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November 18, 2002 |
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Indian Head Mountain
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Unfortunately, the onset of near 60-degree weather two weeks ago erased all of the snow that blanketed our high peaks. On Saturday November 8th, people were skiing at Belleayre, but by Monday only the bottom third of Belleayre Run had any snow left. Surely there still had to be some natural white stuff left somewhere, right? A trip up one of the high peaks would satisfy our curiosity. We chose to hike up 3,573' Indian Head Mountain. Accompanying us were members of two new AmeriCorps teams beginning their term of service in the Hudson Valley. This would be their first exposure to outdoor recreation here in the Catskills.
We parked our cars at the DEC trailhead on Steenburg Road at the top of Platte Clove. From here we walked west on Greene County Route 16 a few hundred yards to The Catskill Center's Platte Clove Preserve where the Long Path crosses the Plattekill Creek and heads south over Twin and Sugarloaf Mountains. The weather was beautiful - 50 degrees, sunny, and virtually no wind - it was a great day to be out. We followed the newly built trail through the preserve until it entered state land and the Indian Head Wilderness Area. Here, near the Devil's Kitchen Lean-to, (elevation 2,200) we turned onto the red-blazed Devil's Path and began our climb up the eastern face of Indian Head.
The trail climbed very gently at first, and the warm and rainy weather of the previous week made it extremely muddy. At 2,500', the path got very steep and remained that way for another mile. After catching our breath a few times, we reached the first viewpoint at 3,320'. The view to the east included Platte Clove, Kaaterskill High Peak, and even the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, which spans the Hudson River 15 miles to the north. Shortly thereafter we encountered the first of many false summits. After pulling ourselves up a ledge or two we came upon a wonderful overlook on the "chin" of the Indian's head, from which we gazed southeast towards our home - the central Catskills. The Ashokan Reservoir, Cooper Lake and the impressive wall of Shandaken's high peaks - from Rocky Mountain in the south to Belleayre Mountain in the north - filled the scene, with the king of all, Slide Mountain standing behind.
We scrambled up another ledge, discovered it was yet another false summit, and decided it was a great place to stop for lunch (at 3,400' and 3.0 miles from the start). This huge outcrop of sandstone on the "nose" provided a 180-degree view while we ate and pondered if we'd ever get to the true summit. We began to climb again, scurrying up a narrow chute in the bedrock with the help of a red spruce root, and passed the 3,500' sign. We knew we were close.
It wasn't long before we began to descend the western side of the mountain, passing the summit (or the "forehead") without even realizing it. We always find it hard to leave the magical spruce/fir summits. The dark understory, the aroma of balsam fir and fresh air, the quartz pebbles embedded in the sandstone bedrock, and the sharp contrast of the green moss against the black soil make it hard to leave, but provide incentive to return. The descent into Jimmy Dolan Notch was a slippery one, but not because of snow and ice. The warm weather had melted all of that. We reached the notch and headed north along the blue-blazed Jimmy Dolan Notch Trail for 1.6-miles. We completed the loop back to our cars by heading east along the Devil's Path as it skirted the base of Indian Head.
We didn't discover any snow on our adventure, but we did find that the aquifers are now replenished, with the ground once again saturated with water and ready to supply the streams with water during the approaching frozen winter months. All told, our 7-mile hike was filled with clear skies, muddy boots, new friends, and the satisfaction of climbing a mountain.
- Chris and Aaron
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