Friday Mountain and Balsam Cap

So the story is that Friday Mountain is one of the most difficult climbs in the Catskills, if not the most difficult. Why? Not only does it have almost 3,000 feet of elevation gain(2nd highest in the Catskills. Most hikes only have 1,500-2,000 ft of elevation gain in the Cats), but it is also a bushwhack with huge ledges that you have to determine where the safest area to climb up is. But, the views. at the top of both mountains. are phenomenal and we decided that it was finally the time to take on a truly challenging hike.

The trail starts out right next to Wittenberg Brook, on the out skirts of a very small town named West Shokan. This parking area is really in the middle of nowhere. But that's a good thing. Less people equals more solitude. Less people also equals a more difficult bushwhack, which basically makes you a more skilled hiker. Bushwhacking to a point with just a map and compass requires a good amount of skills. You need to know how you use the map and compass together(which is not easy), you need to know and study the terrain on mountain you are hiking, the positions of the other mountains and terrain so you can navigate, sources of water, ect, ect. Many skills. If you are not knowledgeable in these skills, you can get lost and you could die. It's that simple. Getting lost in the back woods near your house is one thing. Getting lost in the middle of a hike on a 3,600 foot mountain is another. I knew that Travis and I were ready.

The first part of the hike starts off on an old logging road and doesn't gain too much in elevation. On most hikes in the Catskills, old logging roads were all over the place before it became state property. Sometimes on these bushwhacks, you can follow logging roads for a good amount of time, till it disappears into the forest. I studied the map of the hike and I knew where we should turn off of the road and start the real bushwhacking. We took a turn off the logging trail and started to gain in elevation right away. Nothing with climbing ledges or anything(yet) but steep as in angle.

After about a mile of good, steady climbing we finally hit a spot where it was flatter and we could catch our breath. It still gained in elevation, but not as steep as the last half a mile. We found what they called the 'rim trail' when we hit about half way up the mountain. now, this hike it supposed to be a total bushwhack, which means you have to navigate up to the top yourself. Well, we ran into this a lot when as we got further up the mountain:

Pathetic. Some idiots had to write on rocks to show or remind others where to go. That's kind of the opposite of what you're supposed to do on this hike. Thanks for ruining it for everyone who wants to actually learn how to do it themselves. Morons.

There was still about a mile to go and it wasn't easy. We kept climbing and climbing and climbing. What was a mile, felt like 5. This is what it looks like on the way up. Not extremely difficult, but a good angle that can really drain the energy out of you.

As you can see, its a nice upward angle that could wear you down. We finally got to a spot where I knew we had to turn right and head for the final climb of Friday Mountain. This would involve some intense, difficult climbs up ledges and chutes in the mountain. It was awesome!! Here's a photo of one of the spots we had to negotiate around a ledge:

That ledge was about 50-60 feet tall!! We finally got to the top of that ledge and were greeted with this stunning view!!

To the left is Devils Path, in the middle is the Ashokan Reservoir and the pointy mountain to the right is Ashokan High Point:

A close up view of Devils Path

As you can see, it was a beautiful day out. Tiny, fluffy clouds flowing above, a nice breeze and the sun showing itself very often. It wasn't too humid, maybe in the high 70's but we were still sweating like crazy.

After signing into the canister and enjoy the amazing view for lunch, we headed off to Balsam Cap. We remembered where we came from, so we just traced our steps back to the rim trail and started heading up into the col. Some people take a different way into the col of Friday and Balsam Cap, but we've heard it can be very difficult and dangerous, so we decided to take the safe route instead. It wasn't that difficult from the col onto Balsam Cap. We were still bushwhacking, but a lot of heard paths led us all over the place and in sometimes, circles. It got confusing, but we made it. Just below the summit of Balsam Cap is another amazing view of the Ashokan Reservoir and deep in the distance, the Hudson Valley:

A great view of Cornell(left) and Wittenberg Mountain

Our sign in at the canister:

We enjoyed a few things to eat, to regain our energy, then headed back down Balsam Cap and eventually, the rim trail of Friday Mountain. Going down is not as difficult as going up, but it can do damage. From all the climbing up the mountain, our knees turned into jello and our ankles were rolling all over the place. What took an hour, felt like 3 because of all the slipping and (almost) falling over because of our weak knees. But we made it!

Early in the week, a facebook friend of mine, Jeff, said he was doing the same hike that day and maybe we would catch him on the mountain. Well, we didn't see him at all until the very end, when he was flying down the mountain to make sure he would catch us. Pretty weird that we didn't see them at all on the way up or down right? We both started from the same place and finished at the same place, but we both took different routes and since it was a bushwhack, we probably passed each other at some point but probably not even a hundred feet away.

After meeting and talking a little bit, Travis and I dipped our feet and heads in the beautiful, cool water of Wittenberg Brook. That feeling was one of the best feelings ever. Knowing that we just conquered the mountain.