Looking for an easier, fairly close to home hike I came across Huckleberry Point, and reading further found out a longer trip could be made to a trailless peak, and only an hour away from Albany? So it was that I left the house at 5:30 this morning and headed south on 9W.
First stop was Selena's Diner in Tannersville. Great place, great staff at 6:30am, and make sure you get the sausages. Then down to Platte Clove Rd to the parking area. nb: be really careful once it turns into a seasonal road. It's just wide enough for two cars and people will barrel toward you practically running you off the road, and you'll be sharing it with cyclists. When I parked at 7:30, three other cars were there.
My original plan was to head to Huckelberry Point, come back and head up the Long Path, bushwhack over to the snowmobile loop, ascend via the south to Hurricane Ledge, descend north and then back to the Long Path out. Of course, not everything always goes to plan...
The hike in is a couple miles of steady incline, not much to speak of, wet in some spots with some really nice bridges at the Plattekill, lots of wildlife. The bushwhack starts soon after the trail levels off around 3000', and I studied maps a lot before I set out. I'm still very green at orienteering and almost strictly stay to marked trails, so this was new for me; I figured it's a good first bushwhacking experience (which it is). I looked for a cairn that I'd read about but never found it. Eventually I realized the trail was swinging west, and I'd missed my shortcut by half a mile or so, so I stepped off the trail in a southwesterly direction. It turns out I had almost taken the trail all the way to the junction, but following a mostly dry drainage I made it to the loop. My mistake was not having strong enough orienteering skills to positively find my location on the map.
This section is very wet in spots. Taking the loop south, I came across one of the aircraft crash sites, and passing it, started to get nervous about missing the turn to head up to the peak -- this is a "trailless" peak after all. Turns out that's not a problem since there's a 6' high cairn at the junction. The trail in between is amazingly lush and verdant this time of year, just gorgeous with sunlight peeking through. From there it's a scramble up, not too difficult but possibly dangerous in places and I can see, how do I put this delicately, short people having problems at a couple points. Following the blue blazes isn't easy but there aren't many alternate routes up.
Hurricane ledge gives a spectacular view. Reached it just shy of 10:30, took a break, then headed for the true summit. On the way down saw the only other group I'd see until almost back at the parking area, at the overlook on the north side. This is when I ran into real trouble; I completely lost the trail heading down. Since there's a loop around the peaks, I knew I just had to keep going down, but I was deep in the weeds and kept tracking east. after nearly twisting an ankle and surfing a rock down several feet, I ended up finding the snowmobile trail again, guessing I was far east of the junction. I decided to head to the crash site, and since it's the terminus of the suggested bushwhack from the Long Path, just reverse it. Getting back to the site, I set a bearing of 130 and dutifully followed it... knowing at the worst, I had my GPS track up the trail to fall back on. This worked out perfectly, though.
Hitting the Long Path again, I headed down and out, trying to save my knees the pain I'd caused last weekend. This time I shortened my stride and it worked wonders, I've just been trying to cover too much ground with each step. Nearing the parking area I passed a few groups coming in, and getting there to sign out, the lot was PACKED... and there were cars parked along the road when I left. This is a popular trail, though most were going to Huckleberry Point. Got to the car at 1:00 sharp, for 8 miles in 5.5 hours, which I'm happy with considering I wasn't rushed.
Weather was 70's, 80's, NO black flies. This is an extremely rewarding hike for the effort, and that's not counting a side trip to Huckleberry. I especially liked the option to bushwhack in a somewhat "controlled" environment; the trails run parallel for a while and coming off the mountain you can't miss the trail as long as you keep going down. Great practice. I would caution against not bringing enough water, I finished my liter by the time I was headed back and refilled when I hit the Plattekill. Highly recommend this as a fairly quick one for anyone who's confident with a short scramble.
First stop was Selena's Diner in Tannersville. Great place, great staff at 6:30am, and make sure you get the sausages. Then down to Platte Clove Rd to the parking area. nb: be really careful once it turns into a seasonal road. It's just wide enough for two cars and people will barrel toward you practically running you off the road, and you'll be sharing it with cyclists. When I parked at 7:30, three other cars were there.
My original plan was to head to Huckelberry Point, come back and head up the Long Path, bushwhack over to the snowmobile loop, ascend via the south to Hurricane Ledge, descend north and then back to the Long Path out. Of course, not everything always goes to plan...
The hike in is a couple miles of steady incline, not much to speak of, wet in some spots with some really nice bridges at the Plattekill, lots of wildlife. The bushwhack starts soon after the trail levels off around 3000', and I studied maps a lot before I set out. I'm still very green at orienteering and almost strictly stay to marked trails, so this was new for me; I figured it's a good first bushwhacking experience (which it is). I looked for a cairn that I'd read about but never found it. Eventually I realized the trail was swinging west, and I'd missed my shortcut by half a mile or so, so I stepped off the trail in a southwesterly direction. It turns out I had almost taken the trail all the way to the junction, but following a mostly dry drainage I made it to the loop. My mistake was not having strong enough orienteering skills to positively find my location on the map.
This section is very wet in spots. Taking the loop south, I came across one of the aircraft crash sites, and passing it, started to get nervous about missing the turn to head up to the peak -- this is a "trailless" peak after all. Turns out that's not a problem since there's a 6' high cairn at the junction. The trail in between is amazingly lush and verdant this time of year, just gorgeous with sunlight peeking through. From there it's a scramble up, not too difficult but possibly dangerous in places and I can see, how do I put this delicately, short people having problems at a couple points. Following the blue blazes isn't easy but there aren't many alternate routes up.
Hurricane ledge gives a spectacular view. Reached it just shy of 10:30, took a break, then headed for the true summit. On the way down saw the only other group I'd see until almost back at the parking area, at the overlook on the north side. This is when I ran into real trouble; I completely lost the trail heading down. Since there's a loop around the peaks, I knew I just had to keep going down, but I was deep in the weeds and kept tracking east. after nearly twisting an ankle and surfing a rock down several feet, I ended up finding the snowmobile trail again, guessing I was far east of the junction. I decided to head to the crash site, and since it's the terminus of the suggested bushwhack from the Long Path, just reverse it. Getting back to the site, I set a bearing of 130 and dutifully followed it... knowing at the worst, I had my GPS track up the trail to fall back on. This worked out perfectly, though.
Hitting the Long Path again, I headed down and out, trying to save my knees the pain I'd caused last weekend. This time I shortened my stride and it worked wonders, I've just been trying to cover too much ground with each step. Nearing the parking area I passed a few groups coming in, and getting there to sign out, the lot was PACKED... and there were cars parked along the road when I left. This is a popular trail, though most were going to Huckleberry Point. Got to the car at 1:00 sharp, for 8 miles in 5.5 hours, which I'm happy with considering I wasn't rushed.
Weather was 70's, 80's, NO black flies. This is an extremely rewarding hike for the effort, and that's not counting a side trip to Huckleberry. I especially liked the option to bushwhack in a somewhat "controlled" environment; the trails run parallel for a while and coming off the mountain you can't miss the trail as long as you keep going down. Great practice. I would caution against not bringing enough water, I finished my liter by the time I was headed back and refilled when I hit the Plattekill. Highly recommend this as a fairly quick one for anyone who's confident with a short scramble.
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