Hunter Mountain
When people hear Hunter Mountain, they think of the Ski Resort in the town of Hunter. On the other side of the mountain, there are many hiking trails that can lead you to a variety of places. One of them leads you to a fire tower on the top of the mountain!
Hunter Mountain is the second tallest mountain in the Catskills. Standing at 4'040 feet, it is second to Slide Mountain in height. What awaits you at the top is a fire tower! This fire tower gives you a 360-degree view of the mountains. It is truly an experience that everyone should partake in. It is one of five fire towers in the Catskills that still stands today. There use to be over 100 fire towers throughout the Catskills to watch over for forest fires. Beginning in the 1980s, the State of New York began to phase out the use of fire towers for spotting forest fires, and in 1990, the last observer ended his watch in the Catskills at the Red Hill Fire Tower in Claryville. Over time, the towers and their associated observers' cabins began to deteriorate, and those that were not dismantled were closed to the public for safety reasons. Early in 1997, a grassroots, volunteer-based initiative formed to try to save the towers. Recognizing that the towers not only represent a piece of the history and heritage of the Catskill Forest Preserve, but are an untapped resource with tremendous tourism potential.
Oh yea... the hike!! It was a beautiful sunny day and about 55 degrees, perfect for a hike. I research the hikes I'm going to be doing so I don't run into any problems on the way. People said that Hunter Mountain is an easy hike, with no real obstacles getting you into trouble. Boy was I in for a surprise. The total hike is around 6-7 miles but for some reason, mine was 8. The way up to the fire tower is really easy. It is a nice, inclined dirt road that takes you straight to the fire tower, with a little zig, zags on the way. Workers had to drive up there to watch from the fire tower, so they kept the road for the way up. Think of it as walking up stairs for 3.5 miles. It will tire you down for sure. It was muddy here and there and a little ice/snow near the top. The way back down is a whole different story, but we'll talk about that later.
When I got to the top it was still beautiful. I made my way to the top of the fire tower only to find that the door was closed and locked. They only have it open on the weekend when a steward is there for safety. It was no problem though, I still got that amazing 360 degree view from just below the top:
I know I say it too much, but it was stunning. The wind wasn't blowing that much, so it made it perfect. After that I went back to the bottom and had my lunch to get myself energized for the hike back down. Most people just turn around and hike the way they came up to make it easier. I read that if you go further, there is a beautiful view of the Spruceton Valley on the way plus you can take that trail to get back to your car. I decided to do it to get the view. It was a good decision because it gave me this view below, but I wasn't ready for what was next.
After the view, you start hiking down what they call 'Devils Path'. There is nothing easy about this path. It has every possible kind of difficult hiking obstacle. Dangerous cliffs, big rocks to climb, cliffs to climb, deep mud, chimneys, loose rocks, trees, slippery rocks, moss covered rocks, water running over the path, etc. You will swear that only the devil could make a trail this difficult. Hence, the name, "Devil's Path". This is probably the easier part of the path, but I wasn't ready for it. It stated to go downhill and zig zag a lot, with loose rocks, ice, mud and no straight path here or there. I started to panic, thinking that I took a wrong turn and I was going a different direction. I got my phone out to see where I was and if I was ok. My phone battery was almost dead and I got a view of where I was, but I was still in panic mode. Then the phone shut off and I was going crazy. The trail started going back uphill a little bit and I was getting angry that I took a wrong turn or something. I knew I wasn't lost, because I followed the trail markers on the trees. So if I did make a wrong turn, I would least end up somewhere and not in the middle of the forest, being totally lost.
I plugged my phone into my portable battery charger so I could use it again later. The one point that I found that gave me some confidence is the lean-to. When I spotted that, I knew I was actually in the right direction and I calmed down a little, got my phone out and headed back onto the trail. It was still a little challenging after that because it lead me up and down hill a few times. It was also very muddy and icy in some spots. When I got to the last trail junction I could hear a good amount of running water off to the side. I walked a little further and a beautiful waterfall was off to the left! People call it a variety of names, but I heard it was called West Kill Falls. Some people call it Diamond Knotch Falls, either way, it was still beautiful.
After the falls, it was a nice flat walk to my car on an old carriage road. I was relieved. What I thought would be an easy, fast hike, turned into a long, tiring hike that I wouldn't forget. It was a great learning experience for me!! Hunter Mountain: conquered!!