North Mountain and Stopple Point
My goal when I started hiking the Catskills was to complete the required 39 peaks to join the Catskill 3500 club as soon as possible. I realized that there was just too much beauty in the Catskills and getting it done fast was no requirement. I was going to enjoy this as much as I can. The mountains aren't going anywhere.
I decided to take on North Mountain and Stopple Point today. They aren't above 3500 feet so they aren't required to be climbed for the 3500 club. I read that the views from both mountains are superb and the hike in general was an incredible one. Just below the top of North Mountain is North Point, a stunning view point overlooking North/South Lake, Kaaterkill High Peak and the Hudson Valley. At the end of Stopple Point is a plane crash, so that was an added bonus!!
When I left my house it was very foggy and cloudy out so I was prepared for a hike without views. The parking lot near the hike is also the parking lot for the famous Kaaterskill Falls which was only a mile away to the south. But I was going north. The funny thing is that usually the parking lot is super full, since Kaaterskill Falls is the most touristy place in upstate New York. But today, it was completely empty. I would have the trail all to myself!
The trail is relatively flat until the short, steep hike up North Mountain. It goes through several wet areas, stunning conifer forests and a good amount of small creek crossings. It's a very long hike, but since its not too steep, it is more enjoyable. It was around 35 degrees outside so it was cold at first, but when I started hiking, it was perfect. The start of the trail looked like the picture below, going over a swampy, wet area.
After just over a mile into the hike, I came to the first trail junction and Ledge Falls. This waterfall is a really beautiful place because it has several cascades where the water flows over along it. It isn't the tallest waterfall, but it very unique, as it continues on for over 50 ft and the water flows at different points along the ledge. I'm guessing after a good rain storm, this waterfall would be magnificent.
After the junction and Ledge Falls, I started heading towards the steep part of North Mountain, but you don't climb it. I walked right next to it and it shows you how steep and rocky it is and what you might have to face when you start climbing. At different times it switched back and forth from a regular forest to a conifer forest filled with stunning tall trees. After the conifer forest, I hit the trail junction just before the steep climb up North Mountain.
Right after the junction, I started on the rocky, steep climb. Man was it tough. It wasn't a long hike, but the steepness wore me down. Just before the viewpoint called North Point, I came to a very steep area that you literally have to us your hands and feet to climb up several large ledges. I love these challenging areas!!
Right after the steep climbing, you come to the amazing viewpoint called North Point. It was foggy, but it was still stunning.
The ledge was massive. You could walk all over the place to enjoy the view!
The fog was flowing just on the top of the mountains and since it was below freezing on the top, it created what they call hard rime on the trees. It was beautiful!!
After North Point I headed up to the top of North Mountain and onto the trail towards Stopple Point. As I climbed in elevation, I started to flow into the fog. If the trees weren't there, I would probably be walking right through it. It was still pretty chilly, but I only had to wear my light coat and my winter hat to keep warm. It wasn't to windy but the fog was flowing through nicely. I soon came to the beautiful conifer forest that is in between North Mountain and Stopple Point.
After a short climb up, I found myself at the first viewpoint on Stopple Point. Well, sort of.
The fog had overtaken the viewpoint. This view is usually overlooking the Hudson Valley. While I was disappointed, I still got a cool view of the fog flowing over the top of the mountain and down into the valley. Even though I didn't have a view, I decided to go to the second viewpoint, which over looks the stunning Blackhead Mountain Range.
Still no view, but the hard rime on the trees made it a great experience. After lunch at the viewpoint, I headed to the plane crash, which was only a couple hundred feet from the viewpoint. Man was it cool!!
This crash happened in 1983 and the pilot did not make it. If he had been 25ft higher, he would of been above the trees and would of not crashed the plane. The reason why the plane is still there is because usually the family wants the plane to be left as a memorial. Plus, hauling out all the debris by hand or sled for seven miles would be extremely difficult.
After the plane crash I reversed my course and headed back to the parking lot. On the way back I hit every viewpoint to see if the fog had lifted but it hadn't. Oh well, some other day!!
But something else happened on my way back. After climbing down the steep section of North Mountain, something caught my eye up on the side of it. This was a little up the side so I decided to pursue it and see what it was. What I found was amazing!! The picture below shows two aircraft wings(both are circled in yellow). I really don't know how it caught my eye.
I've gotten a hold of very many people who have hiked in the Catskills for a long time and they never knew of this. I know I couldn't of been the first to discover this because people have sketched there names and years into the wings. Of all I read, the latest was from 1993. This was amazing discovery, so I would definitely be back to check this out even more and investigate it thoroughly. In the end, the total hike was 8.53 miles. One of my longest hikes!!