Trip Report: Devil's Path and Downpours

There's an amazing view out there somewhere!

Every time I get out my backpacking gear and make much-too-ambitious plans for a weekend outside, Mother Nature knows. And just to be sure I'm on my game, she'll throw everything she can at me just to see if I'm capable of actually enjoying myself while being completely soaked and fearful of being struck by lightening. After re-examining this past weekend's trip to Devil's Path in the Catskills, I'd give myself a C. I'd consider raising my grade to a B- based on my water collection methods. Maybe you should be the judge! 

This was my second trip to Devil's Path, the first being June of last year. Dan and I came up with a different plan this year, focused on gaining elevation with heavy packs, just because we like punishment! The plan was to spend all of Saturday hiking the eastern portion of Devil's Path from west to east, and get as far as we could before setting up camp, hopefully summitting Indian Head (3,573'), Twin (3,640'), and Sugarloaf (3,500'). The summit elevations can be deceiving - one look at the map, and it's obvious there's a significant amount of elevation to be gained en route to each peak, then lost prior to climbing up to the next. Hence the trail's well-deserved name!

on our way

We left Philadelphia early Saturday morning. The weather called for a 40% chance of rain and thunderstorms both days, and as soon as we stepped out of the car at the Prediger Road trail head, it started to pour. I was slightly disheartened, but not surprised. Hiking in the rain can be fun, especially if it's warm. We put on all of our rain gear and left the parking lot just after 10am. 

The air was completely saturated with moisture, and it appeared we were ascending through a cloud. Just before summitting Indian Head, we found a small overhanging cliff to have lunch under and get out of the rain. At this point, I'd gotten myself into a bit of a funk over the weather, how slippery the trail was, and was trying my best to snap out of it. We met two brothers about our age with their mother hiking for her birthday. That along with their beautiful dog lifted my spirits a bit. (Unfortunately, we met them again later; they'd turned around because the dog had a run-in with a porcupine.)

We summitted Indian Head just after 1pm, and pressed on to Jimmy Dolan Notch mid-afternoon. There, we decided to set up camp at a site we'd been to before. It's a bit off the beaten path, and it was just as amazing as we remembered!  I was a bit contrite about cutting out the rest of the hike, but it worked out just fine.

let there be fire! and water! 

We set up camp and Dan got to work trying to get a fire going, just to see if it was possible. The rain had momentarily stopped, but we were still in a cloud. We collected birch bark from a dead standing tree and crushed it up, hoping it would ignite. I lost count of the number of matches it took, but with an incredible amount of effort and attention, Dan got it lit and we kept it going all afternoon. By dinnertime, we'd built it up enough to shift our attention to cooking - a feat I'm still marveling at. Being able to start a fire when all the wood around you is soaked is difficult, but as we proved, not impossible!

Another challenge on Devil's Path is the availability of water. Streams are scarce, even when it's raining, which we handled on the 2009 trip by finding a small trickle of water and creating a puddle to pump water from. This time, the trickle wasn't there, even with all the rain. As we finished dinner, it started pouring again. I got one of my Nalgene bottles out and used it to collect rainwater from the tarp we'd hung over the tent. It was full in a matter of seconds and we pump filtered it into another reservoir. As the downpour abated, we had three liters of water collected. I felt a little sense of accomplishment, having made the best out of the rain and using it to our advantage.

...and thunder and lightening
After stashing our bear canister (a MUST if you're backcountry camping in the Catskills, Adirondacks, etc.), we settled in for the night. The rain continued to fall on and off, and I woke up around midnight to a loud crack of thunder in the distance. Wide-eyed, I watched flashes of lightening illuminate the tent at regular intervals. 

Thousands of years of evolution have programmed my brain, and all the little hairs on my arms, to be wary of being outdoors during a thunderstorm. Despite the fact that the storm sounded far off, the pounding rain and lightening flashes combined with that half-lucid dream-sleep state you're in when something wakes you in the middle of the night, I was scared. But we weren't up very high, we were in a thick grove of trees, and there were many things taller around us. The storm stayed at a distance, and we woke up the next morning to more fog, but no rain.

 me on top of Indian Head on the hike out

but we still had fun!
The hike out was both quick and enjoyable. The best part was discussing what we planned to order from Pancho Villa's Mexican Restaurant in Tannersville, NY. A stomach full of cheese and salsa is the best way to end a hike!

Activities like backpacking, mountaineering, etc. will, more often than not, force you to be outside when the weather's dreadful and all you want to do is give up and go home. But it's how we approach those situations that makes us stronger, and better equipped to handle the next challenge. This time, I didn't do too well; I let a lot of the little things get me down. But I did find that tackling projects, like collecting water and keeping the fire going, were wonderful distractions. And I'll take this experience and use it to help me adjust my attitude next time. What are some things you do to help snap yourself out of funks when things get rough?

 now that's one dirty Action Wipe!

Trip Report: Devil's Path in the Catskills

Beautiful Catskills and big backpacks.

The Devil’s Path trail in the Catskills is quite an undertaking in its entirety – 24.2 miles over six peaks following red blazes with over 18,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain. The terrain is typical of the northeast – extremely rocky at points, plenty of scrambling, and the occasional gothic-looking pine forest. I thoroughly enjoyed staring at mini-ecosystems exploding from fallen trees and keeping my eyes out for chimneys and escarpments that made me regret leaving my climbing shoes at home.

Our plan was to complete the eastern half of Devil’s Path Saturday using a base camp mid-trip, and head home Sunday. This itinerary meant summiting four peaks, five if both of Twin Mountain’s summits count, over 13 miles and 4,000’ of elevation gain.

Day 1: Friday, June 12
Our group arrived at the Devil’s Tombstone State Campground parking lot just after 4pm. We left my car there, and drove our second car to the Prediger Road trailhead. We set out on the trail around 4:30pm, a bit later than anticipated, for the Devil’s Kitchen lean-to or any established campsite we could find within 3-4 miles of our starting point.

Our little posse ended up summiting Indian Head (3,573’) 4 miles into the hike after unintentionally passing the lean-to. As with most other trips I’ve been on, things rarely go as planned, and we finally found flat land with an established site at the Jimmy Dolan Notch just before nightfall. We’d hiked 5.6 miles, a bit further than anticipated, and summited one of the four mountains we’d intended to do the next day. Water was extremely difficult to find along the way – we didn’t find a single source on the trail.

The site we stayed in was just south of the Notch on a blue blazed trail, which functioned as one of our bailout points on the hike. The site barely allowed room for our five tents, but was perfect considering the sun was rapidly setting. We took the Jimmy Dolan Notch north to find a cooking spot for the night, and discovered both a water source/puddle and a better campsite for the following night. 

Day 2: Saturday, June 13
We set out early from Jimmy Dolan Notch and summited Twin Mountain (3640’), Sugarloaf Mountain (3,800), and Plateau Mountain (3840’), a total overall elevation gain of just over 4,000’ between the ascents and descents. The weather was perfect, and the views from Twin Mountain were breathtaking. There was no view from Sugarloaf, and the only way to tell you’ve reached the summit is when you realized you’re starting the descent. The entire trail was engulfed in life – trees, moss, lichens, flowers – and was some of the most enjoyable hiking I’ve done.

In order to make sure everyone in the group didn’t overdo it, we ended up going much slower than I thought we would. It's absolutely necessary for any group leader to recognize when breaks are needed, even if the group doesn't want it. Between the frequent rest breaks and pace, by the time we all reached the end of the trail at the parking lot, where we’d left my car, it was nearly 6:30 pm. This left us less than two hours to shuttle all of us 13 miles back to the Prediger Road trailhead and ascend back up to the Notch and our campsite. Then it started to rain.

It always seems when it rains on a hike or a backpacking trip, it really rains. Perhaps it’s just my change in perception when I’m out in the woods, but it never seems to rain as hard at home as it does on the trails. The rain was relentless, turning the forest floor into a swamp and the trail into a series of waterfalls. The clouds and impending nightfall made some of the blue Jimmy Dolan Notch Trail blazes hard to see. Thank goodness the Catskills trails are notoriously well-marked.

We made it back to camp as night was descending, completely soaked. I was nervous – Dan and I were unable to find a suitable, affordable replacement for his leaky tent, the same tent that forced me into a friend’s tent in the Adirondacks and Dan sleeping in a 4” puddle. We’d taken precautions, which included putting a tarp under the tent to prevent water from leaking in through the floor, and a tarp over it to help with the leaky fly. Our makeshift groundsheet was a few inches smaller than the tent footprint, but we figured it would be enough. Wrong. Our strategies in the battle against the unrelenting downpour involved two main problems and solutions:

• Problem – the ground sheet was too small, and water was finding its way between the sheet and the tent floor. 
• Solution - placing rocks, sticks, sandals, anything we could find under the ground sheet to prop it up and keep the edges above the water.
• Problem – We’d placed the tent in a small depression, and water was collecting under the tent into a small lake.  
• Solution – digging a small trench around the tent to divert the water, and digging a second on the downward sloping side to allow water to drain out.

Our two solutions worked, and we stayed mostly dry the entire night. The tarp over the tent helped keep water off the fly, and between the trench and propping the edges of the groundsheet up, we kept the floor mostly dry.

Day 3: Sunday, June 14
We woke around 9am to one of the most wonderful, morale-building smells one can ever encounter on a camping trip – a campfire. One very talented member of the group managed to start a fire the next morning, despite how completely soaked everything was. Breakfast tasted like heaven, and the rain had stopped. We hiked two miles down the Jimmy Dolan Notch Trail to our cars, arriving in the parking lot just after 2pm. I discovered over 30 mosquito and black fly bites on my legs.

One of my favorite parts about backpacking trips is spending time in the small nearby towns. I’ll never forget sharing shots of whiskey with new friends at the Newcomb House deep in the Adirondacks last summer, or the incredible enchiladas verde I had at Pancho Villa’s in Tannersville that day.

Overall, despite a few hiccups, it was a great trip. It was (wonderfully) organized by the Philadelphia Hiking and Adventure meet-up group, which Dan and I joined to meet others in the Philly area to go on trips with. (Of course, my heart will always lie with TerraMar). It’ll likely be the last time I backpack with a meet-up group, and I’d much prefer a smaller crowd. Regardless, everyone brought something different to the trip - a unique personality, stories and experiences – that made the trip quite enjoyable.

Near-future adventures include more Delaware Water Gap hikes, an Adirondack canoe trip, and hopefully, the entirety of Devil’s Path. Stay tuned!