Plattekill Clove

The MC checking out the scenery

You never know who's watching you.

A miniature Fawn's Leap

The gorgeous Plattekill

The Rocket and the MC awaiting the cliff jumper

Dinosaur art

A place for rituals

The ever wild Plattekill

My opportunity to lose the Rocket!

One of my favorite waterfalls

An amazing swimhole

One right after another

The Rocket and the MC making there way up the Plattekill

Boulder field

The waterfalls just get bigger the further on you go

Some more boulders to get to this remote spot

Some elusive sunlight

The Rocket: "Is that all?"

Another contender for "Greatest Hike Ever", the Plattekill offers world class scenery on every turn.  I constantly kicked myself thinking, "Fuck, this is only a half hour from home.  Unreal."

This should not have been a great mystery for me.  I've been to this region numerous times.  I first scaled Platte Clove Road by bicycle years before I started hiking and I have run the Platte Clove Run a handful of times.  On top of that I've driven up Platte Clove Road to access the trailheads for Kaaterskill High Peak and Indian Head.

Today I would be accompanied by two of the most rugged individuals I know: the MC and Jonny Rocket.  After negotiating the city's trains, the Rocket finally managed to get to the Hudson Valley.  We parked up top and walked Platte Clove Road down to the Plattekill.  On the way down, we had some great views into the clove.  We wondered how in god's name will we make it back to the car.  I think we all assumed we'd have to turn around at some point.

There is a well worn path at the bottom of Platte Clove.  This place is no secret to the locals.  Numerous empty beer bottles can be seen early on.  There is also quite a bit of junk, like old tires, pieces of metal and old clothing.  We soon came upon a beautiful swimming hole.  It's also a great spot for cliff jumping.  The MC (not surprisingly) jumped in first to check out how deep the water was.  It appeared to be deep enough to jump from the cliffs, but you had better land in the right spot.  The water was cold, but so refreshing on this hot, summer day.

The low water levels made for more difficult cliff jumping, but it made for a much easier walk up the clove.  Most of the day would be spent walking in the Plattekill.  After being warned of a bear we walked to another of the many gorgeous waterfalls we would come across.  On more than one occasion today I would say to myself out loud, " My god, this must be the most beautiful place I've ever been to."

We then came to another nice little waterfall and swimming hole.  This little spot is surrounded by cliffs.  According to one of the locals, this is also a barrier.  The crowds of people thin out from here as the going gets much tougher.  It took a little bit of negotiating up some loose scree to get around the waterfall and back into the Plattekill.  Another short walk in the Plattekill revealed another stunning waterfall.  This one about 60 feet.

After negotiating around this waterfall, we walked in the Plattekill amongs some of the largest boulders I've seen.  This was fun, though it probably would not be if the water levels were normal.  We then came upon the largest waterfall yet.  This is where the route became more vertical.  We negotiated our way through some steep, loose scree.  I got a bit unnerved, when I looked down.  If I lost my footing just a bit, I would not stop until I reached the bottom of the waterfall.  I also realized at this point, there would be no turning back.  Fortunately, this would be the worst area to negotiate.

Having survived my nerves, we came across some more pretty waterfalls.  We came to the highest of them all and arguably the most beautiful.  Here, there were two older women sunbathing on a rock.  I knew we were near finished.  All of us were quite surprised.  It was far easier to negotiate than we had planned.  Most certainly further exploration of the Plattekill will be required.    

For some video you can check out here, here, over here, and even here.