Spring

"Awake, thou wintry earth. Fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth your ancient gladness!" ~ Thomas Blackburn

Featured Post

The Plattekill (No Trespassing Edition)

The summer has been quite hot and ripe for a nice swim at one of the Hudson Valley's great swimming holes.  The Plattekill doesn'...

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mt. Tremper Fire Tower


More Creek Than Trail


Near the summit


Wittenburg and Slide


Overlook and Cooper Lake


The Devil's Path


With today's clear skies, I took the opportunity to head out into the Catskills. Since it has been almost 10 years since I hiked up Mt Tremper, I thought it'd be a great choice.

Yesterday's rains left much of the trail appearing as a creek. The first part of the hike was a nice ridge walk overlooking the Esopus Creek. It'd be a great time for tubing. The 3 mile hike was mostly all uphill with not many breaks. About halfway up there was a lean-to.

Near the summit, I could really feel the wind pick up and the temperature drop. Luckily, I brought my hat. The views from the tower were much better than I remember. This also could be because the leaves are still off the trees. There is still some obstruction from the trees, even at the top of the tower.

The outstanding views encompassed the entire Devil's Path and Hunter to the north. Even some of Blackhead and Black Dome were visible. To the west, Bellayre and Balsam were in view. To the south, Panther, Giant Ledge, Slide and Wittenburg were in clear view with snow still on their summits. To the east, the Ashokan Resevoir, Overlook and Cooper Lake were in view. I'll definitely come back on a clear day.

No comments:

Post a Comment