Graham Mountain

Graham Mountain is one of two privately owned mountains on the Catskill 3500 list. Yes. You heard that right. There are mountains on the 3500 list in the Catskills owned by someone. But, because of good owners and caretakers of the mountain and respectful hikers, you can ask to climb this mountain and most likely, you'll be able to climb it. The 'leave no trace' policy plays a huge role in the owners letting you climb the mountain. If the hikers keep it clean and leave no trace, the owners will continue to let us climb their privately owned property. It's also the 7th highest mountain in the Catskills, standing at 3'868 feet.

At the parking area, just before I started the hike, I met this older man named Michael, who must of been in his late 60's to late 70's (sorry Michael, I'm bad at determining peoples age). He was emptying out a lot of gear from his car. In terms of a lot I saw: a mid-sized shovel, buckets, other small shovels, gloves and much more gear for digging. I went over and introduced myself and asked him what he was going to be doing. He told me that he was planning on hiking to a bog on the side of Balsam Lake Mountain and digging holes in it to determine how old it was. I was fascinated that a man this late in age could haul this amount of gear up to the top of a mountain. I told him that I was here to hike Graham, but I would gladly like to take some stuff with me on the way up, and leave it for him at the turn off so he wouldn't have to have so much weight to carry. He denied me at first, but I kept insisting that I do it, that it wasn't a problem and it would be good thing because I always wanted to add more weight to my pack for training of longer hikes. He finally said sure and gave me the big shovel, other shovels and some buckets. I said 'That's all?' He laughed and said "Thank you very much! Have a god day sir!'

About 9 months later, Jessica and I attended a grand opening of The Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve in Stamford. I wanted to attend this because somehow I knew this name plus there were many cool activities going on for the opening. I know I've met him before, but I don't remember when. When I saw Michael at the grand opening I finally knew that it was him that I met at the parking area when I was going to Graham Mountain! It was great to meet such a cool guy. As we chatted, he told me he went up to Balsam Lake Mountain and found out the bog up there was over 1,300 years old!! Definitely a great experience meeting him.

It starts off on the same trail as Balsam Lake Mountain, which I have climbed before. As you go up the mountain, you'll gain in elevation here and there. Nothing steep like the last couple mountains we have done. Actually, no where near them!! Since this trail leads up to the Balsam Lake Fire Tower, its a semi-wide, level road so 4 wheelers and other off road vehicles can reach the top to maintain the tower. Not a flat uphill though. There's a pretty good gain at places, especially at the end, but nothing that slowed me down too much.

At about 3/4 the way up the trail I had to make a sharp left hand turn onto private property and start heading towards Graham Mountain. Many, many years back, Graham was going to be a place for a television tower. But plans fell through and it wasn't completed. The trail was once wide enough for vehicles, but everything has overgrown it now and it looks like a regular hiking trail. In a good time from now, if the trail is not maintained, it won't be a trail at all and it will be a true bushwhack to the top!

The cool thing is that some of the structure of the television tower is still standing, so at the end of the trail I would be treated to what I would call the 'television ruins'. The way up Graham isn't bad at all, in terms of elevation gain and toughness. It has a nice flat walk up the side of the mountain, then the last .8 miles has a elevation gain of about 800ft, so it's not too bad at all. It was a beautiful day to be hiking. Sunny and in the mid-high 70's. I would say it was near perfect.

After the flat walk I finally started to gain in elevation. No really big climbing areas but a good gain that kept me huffing and puffing. I could tell that I was near the top of Graham because the trail got overcrowded with thick bushes and black berries. The trees are a little bit thinner and shorter in the higher elevations. so this allows more sun to enter and more plant life to grow. But only a few plants can grow up here in the higher elevations due to the difference in temperature and wind. The black berries weren't ripe enough yet, but I still got to enjoy a few that were ripe!!

As I reached the top, I plowed through the bushes and was greeted with the view of the 'telepvision ruins'

The skies were crystal clear and barley a cloud in the sky. I was reminded of this sunny day by the sun burn that showed up later that night...

I don't know why but I didn't take pictures of inside the tower. There was old stuff laying around like metal pieces and what I think was an old furnace. So at some point, I guess they were thinking about putting electricity up here, which would of made a scar on the beautiful mountain. Glad they reconsidered!!

As I wondered around I looked up and thought, 'Maybe I can get higher up to see the other mountains?' So I looked around and saw that there were "steps" leading up to the top of the concrete wall. As I got higher up, the mountains started to show and it was stunning. I got as far up at the second steel beam and took pictures of the amazing 360 degree view:

To the right in the picture is the Indian Head Mountain Range and to the left is the Hunter/Westkill Wilderness. In the left of the picture you can see three mountains in the back round. That is the beautiful Blackhead Mountain Range.

A closeup of the Blackhead Mountain Range in the middle.

Slide Mountain in the middle. The tallest mountain in the Catskills!

Slide Mountain in the middle and Double Top Mountain to the right. Slide definitely dominates this view! Slide Mountain and the other mountains around it is called Burroughs Range(named after the great Catskill explorer John Burrough)

Balsam Lake Mountain.

A view of where I was standing on the tower. Slide Mountain and the Burroughs Range to the right and in the middle is the Indian Head Mountain Range and the Hunter/Westkill Wilderness

I must of been up there for at least an hour and a half. Just soaking in the view and pointing out which peaks are which. When I was unsure, I would go to my trail maps and see if I could locate them. After taking in the views, I headed back down the mountain and back to the parking area. Nothing really to write about on the way back except that fact that I got a major sunburn from being on the top so long!! Another amazing hike in the Catskills!!