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July 15, 2002 |
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Westkill Mountain
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West Kill Mountain is one of the most colossal and beautiful landforms in the entire Catskill region. Located almost entirely in the Greene County Township of Lexington, this mass of red and gray shales and sandstones reaches a height of 3,880' above sea level. However it's not the elevation that is impressive, so much as the girth. After a quick calculation, the land area of this mountain is roughly 25 square miles. Panther Mountain, located here in Shandaken, measures 6 miles in diameter and is the only mountain with a larger footprint in the Catskills. Much like Panther, West Kill also has only one trail traversing its abundant ridges and hollows.
Recently we set out to re-explore the 7-mile portion of the Devil's Path, here at its western terminus on West Kill. The 24.6-mile Devil's Path provides some of the most rugged terrain in the northeast, deriving its name because it was thought only the devil could inhabit such an inhospitable place.
After dropping one car off at the trailhead on Greene County Route 6, about 3.8 miles east of Spruceton, we continued on to the end of the road and began to hike east along the blue-blazed Diamond Notch Trail for 0.7 mile until the trail junction and picturesque Diamond Notch Falls. Here, we crossed a small bridge over the headwaters of the West Kill and turned south onto the red-blazed Devil's Path at 2,300'. As we began the climb out of the hemlock-shaded valley, we remember that a long, steady climb was ahead. After many rest stops throughout the 1.4-mile climb, we finally reached the ridge, turning west and hinting at the summit.
Just prior to the summit, we reached the Buck Ridge lookouts located on opposite sides of the trail. These lookouts offer some of the best views in the Catskills. The view to the north looks out over the Spruceton Valley, Evergreen and Rusk Mountains (and beyond), Kaaterskill and Platte Cloves are visible to the east as are the ski slopes on the northern shoulder of Hunter Mountain. Wittenberg, Cornell, and Slide Mountains form the backdrop to the south as Carl, Tremper, and Romer Mountains stand in the foreground.
The true summit of West Kill is just past the viewpoints and is situated on the northern ridge of the mountain where its precipitous slopes drop nearly 2,000' into Spruceton Valley. Much gentler, elongated ridges extend 3 to 5 miles south towards the Esopus Creek and Phoenicia. One of the largest areas of first growth forest in the Catskills exists on West Kill's upper slopes, measuring some 6.5 square miles. The stunted balsam fir and red spruce that dominate the summit vegetation present a cool, dark, aromatic environment along the trail.
As we continued west along the ridge we began to gradually descend only to ascend once again some 2 miles from the true summit. This westernmost false summit signaled the end of the ridge and indicated that a steep climb down into Mink Hollow was next. After 1.5 miles we reached Mink Hollow between West Kill and North Dome and headed north through a small parcel of state land leading back to County Route 6 and our second car. A lesser-known entry point to the West Kill's Wilderness Area is from the DEC parking area at the end of Broadstreet Hollow. There are no trails from here, just you and the vast wilderness of West Kill.
- Chris and Aaron
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