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October 21, 2002 |
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Twin Mountain
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As the days get shorter and the sunlight gets less intense, the green pigment in leaves, chlorophyll, which masks the other pigments, gets weaker, thus exposing the yellow and orange colors. Some autumns are more colorful than others due to the suns' brightness. If days are bright and cool, and nights are slightly above freezing, the brightest and most colorful foliage will result. It is difficult to say with precision when the "peak" of the fall foliage will occur, but it is usually just prior to Columbus Day. With this in mind, we scheduled a hike with Anne Kostalas, a journalist from the BBC, for October 8th with the hope of hitting the peak foliage. Anne is in the midst of a lengthy stay in the US gathering information for a series of articles she is writing. She had driven across the country visiting some of the major parks and wanted to investigate the Catskills before continuing down to the Smokies.
Our prediction was about a week or two off, but we did have an incredible day for a hike. Maybe the extremely dry summer contributed to the late peak of foliage this year? Anne had not ventured into Greene County yet, so we decided to lead her and her husband on one of the most rewarding hikes around - 3,640' Twin Mountain. We left one car at the end of Prediger Road, one mile off of Greene County Rte. 16. We then drove to the Roaring Kill Trailhead along Elka Park Road to begin our hike.
After signing in at 2,000', we followed the yellow-blazed Roaring Kill Trail for 0.25 miles, and then headed due south on the blue-blazed Pecoy Notch Trail. Just over a mile from the start, we encountered the now abandoned Dibble's Quarry where various thrones, tables, and monuments have been constructed by hikers over the years. With the beautiful Schoharie Creek Valley headwaters laid out before us under blue skies we grabbed a quick lunch. We peered up, way up, at out destination to the east to get a sense of what we had ahead.
After reaching Pecoy Notch, 2.0 miles in and at 2,800', we began our ascent of Twin along the red-blazed Devil's Path. After pulling ourselves up a few ledges and running out of breath, we consulted our map and determined that little relief was in sight. This portion climbs over 800' in elevation in 0.75-miles! Each rest stop from then on we were fortunate to have the shoulder of Sugarloaf looming behind us providing an incredible backdrop.
After reaching the western summit we continued east into the saddle between the 'twin' summits listening to some ravens and taking in the aroma of balsam fir. It was cold enough we could see our breath when we spoke. The approach to the eastern summit is extraordinary. We walked along an exposed ridge with wind and ice-stunted trees and a 270-degree view. We retraced the route up and noted that the Ashokan Reservoir seemed a bit below normal.
After descending into Jimmy Dolan Notch at 3,100' and 4.0 miles from the start, we completed the loop hike by heading north along the blue Jimmy Dolan Notch Trail, which led 2.1-miles to Prediger Road. Throughout the entire hike, conversations sprang up about how unique and precious our Catskills and their hamlets are in today's world where humans continue to put Mother Nature's resilience to the test. At the trailhead we wished her well, and she departed with a smile and a great appreciation of the Catskills. Her next destination ... Dollywood.
- Chris and Aaron
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