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July 28, 2003 |
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Van Wyck Mountain
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All of us who enjoy hiking and exploring the Catskills have our favorite, little known places that are tucked away either on our property or on forest preserve. A couple weeks ago we were fortunate to be guided to such a place; special for our friend Tom whose family has had a cabin in the Catskills for as long as he can remember. He often spoke of this place where he’d camp out as a kid during his family’s brief visit or even hide there when it was time to leave, hoping his parents would go back to Nyack without him. Also joining us that day was Dr. Michael Kudish, the foremost expert on Catskill forest history and biology, who wanted to update his detailed field notes for that area.
Tom’s cabin is in one of the more remote areas of the Catskills - on Porcupine Road in the Town of Denning. The morning was incredibly foggy but the weather report gave us expectations of the sun burning it off by early afternoon. We parked at the cabin and walked a quarter-mile to the end of Porcupine Road where a hunting club owns property abutting the Slide Mountain-Panther Mountain Wilderness Area. An old logging road entered the mature beech-maple-cherry forest at elevation 2,600’. Hay-scented ferns carpeted much of the forest floor. The unmarked trail followed the contour of the land and was wet and muddy because of several recent days of rain.
The overgrown road ended as we reached the ridge between Woodhull and Van Wyck Mountains, at 2,700’ and a half-mile in. We stopped frequently on our way to Van Wyck while Dr. Kudish noted changes in forest structure and soil type, and studied large uprooted trees. After another half-mile we reached a reliable spring at the base of a sandstone ledge, giving the dogs a chance to re-hydrate.
After a few more ledges along the spine-like ridge, we encountered an abundance of large red oaks on a south-facing slope, fairly uncommon in the Catskills at 3,000’. We reached the summit (3,206’) and fought through the thick understory of ferns and blackberry. The canopy was fairly open and consisted of stunted cherry, yellow birch, mountain ash, and even balsam fir.
We then headed to Tom’s favorite spot for lunch, a south-facing vista. Unfortunately the fog was still so dense that we couldn’t see anything, but as we ate the sunshine gave hints of breaking through. We weren’t in a hurry, so we smoked a cigar and relaxed and chatted for an hour and a half as the fog lifted a little, then fell back repeatedly. Countless times this happened, each time exposing more and more of Peekamoose Mountain’s steep western face and the Bear Hole Brook valley below. Finally Peekamoose’s summit (some 650’ higher than us) was exposed as the fog lifted one last time and the blue sky moved in.
We returned to the saddle between Van Wyck and Woodhull via the herdpath, but this time continued to Woodhull’s summit (3,040’) - only another mile. We attempted to find what might be one of the largest yellow birches in the Catskills, according to Tom and his father; located on the ridge leading to Woodhull. We were unsuccessful in our attempt to find it though, as the direction of our approach was new to Tom - he had always come straight from the cabin. We did reach Woodhull’s summit; then negotiated steep ledges and investigated some caves as we headed due south to the cabin below.
The spots we visited that day were truly special. What made it even more extraordinary was the great company, unique weather, and the time we had to wait for that unique moment that we knew would come. We can’t plan the weather, but we can plan the route, the friends we take, and most importantly the time out in the woods. Always allow more time than you think you’ll need so that you can enjoy the experience that much more.
- Chris and Aaron
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