of the chasm. It was rugged terrain, with hemlocks masking a jumble of ragged boulders and bedrock outcrops. We hoped to find a ledge near here that is visible from Huckleberry Point across the Clove, but we didn't go far enough east to find it. We did, however, come out on a rock promontory that pushed out just a bit past the trees and afforded a fantastic view across Platte Clove and off to Kaaterksill High Peak and Roundtop Mountains. Standing on this rock gave the impression of floating on the tree canopy. We didn't stay long to enjoy the spot, as the rock sloped precariously downward toward a formidable drop.
Ok, so now you can't say we've never given away any of our secrets.
- Aaron and Chris
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