Doubletop Mountain
To join the Catskill 3500 club, you have to do nine bushwhack hikes. A bushwhack, in hiking terms, means you have no trail. You must navigate to the top, either by electronic device(GPS locator or cell phone), using a good old map and compass or by knowing the mountain. Usually, I use just my own knowledge of the mountain. I study the terrain of the mountain for a couple weeks. I look to see what ridges to climb up and know what direction to go when we either start or have to go off trail. I study where the creeks are, where the most challenging climbs will be and where the top is located. I like hiking by studying the maps. Once you succeed, your confidence boosts to a whole new level.
Doubletop is also one of two mountains on the list that is located on private property. You must call and be granted permission to climb the mountain. People usually ask why someone would own one of the 3500 mountains. Well, the family who owns it has owned property in the Catskills for over 220 years and one of it's previous owners, Jay Gould, was one of the richest men in America, investing and controlling railroads throughout the United States. Railroads, at the time, was one of the biggest industrial developments in the world.
It was July 4th and a stunning day. Clouds here and there and in the mid 70's made it a perfect day to hike. A good amount of people usually use an electronic device to navigate there way up to the top of the bushwhack hikes. Travis and I studied the maps beforehand and know where we have to start climbing and turn based on the data off of topographic maps. We still carry our compass, maps and phones in case we really get lost. The good thing is, that we have never been in that situation. If you study the maps, you can usually find your way off the mountain by knowing the ridges and elevation changes on the mountain. If that fails and we are lost without any navigational aid, we would simply follow a stream and eventually it will lead you to either a road or someones house. Almost all creeks in the Catskills drain to a bigger creek that holds civilization nearby.
The first mile of the hike is very easy with it being mostly flat and going along the beautiful Dry Brook. This mile is also a marked trail that leads you to the Pine Hill trail which contains Eagle and Big Indian Mountain. Right before you start bushwhacking, you come by two beautiful waterfalls:
Right after that, the fun begins. Actually, this hike was easier than we expected. It has a decent gain almost all the way to the top mountain with very minimal ledges that challenge you. The hike was beautiful though. All different types of forest trees, awesome rock formations and not an extremely difficult climb means a very pleasant hike. The picture below is a ledge that has either been eroded away by the flow of water or have been moved by glaciers in the past. My bet, because of the distance from the other rock and the lack of rock beyond it, is glacial erratic.
We eventually found a herd path near the top of the mountain(and several others also) and made our way to the top. On our way up we caught up with two young women hiking. They both look confused and we asked them how everything was going. They said that they have been looking for the canister and have been unlucky. I told them "I know where it is, follow me." They hesitated and asked if I have been on here before because I knew where it was. I said, "I haven't been on this mountain before, but since I checked out the mountain beforehand, I know the general direction of the canister and eventually we'll find it" They didn't believe me, but soon as you know it, we were at the canister and signing in. After signing in, Travis and I wanted to explore the mountain more and maybe find a viewpoint for lunch. We asked the women if they would like to come along and check it out, but for some reason they didn't want to join. Oh well, their loss!!
We headed west of the canister and came to this little hole in the trees that gave us a great view off to the flatter part of the western Catskills. I've heard that there is a better view, but we settled for this great view and had lunch.
After having a great lunch, we headed back down the mountain. It was really easy and we flew down the ridge rather quickly. Once we hit the trail, we went down to the creek and dunked our heads and hats in the cold creek to cool off. If I had shorts that day, I definitely would of jumped in and cooled down to the full extent. What a great ending to a beautiful day!!