The Devil in a Day: Devil's Path Traverse, Sat. May 17

The Devil in a Day: Devil's Path Traverse, Sat. May 17

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The "gamers":

Craig/Electicman: Organizer (Adkhighpeaks.com, RocksonTop,VfTT)
Marchowes: Resident Bushwacker
Doodles:Happiest Guy on Earth (Adkhighpeaks.com)
Una_dogger: along for the ride
Marc and Heather: The Happy Couple (good friends of Craig's, AT thruhikers, All season and Winter 48ers)

Stats:
8265 ft gain
24.75 miles
12 hours to 13 hours, all six "gamers" became "finishers"!

Note: I've used mileages and gain/loss data from the ADK Catskill Region Guide, 2nd Ed. to describe our hike. Mileage data from our track log indicates longer overall mileages, which may be accounted to reroutes.

Back in December, Craig posted an open call for a Devil's Path Traverse. I've done all sections of the path many times over, and have always wanted to do it as a full traverse. I was *delighted* when Craig was game for doing it as a one day hike.

I pined the winter away, waiting for May 17th to arrive. Having the Devil's Path penciled in fairly early in my fair weather hiking itinerary seemed daunting, but having some other very big one day traverses planned for June, having the Devil as a pre-season warm up seemed a sensible training plan. Knowing ahead of time what each section would be like also added to my comfort level.

Marchowes and I arrived at the Devil's Tombstone Camground about 9pm friday night in a driving rain. After brief introductions, Marc and Heather jumped eagerly to the task of helping me set up my tent. Into our tents we scrambled and nestled down for a rainy night that was punctuated by some very beautiful yet erie hooting owls that seemed to go on for hours.

At four am Craig's alarm went off. The owls were still hooting and Craig joined in. I felt as though I had 2 hours sleep. Wearily I dragged myself out of the tent after Craig's wake up call. We all piled into cars and headed to Spruceton Rd, where we left two cars, then all piled into mine and headed for Prediger Rd where we met up with Doodles.

Craig handed out photocopied maps in ziplock bags to each of us, and we set off. We began hiking the Devil's Path at 6:40 am. The sun was shining brightly, the skies a baby blue, a light breeze was blowing, and there were zero bugs. Couldn't ask for a better day to hike and we were grateful the rain was forecast to hold off until later in the afternoon, and be scattered throughout the region.

Indian Head, Gain 1573 ft, 4.4 miles

We remained as a group until the first summit, Indian Head, 3573ft. Here we sifted out into smaller groups according to rate of travel, with Craig and Marc taking the lead. Doodles hung back and we chatted about peakbagging in the Northeast, backpacking on the AT, beautiful places in the world we've visited, the type of things hikers generally chat about.

Indian Head to Twin, Loss 475 ft, gain 640 ft, 5.7 miles from start

After a steep drop down into the Jimmy Dolan Notch, we very quickly gained elevation to the lower summit of Twin Mountain, climbing over several jumbles of house sized boulders and squeezing through crevices. The Devil's Path is very rugged, challenging, and a lot of fun for those who like hand over foot climbing. The views from the south summit of Twin were breath taking. We headed through a pretty green spruce tunnel to the true summit of Twin Mountain, 3640 ft, at 6.65 miles from the start. The map shows a cave at this end of the mountain, but I didn't see one. More amazing views.

Twin to Sugarloaf, Loss 810 ft, Gain 822 feet, 6.7 miles from start:

Twin to Sugarloaf is an extremely steep and rugged section. Dropping down from Twin we snaked our way down through steep, slotted ledges. There are no ladders here and the boulders are blocky. Roots and crevices offer handholds and toe rests. This was a very fun section! I really enjoy this type of trail. It was good to be back in NY and climbing in the mountains where I had my start to hiking back in 1989. To this day, whenever someone says "steep", this is where my mind drifts. The Eastern Section of the Devil's Path has always been my frame of reference for "steep". Shortly before we reached the Pecoy Notch that separates these two peaks, we crossed paths with Val and Stoopid from Adkhighpeaks.com. We were booking pretty fast down the mountain, full of steam and stoked for the long haul, I said a quick hello and we kept on hikin'. At the col, we caught up with Marc who let us know that Craig was going for time and would see us at the end. Go Craig! Marc was going to try to catch up with him. The climb up to Sugarloaf from Pecoy Notch is my favorite hike in the Catskills. From the notch, the climb looks imposing. Long stretches of cliff bands encircle the mountain. The trail climbs quickly up through steep ledges, under overhanging cliffs, and through lemon squeezers. More full body climbing. I've done this trail more times than I can count but never have I gotten up it so quickly! What a rush...

Near the summit of Sugarloaf, 3800 ft, Heather, Doodles and I rejoined Marchowes. At this point I needed to take a quick break, and I told Doodles not to wait up for me. He grinned and I knew he was going to try to catch up to Craig and Marc. Go Doodles! What a pleasure to be in such a motivated group! From here on it was Marchowes, Heather and myself, separated by about five to ten minutes from one another. Heather and I spent a fair amount of time chatting and getting to know eachother. Marchowes was always waiting for us on summits, and we'd know he'd reached them by the happy Woot! we'd hear through the woods.

Sugarloaf to Plateau, Loss 1200ft, Gain 1240 ft, 8.85 miles from start

The Devil's Path now drops and insane 1200 ft in 0.95 mile! Over, around and through slotted ledges and cliffs we made our way down to the Mink Hollow Notch, 2600 ft. To date, the longest continuous hike I have done in on The Devil's Path consisted of Indian Head, Twin and Sugarloaf, with a bike spot. I felt a tremendous rush of excitement as we began climbing up Plateau. I knew the ascents and descents from this point onward would be less steep, on more foregiving terrain, and the elongated ridgeline of Plateau runs 2.5 miles on a gentle and shaded footpath through deep spruce, offering much needed shade and respite after such a tough section. Near the eastern end of the mountain, we passed a large group of older women and men out for a hike. They were in great spirits and it was so inspiring to see them out there climbing big mountains. The weather was still picture perfect, sunny yet cool and breezy. I felt a bit of a bonk here, having drank about two liters of water but only ingesting two hundred calorie Pria bars since the start of the day. I munched on a small bag of cashews and cranberries as Heather and I walked and talked. We reached the western end of Plateau mountain and rejoined Marchowes at 12:30, at 11.5 miles, 4725 gain and and just under 6 hours from our start! Woot! We were just about halfway in our distance and overall gain for the hike! The views from the large ledge were incredible. I gazed across to the hulking mass of Hunter Mntn that lay ahead. Now the steep drop to Stony Clove Notch, where we'd pass our campsite and resupply point. On our way down we passed a dramatic view where all of the white birch on the entire flank were snapped off at the tops by an ice storm in 2007. We arrived at Stony Clove Notch at 1:20pm, 12:05 miles and just over 6.5 hours from the start. Very pleased that we tackled the toughest section full on, the rest of the day will be a beautiful walk!
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The Devil in a Day Part II

The Devil in a Day Part II

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Devil's Path, Stony Clove Section to Westkill Mountain,

The trail now drops from the lookout a mile and 1500 ft to Stony Clove, but long switchbacks and absence of house sized boulders made this section seem easy in comparison to the rest of the trail. It crosses Rt 214 and continues over a small bridge at the outlet of Notch Lake. Here, Marc was waiting for Heather, they were walking the 0.3 mile back to camp to resupply and change footwear. Marchowes and I opted to refill our hydration bladders at a spigot in the picnic area and continue onward. I had drank about 2.5 liters so far. We crossed the bridge and then quickly lost the trail...doh! We were on an old trail, but no familiar red discs marked the path. We were headed straight up, and spotted a cairn. We continued, feeling uneasy. We reached a large waterfall, and knew we were off course. I pulled out my map and Marchowes quickly and skillfully plotted a bushwack route to put us back on track. I wondered...did Marchowes really just want to bushwack today?? Even just a little? I mean, 25 miles of trail for a bushwacker?? That's alot to ask... The slope was no easy crossing. The woods were open, and the nettles intermittent, but the soil was loose and often covering large flat slabs of rock that were slanted and slippery. Marchowes spotted a large coiled up snake in the leaves. Upon gentle investigation, the snake struck at Marc's Hike-en-ing Rod, then slithered away. Within moments, Marchowes had spotted a red disc and we were back on trail, and in a wonderful stroke of luck, just a minute behind Heather! The true trail was a pleasure to walk, long switchbacks took us gently upslope gaining 1500 feet from Stony Clove Notch before reaching a gentle contour at 1.8 miles. The trail continues along this contour. The leaves are not open above ~2400 feet, so we enjoyed sweeping views along this section to Plateau, Sugarloaf and beyond. It was neat to see how far we'd come, and also relieving to know there was only one more big climb ahead. We reached a lean too at 14.5 miles from the start, where a spur trail head off to Hunter Mntn. Both Marchowes and I have climbed Hunter, so we opted to remain on the Devil's Path proper and not add another 3.2 miles to the day. The sky began to darken, and some light sprinkles occaisionally hit my face. With ten more miles to go, I really didn't want it to start raining yet, but was grateful for the weather we'd enjoyed so far. The trail dropped on footing consiting of small rocks on soil 1200 feet in about 1.5 miles to a beautiful ravine called Diamond Notch at 1900 feet. A foot bridge crossed over the stream just below the top of Diamond Notch Falls, the Devil's Path swings right on the far side of the bridge and follows the stream. The views of the falls were breathtaking.
I was feeling the day now. My feet were good, my legs were good, but my overall energy level was low. I knew I could bail to Spruceton Road here on easy grades, then follow the road back to the cars, but I was committed to the traverse. Sure, I was tired, but not exhausted. I'd still be walking for about three more hours either way, why not walk in the woods?

I hit the wall on the climb up to West Kill. Marchowes was ahead, followed by Heather, followed by me. My gaze vasillated between my two feet and thier backs. My steps were slow but continual. I was still in rhythm, but it had slowed. We all seemed to be walking to the same beat, separated by 10 or so yards. It was a quiet procession up the 2.5 mile climb to Westkill's summit, 3840 ft. In my head I was thinking quietly. Never once on this hike did really consider bailing, and yet, never once did I get excited about finishing. I proceeded onward all day, moment by moment. Committed to the hike yet detached from the outcome, no expectations. Several times I thought "how can people run this trail!?". At one point in the day we all wondered that aloud. I had been drinking alot and felt salt depleted. I began to feel waterlogged yet thirsty at the same time. I had eaten a half of a bean burrito at the top of Plateau, then the other half in the picnic area in Stony Clove. That added up to 2 100 calorie Pria Bars , a 100 calorie trail mix bag, and a 300 calorie burrito. I knew I needed calories but the thought of eating was for lack of better words, unappetizing. I munched on another half bag of trail mix, opting for the salty nuts, but they made me want to gag. I felt a bit nauseas, but I quickly overrode any thoughts of hurling. Heather noticed my state and quietly asked me if I was OK. She stayed ahead of me for the next ten minutes, just keeping track, never prying. I just wanted to reach the top of the ridge, but I was conserving energy for the PUDS that I knew existed on the last 5 miles down. The woods were beautiful. The whole walk was a series of dramatic ledges, cliffs, outlooks in the first half, followed by the serenity of quiet woods for the second half. We passed large cave that smelled of campfire. In an area of deep spruce, a beautiful lean husky with bright eyes came trotting through the woods. I almost thought I was imagining him, silver and gleaming against a deep green backdrop of spruce, along a brown whisper of a trail in the fading light. His eyes were independant and he whooshed on by without breaking stride. Two men were about two minutes behind him. My mind and body seemed to separate as I continued through the woods. Had they remained connected I'm sure I'd be feeling some pain! This was not the longest dayhike I've done but the greatest vertical gain, by about 2500 feet, ultimately this hike would be 8265 gain in 24.75 miles. At some point we walked over the summit, but I don't recall a sign. Some minor puds brought us to a beautiful lookout. Very light rain fell intermittently. The mountains fell away, green and yellow at their bases and brown at thier tops. One after another, folds of peaks spread out into the horizon in the late light of the day. They seemed to go on forever, and were unbroken by any sign of civilization.

It was just before 6pm and we had nearly five miles to go. The trail was a gentle and narrow footpath, with pretty pink flowers growing right up to and along its sides. I just remember walking, looking at the flowers, the trees, keeping Marc and Heather in my sights. I was tired but my stride was balanced. Nothing hurt. All was tired. A soft rain was falling. A large rocky pud came into view. The trail continued to drop towards it. I knew from hiking this trail in the past we'd be going over this 3k. I met Marchowes on the descent, and dryly commented " a cruel trick of the Devil". Marchowes promptly symbolized a gesture with one of his fingers at the beast.

The rain intensified. Heather had stopped to put on rain gear. Marchowes was still ahead. I walked on, often looking back for Heather. We all seemed to be on a solitary journey at this point. As we descended, I passed a sign that read "Spruceton Rd, 1.5 miles". Woot! I kicked it into high gear. I smiled. I knew I'd finish the Devil in a Day. Before now I dared not presume it. The trail leveled. The sun broke through the clouds and cast low light and shadow in the Hemlocks. A stream formed to my left. Large blocks of limestone littered the woods. Sometimes I saw Marchowes, always just disappearing out of view. Sometimes I saw Heather, always just coming into view. I heard a Woot from Marchowes, then a horn honked. I jogged the final stretch.

Doodles rolled down the passenger window of Craig's car with a huge congratulatory smile....all I could say was "what time is it!" . 7:30 on the nose! I told Marc Heather was right behind us, and he went to meet her. Once we were all together, I said..."hmmm...you know what I could go for? A Devil Dog" and produced a box I had been carrying all day. Because when you do the Devil in a Day, there isn't a patch (yet).

Nice Tr, I'm thinking a six Devil Dogs for the Six Summits on the Devil's Path is a great thing to celebrate this acccomplishment. My patches sit on my dresser collecting dust with the VB trophies.

Taste buds would appreciate the chocolate & whipped cream more!

Amazing trip! I'm sorry I couldn't go along with you on this one. Well, then again, my muscles and joints are probably okay with it.

The Catskills are such a beautiful area to hike in, and so often overlooked by the 4000-footer seekers. I'm glad you had this opportunity!

Wow that's a serious hike...congrats..

My legs are sore just from reading those TR's! Sounds like an awesome hike!

Thanks for reading and enjoying my trip report!

I was grateful to be back in the Catskills again, and I think my writer's eye must have been working the whole time. I experienced so many feelings on this hike, it was great to write about many, but not all, of them. I was so happy when Craig suggested that I write the group report!

Happy Trails

Sabrina