It is possible to thru-hike across the Catskill Park, almost entirely on marked and maintained DEC trails- with a minimum of road walking and/or bushwhacking in a couple of spots (especially the Big Indian area). A route such as the one I've identified would traverse somewhere between 120 and 126 miles (depending on how you calculate it), with 23,200 feet of elevation gain. It'd be basically the NPT on crack (the NPT is a similar length but with about half the elevation gain). Along the way, you'd summit 14 of the Catskill 3,500 foot peaks, plus an additional 6 peaks in the hundred highest.
I'm just curious if anyone here has attempted such a hike in one go. I'm tentatively toying with giving it a shot myself early this summer. My thoughts are that it'd probably be easier west to east (save the bigger peaks for later on in the hike, with the "relatively gentle" Western Catskills as a warm up), and to use Phoenecia for a mid-trip resupply. To minimize road walking in the Big Indian section, my thought is to bushwhack from Graham to the Slide Mountain trailhead by way of Doubletop, Big Indian, and Fir (obviously with permission from the private owner of Graham and Doubletop). I remember Doubletop being a bit thick but Fir especially was wide open forest with fern-filled glades. I suspect that this route will actually be a bit easier (and more scenic) than trying to drop down off the ridge through Biscuit Brook, and then having to walk the Frost Valley road stretch.
(Interesting aside- I understand that there's been proposals for a trail connecting the Balsam Lake Mountain area with the Slide Mountain area that date back decades. Such a trail would form the "missing link" that would essentially finalize the "Trans Catskill Trail." I seem to recall hearing from someone, perhaps even on these forums, that those proposals were more or less put on hiatus after someone took it upon themselves to attempt to construct such a trail without permission from the state- causing a lot of damage to trees in the process.)
I'm just curious if anyone here has attempted such a hike in one go. I'm tentatively toying with giving it a shot myself early this summer. My thoughts are that it'd probably be easier west to east (save the bigger peaks for later on in the hike, with the "relatively gentle" Western Catskills as a warm up), and to use Phoenecia for a mid-trip resupply. To minimize road walking in the Big Indian section, my thought is to bushwhack from Graham to the Slide Mountain trailhead by way of Doubletop, Big Indian, and Fir (obviously with permission from the private owner of Graham and Doubletop). I remember Doubletop being a bit thick but Fir especially was wide open forest with fern-filled glades. I suspect that this route will actually be a bit easier (and more scenic) than trying to drop down off the ridge through Biscuit Brook, and then having to walk the Frost Valley road stretch.
(Interesting aside- I understand that there's been proposals for a trail connecting the Balsam Lake Mountain area with the Slide Mountain area that date back decades. Such a trail would form the "missing link" that would essentially finalize the "Trans Catskill Trail." I seem to recall hearing from someone, perhaps even on these forums, that those proposals were more or less put on hiatus after someone took it upon themselves to attempt to construct such a trail without permission from the state- causing a lot of damage to trees in the process.)
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