Twin Mountain

So last week, Travis and I did the first mountain of Devils Path. Devils Path is a very difficult hike that is 24 miles long and is considered one of the most difficult trails on the East Coast and maybe even the lower 48 states!! I decided that I wanted to take on the second mountain of Devils Path called Twin Mountain!! Travis wouldn't be joining me on this one so I was going solo. It was his loss!!

You first start out in the same parking lot and trail as you do on Indian Head Mountain. Like before, as you go up, it continues to get steeper and steeper, wearing you down. The day was perfect though: high of around 60 and mostly sunny skies. Plus, the foliage was starting to break out in the Catskills, so that was another bonus!!

After the long climb up moderate sections, you reach the trail junction between Indian Head and Twin Mountain. They call it Jimmy Dolan's notch. Just beyond the junction is a stunning view point:

The partly sunny sky in the morning broke into sunny skies and it was almost perfectly clear. This view shows some of the southern Catskills. It was a perfect place to take a rest and enjoy the view. Some say that there is a bear cave somewhere around there, but I wasn't ready to tangle with a bear today...

After the view you take a turn up Twin. It gains in elevation almost immediately. You start seeing what Devils Path has to offer. Slippery rocks, steep climbs, overhanging rocks, roots that you have to pull yourself up. Everything to slow you down. I took my time and navigated my way up. Here are some pictures of what Twin mountain puts out there for you:

As you can see, difficult sections all over the place!! But, this made it fun. The second picture shows you where I had to climb up roots to get to the next area. That was definitely a good time. It was difficult and it wore me down quite a bit, but it was some great climbing and it shows you that hiking doesn't involve just walking along a trail the whole time. For some reason that's what people think. Hiking is just walking in the woods. Well, as you can see, its not.

About halfway up you come to a viewpoint where you can catch a breather and enjoy the view of the west side of Indian Head Mountain and Overlook Mountain in the background:

When you get close to the top you start to hit the conifer forest. This, at times, is a sign of relief, because it's telling you your almost near the top. But some times, its not. I was lucky on this mountain because when I hit the conifer forest, the steep areas stopped and I was climbing up short easy sections. I had time to catch my breath. While near the top I approached this guy off to the side:

Just a regular gardner snake and He was looking for some sun. After that, it was a short distance from the stunning viewpoint that would become my favorite spot in all the Catskills:

The autumn colors added a great touch to this stunning view. I sat there for a long time, maybe over an hour, and soaked it all in. I then realized that I had to climb to the other peak of the mountain, which is a little bit higher than the other one, but no where near as difficult as the climb up. When I got to the other peak I enjoyed another great view of the southern Catskills:

Another fantastic view provided by the Catskills. I was there for another 30 minutes just staring off into the mountains. Pointing out which mountain is which and what one I would conquer next. I then headed on back to the trail and reversed course to go back to the trailhead. I really didn't want to leave, but I had to get back to real life. I also didn't want to leave because I had to go back through the first viewpoint and I knew I would be sucked into it once again.

Luckily, I met some fellow hikers on my way back. I didn't want ruin it for them so I quickly said my hello's, asked them how the hike up was and went back on my way. It was great because these guys must of been ranging from late 50's to late 70's and still kicking ass. I said in my mind, that's what I want to do when I get that old!! I found another hiker down the trail who was waiting for them. He said he could make it up further because he just got out of the hospital with pneumonia. WHAT!!! PNEUMONIA!!! It was crazy that he was hiking up Devils Path after just getting over pneumonia. I shook his hand and told him that he is amazing and to have a wonderful day.

Going down was still difficult. It required a lot of planning again so you don't fall 20ft down face first. But it was still a fun time. When I hit the trailhead between Indian Head and Twin, my knees started to go into what Travis and I would call 'Jello Mode'. Jello mode is when your knees are floppy and loose. You stumble on a lot of things and roll your ankles a lot because your knees are tired from all the climbing. It can be funny at times, because you roll your ankle on he slightest of things and laugh. But it also can be dangerous. It gets old and you get aggravated but sooner than later you find yourself at the flat part of the hike and seeing the parking lot, thanking the mountain and mother nature once again for a phenomenal day!!