Solo Hike - Blackhead Mountain

wintermute

wintermute

Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
3,018
So I planned to do a nice easy hike with the family in the Catskills yesterday and take in the foliage, but everyone caught a last minute case of the lazies. I didn't want to lose the once-in-a-year day that it was shaping up to be, so like a maniac, I headed out on the 7 hour round trip myself. Not wanting to do all that driving for a trivial matter, like a stark-raving loon, I decided to bag my first of the 3500+ foot high peaks - Blackhead Mountain. Driving through Jewett Valley and seeing it looming in the distance, I asked myself, "why am I doing this?" The first third of the hike was lovely, through steadily ascending terrain through woods (the leaves were near peak) along the beautiful Batavia Kill. Then I got to the Escarpment Trail - I figured it was familiar territory - having walked it plenty to the south near North Lake. Man! This was tough stuff!!!!! Portions of it climbing hand-and-foot up rock and mud rather than hiking, with the 3000-foot Catskill Escarpment to my side and back. But the view! No problem seeing the Berkshires to the east and I could even see some of the Adirondacks to the north!

The summit was idyllic. Nice and flat with a thick, stunted pine forest crowding in around the trail. I get to the end of the summit and the views open up. Walking down the easy west slope as the path curved, the views changed from seeing Black Dome immediately to the west to Jewett Valley, the Devil's Path peaks and the Boroughs Range far to the south.

Awesome time. First 3,500' Catskill down, 34 to go! Total distance: 4.5 miles. Total elevation gain: 1,740'. Summit Elevation: 3,980'

Batavia Kill
IMG_4059.jpg


The view east off the Escarpment
IMG_4026.jpg


Black Dome Mountain
IMG_4039.jpg


The Devil's Path peaks marching off into the distance
IMG_4031.jpg


Another view with the Boroughs Range in the far distance
IMG_4036.jpg


Black Dome through maples
IMG_4051.jpg


So, what's the most appropriate knife to bring when you ditch your family to go play in the woods? A Nessmuk of course!
IMG_4053.jpg
 
Excellent pictures and really great country you have close by. I really like the 'black dome through the maples' shot.
 
Looks like a wonderful time! it must be even more beautiful when color really starts to sho!
 
Looks like a great time. Thats really pretty country there. Thanks for sharing.
 
man... that is some beautiful country...:eek: nice pics..

i'm about due for a little solo, myself...:o
 
As much as I hate driving in New York I miss this time of year going through the Catskills.
It is really beautiful there. I love all the granite the rivers and of course the colors.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Really nice country. I grew up in upstate NY but never made it to the Catskills - we always ended up going to the Adirondacks.
 
lambertiana said:
Really nice country. I grew up in upstate NY but never made it to the Catskills - we always ended up going to the Adirondacks.
Click to expand...

I remember the Catskills as a kid as a place that you zipped by to get to the Adirondacks, full of dilapidated hotels and resorts, with the game farm being the only reason to stop. The Catskills aren't real mountains, nor are they anywhere near as tall as the Adirondacks.

But let me tell you, they're awesome. I founf that out 2 years ago when I had to go up there for ancilary work related to some dam repairs. Much more rugged country than the Adirondacks. It's all sandstone and conglomerate rock, alot of it is eroded. Every slope is covered with talus, scree, etc. Their heyday was in the late 1800's and there's plenty of ruins to find - hotels that the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts stayed in, hydroelectric dams turned into waterfalls, a crashed B-24 Liberator, etc. I've been trying to make up for a whole life of skipping over the Catskills.

Lambertina, you live in one heck of a spot. I flew to Cali once for work. Had a half-day's work in San Jose, and then I had to drive to Exeter for another day and a half. Judging by where it was on the map, I thought Exeter was going to be a dump, but it's a cute little town, the Best Western there might be the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and they have a great Thai food place. I managed to finish up work early and spend a good part of the day in King's Canyon. I want to go back so bad.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Kgd - that's my favorite shot, too. I decided to get a bit artsy on that one.
 
Sweet pics!! That knife looks loved. I see a shiney new edge on it! Great shot!
 
Fiddleback said:
Sweet pics!! That knife looks loved. I see a shiney new edge on it! Great shot!
Click to expand...

Too well loved! I had to fight off my MIL last night when she saw it and pulled out of the sheath. "Ooh, this is just like a wonderful kitchen knife I saw in Tuscany." - her standard answer for anything she really likes -meanwhile she's of Irish descent.

I absolutley love that knife. It's my first sheath knife, and I figured I'd just be using it for camping and such, but it constantly comes to hand. It's my first convex-edged knife and it's deceptively sharp! I decided to polish up the edge, more to learn/practice convex sharpening than out of any real need. It hasn't seen kitchen duty yet, partially out of not wanting it to get a patina too quickly and partly out of my wife not letting me cook too often.

The main downfall to this knife is the ergonomics!!!!!! It's TOO COMFORTABLE!!! I had a leather lanyard on it, but the ergonomics are so incredible, it made me shy away from using the lanyard hole and detracting from the comfort in any way. Your knives are beautiful Andy, but in a way that begs for them to be used!
 
Wow, not many people know about Exeter. This area is so different from what most people envision when you say California. This valley is nothing but heavy high dollar crop agriculture. And it is so close to Sequoia/Kings Canyon. I only get to the beach once a year, if that - every chance I get, I head up into the Sierras.

What line of work led you to visit Exeter? There's not a whole lot there....
 
Great stuff bro, I love that first pic it really looks like my kinda place !!!!

If I could be so brazen to make a suggestion though,try not to think of everything in terms of time, metres and elevation though and focus on what you are seeing !!!!
It looks an awesome place so check out the plants, animal tracks, any edibles etc....let time drift away ! I know I sound like some crazed hippy but I have now learnt that a good walk is not measured in miles but in discoveries !!! God I do sound like a hippy eh !!!! LOL !!!!!
 
pitdog said:
Great stuff bro, I love that first pic it really looks like my kinda place !!!!

If I could be so brazen to make a suggestion though,try not to think of everything in terms of time, metres and elevation though and focus on what you are seeing !!!!
It looks an awesome place so check out the plants, animal tracks, any edibles etc....let time drift away ! I know I sound like some crazed hippy but I have now learnt that a good walk is not measured in miles but in discoveries !!! God I do sound like a hippy eh !!!! LOL !!!!!
Click to expand...

Oh I didn't think of it that way, I was just giving "specs" to anyone who was curious - got all of that out of the Catskill dayhike book I was reading. There was a decent amount of deer scat near the Kill, but I didn't see any. On a couple of the slopes there were a few caves/overhangs that looked like they would've been real cozy for a black bear. There was limited sight distance in that area and I was weaving in and out of the rocks. Got scared nearly half to death when a grouse took off and smashed through some branches right next to me.

There was one interesting tree that I saw a lot of that I couldn't identify. As I was walking, in one area, I started seeing large leaves on the ground resembling tulip tree leaves (I love tulip trees). Looking straight up, didn't see any of the those big'uns. These big leaves were falling off of these minor deciduous trees, maybe up to 6-8 feet tall, no primary trunk, just a lot of thin branches growing out of the ground. weird.

I saw a GIANT sulfur shelf mushroom on one tree. I have no idea why I didn't photo it, but this thing was gigundo!
 
lambertiana said:
Wow, not many people know about Exeter. This area is so different from what most people envision when you say California. This valley is nothing but heavy high dollar crop agriculture. And it is so close to Sequoia/Kings Canyon. I only get to the beach once a year, if that - every chance I get, I head up into the Sierras.

What line of work led you to visit Exeter? There's not a whole lot there....
Click to expand...

I was doing an environmental audit on a valve manufacturer. I had to do the the same thing in San Jose, but at a circuit tested manufacturer. While driving up to King's Canyon, I stopped at a waterfall just outside of Beaver (I think that was the name of the "town"). A UPS guy pulled up to eat his lunch. I asked him if he just delivered in that area, to which he said he did. I told him he probably had one of the best jobs in the universe. He agreed.
 
I've done a lot of hiking in the Catskills and Blackhead is one of my favorites. As you found out the views are hard to beat on a clear day. I have 25 of the 39 hikes done (35 peaks, 4 have to be climbed a second time in the winter). The only ones I have left are the bushwacks and I've been trying to find time over the past year and half to finish up, but haven't really been able to.

Blackhead is one of the required winter hikes and is a really good one especially if there's snow on the ground.

If you go to the Catskill Mountain Club website, you can get a tally sheet for the peaks. It lists all the peaks, their elevation, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top