Plateau Mountain

Plateau Mountain can be described just like it's name. At the top, there is a long, flat walk for over a mile, just like a plateau. It is very peaceful, beautiful and relaxing. Before you get to the flat top, that's a different story. This is the fourth mountain of Devils Path, so it's going to be challenging.

You start off on an old carriage road that isn't that difficult and it leads you to the col between Sugarloaf Mountain and Plateau. Not a bad uphill battle before you start hitting the fun, steep climbing on the east side of Plateau.

After you reach the col, you start onto Devils Path. Now for a little bit, it was easy. For a little bit though.... Then I hit the nasty stuff:

Ledges and large rocks all over the place. Some scrambling here and there (scrambling is a walk up steep terrain involving the use of one's hands. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hiking, hillwalking, mountaineering, and easy rock climbing)

Some parts weren't that bad, but some parts you had to pull yourself up the rocks or roots. It was fun, but it wears you down and every once a while you had to stop to catch your breath. Now these pictures aren't the most difficult parts, but the incline is at an angle that really makes it challenging. I didn't get pictures of the very difficult areas. It also didn't help that the wet leaves were making everything slippery. Oh well, that's hiking for ya!!

After the fun, steep climbing, I came to a less steeper area where I could catch my breath. A little after rest, I came to my first view point which overlooks the northern part of Sugarloaf Mountain, Kaaterskill High Peak, Roundtop Mountain and a little of the Hudson Valley. It was a great spot to take another break and enjoy the scenery.

The picture below shows the southern part of Sugarloaf Mountain.

I haven't climbed Sugarloaf yet, and I was looking forward to it. I've heard it's one of the most difficult climbs in the Catskills. Very challenging. Soon.

After the view, I was back on the trail again. I knew that I didn't have too much further to go till I finally was near the top, less steeper part of Plateau Mountain. I approached the conifer forest which is always a treat when you're hiking in the Catskills

It's just a different feeling when you're waking through this type of forest. It relaxes you. After a little climb, I was finally at the top of the mountain. It flattened out and I still continued through the conifer forest for about 1.5 miles. It climbed in elevation here and there, but nothing challenging or too steep to wear me out. Once again, this walk along the plateau through the conifer forest was magical. The long walk lead me to another viewpoint. Definitely one of the best in the Catskills:

You can see the Blackhead Mountain Range to the mid-left, North-South Lake in the middle, Roundtop and Kaaterskill High Peak slightly right, the Hudson Valley in the background and to the right is parts of Devils Path and the Indian Head Mountain Range.

A zoomed in view of Roundtop Mountain, Kaaterskill High Peak, Hudson Valley, Platte Clove and parts of the Indian Head Mountain range.

This amazing view overlooked most of the northern Catskills and the some of the Hudson Valley. The three mountains in the middle that stand out are from left to right: Thomas Cole, Blackdome and Blackhead Mountain. This view was stunning and I wanted to stay here all day, but I knew there was even more just a little further down the trail.

A short walk led me to another amazing viewpoint:

The southern Catskills. Many, many, mountains are shown in this image. Included the two tallest, Hunter Mountain to the right and Slide Mountain is the largest, slightly to the left in the back of the picture.

Slide Mountain, slightly off center to the left, is the tallest mountain in the Catskills!!

This view was amazing. This shows the southern part of the Catskills. The mountains are more dense here, so it gives it a better view. It was getting very windy at this spot and it was also getting colder too so i had to throw on my winter hat. Even though it was cloudy, you could still see everything. I sat here for a good amount of time, soaking in the view. I then went back to the trail and stopped at the first viewpoint before I headed back to the trailhead.

I enjoyed the view for a few moments, snapped a couple more pictures and was on my way back down. Now the decent was tricky. The wet leaves covered everything so picking your spot to step down was critical. If you chose the wrong spot, you could of either slipped and fall or put your foot(or leg) into a hole and snapped your ankle or leg. That would be bad. I took my time on the decent and of course, made it out alive. Here are some photos of the look on the way down:

It doesn't look too bad, but when you're going down that area with good momentum, it can be risky where you step next. I finally got past the steep areas and back onto the trail where it was a nice and easy walk back to the car. Only 27 more peaks to go!!