Indian Head Mountain

They call it Devil's Path. 24.2 miles, 6 peaks, over 14,000 feet of elevation change, challenging climbs all over the place, wet slippery rocks and stunning viewpoints. Indian Head Mountain is the beginning of this trail and we were going to challenge it. Travis decided to join me once again and we were extremely excited. Indian Head is a very challenging hike and it offers very many viewpoints.

I forgot to mention in my other posts that just driving through the Catskills is a treat itself. Going through the small towns and seeing the mountains around them is beautiful. I love just driving through any part of the Catskills and it is especially amazing during autumn. Our destination was just outside a very small town called Elka Park. The trip takes you through small towns like Prattsville, Lexington and Hunter. I love those small towns because there isn't any big commercial industries within them(I know I shouldn't say that because I work for a world wide company!!)

Indian Head Mountain offers everything. At first it starts out on a nice, slow uphill terrain. You then come to a trail junction that you can take a left or a right. Taking a left will require you to go up a very steep section and a right will take you to the Jimmy Dolan Notch. We are taking a right today and challenge the steep area on the way down. After a little bit, it gains in elevation, not too much to wear you down completely, but enough to make the hike slower. Just before the notch(notch is the point between two mountains), it gains in elevation to wear you down a great amount, so it was slow.

At the notch, you can go right to Twin Mountain or left to Indian Head Mountain. But, we decided to head straight because we heard there was a viewpoint there. Man we were not disappointed!!

I heard that around that area was a bear cave. Travis and I decided to NOT to go snooping around and look for it. After the beautiful view, we decided to head up the mountain.

A very good huff and puff hike that easily wore you down. It wasn't too challenging, but some areas here and there you had to use your hands to pull yourself up. Some people don't understand that 20ft of near vertical climbing can take a toll on you. We were lucky that it was a dry summer because people say that the stone is very wet at times and it makes the hike extremely difficult. After the short climb we reached the summit. The view at the top wasn't spectacular, but it was still worth stopping and to enjoy it. In the picture below you can see part of the Ashokan Reservoir near the back.

After the summit walk, you descend a little bit and come to Sherman's Lookout!!

We decided to have lunch here and soak in the views for as long as we can. As you can see, it was clear andt sunning. We relaxed while our feet hung over the ledge with a good 50-100ft drop.

During lunch we heard something behind us. First, it was something moving with rocks and dirt falling, then a loud noise that startled us and got us up on our feet. I looked at Travis and said "We don't have shit!", for protection, and "Where the hell are we going to go?" At that split second we thought it was a bear that was coming down that way. Since its a worn trail a bear might think that it's one of their heard paths and they might follow it. We were very scared. While holding my hiking pole in my hands like a sword thinking that I'll have to defend us somehow, a fellow hiker appear and said "hello!" from the trail.

Goddamn that was nerve wrecking!!

We talked to this guy for a couple minutes while enjoying the view with him. He was hiking the whole Devils Path and has been at it for his third day!! This mountain was his last and final climb and it was his final decent before the end of Devils Path. We would eventually meet up with him later on.

After lunch we had to descend again down one more very difficult area. This part of the mountain was very difficult. A good 30-50ft of almost near vertical wall of rock that we had to climb down. You can't really climb down it any other way other to hanging onto the roots from the trees on the side. While it looked scary, it was one of the funnest parts of a hike that I've been on. I guess the bigger the challenge, the funner it is! Below is a picture of Travis in the middle of the rock wall.

After the awesome, challenging part of the hike came a stunning view that blew our minds away...

Mind. Blown.

The cool thing is that we totally forgot about this viewpoint, so when we came upon it, it was even more rewarding. I looked at Travis and said, "I could live and die here. This is breath taking." The tallest mountain in the Catskills, Slide, is off to the right of the mountains. This is looking south and if it wasn't towards the end of the day, we could of been up there a couple hours just soaking in the view. This photo isn't enhanced at all. Everything in this picture is straight from my cell phone. Once again, mind blown.

After that amazing view it was a walk in the park. While going down one of the flat parts of the mountain I decided to record a video. I was being funny saying that this was the most difficult part of Devils Path and that we don't know if we would make it out alive. Well, mother nature bit me in the ass for me trying to be funny:

Yeah, yeah. I learned my lesson.

A little further down we heard rushing water and we decided to pursue it to see if it was a waterfall. We bushwhacked(hiking without a trail) down to where the water was and there wasn't a waterfall. But later on we found out that this water was heading towards what they call Black Chasm - a massive cascading waterfall that flows into Plattekill Creek. Maybe later...

After getting back onto the trail, we caught up with the guy we met on the ledge a little before. Even though this was the end of Devils Path, he still had to hike 12 more miles back to his car. That would be horrible for him to do because it isn't that much fun after you've just done 24 miles of one of the most difficult hikes in the world. I told him we could bring him back to his car just as long as he didn't kill us.

It was a walk in the...woods after that. It did seem like a long walk on the flat area though. I guess we didn't think it was that long of a walk so it frustrated us a little bit!! We brought the guy back to his car, said our goodbyes, wished eachother good luck and left for home. Another amazing hike in the Catskills!!