Devil’s Path

The Devil’s Path is the name of a mountain range and hiking trail in the Greene County portion of New York’s Catskill Mountains. The mountains commonly considered to be part of the Devil’s Path are, from west to east, West Kill, Hunter, Plateau, Sugarloaf, Twin, and Indian Head.

The name comes from early settlers of the region, who believed the range’s craggy cliffs were specially built by the devil so that he alone could climb them and occasionally retreat from the world of men. Today, they are famous for the deep gaps between them, which get lower in elevation as the mountains between them get higher when proceeding westward on the hiking trail.

The mountains and the land around them were acquired by the state as Forest Preserve and made part of the Catskill Park in the 1920s and ’30s. Today the area is managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as the Indian Head Wilderness Area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil’s_Path_(hiking_trail)

Platte Next Weekend?

It looks like with the warmer weather,Β  it might be nice to hike up Platte Clove Road which is currently seasonally closed to motor vehicles.

 Platte Clove

As you can see, little snow remains — but I’m sure there is still some ice on the roads, packed by snowmobiles.

I have driven up Platte Clove Road, but never took the hike up it. Places to pull off the road when driving are limited, but if you hike up it this time of year, I don’t think they’ll be any traffic or anybody to stop you from taking as much time as you want observing Platte Clove.

One issue might be finding a place to park, but it looks like I could park somewheres on a side street in West Saugerties and hike the mile or so until you get to the closed portion of the road. Google Street Maps, and my past exploration of the town, suggests there are many legal places to park, even if it means a short hike until you start climbing.

 Platte Clove Road

February 15, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the long Presidents Day Weekend! I am hoping to go skiing 🎿 on Presidents Day, at Rennselear State Forest. Too much snow right now for camping. β›Ί Six weeks to Average High is 50 🌸. There is hope for spring. Sunny and 5 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. The It’s actually not as cold as you might think with the sun and no wind. There is a inch of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ ️Things will start to thaw out Sunday around 9 am. 🌑️

With the sun β˜€, Big Red started right up 🚘 this morning. All of the batteries were fully charged after yesterday’s bright πŸ”† sun. πŸ”‹ I did have to warm up Big Red a bit though and use my ice scrapper. Out hiking in the Pine Bush this morning before the Save the Pine Bush meeting. 🌲🌲🌲 Later on I’m going to Reszin Adam birthday πŸŽ‚ to record more for the documentary. πŸ“Ή I also need to get to the store 🏬 and get frozen broccoli and corn 🌽, maybe also some cheese. Tomorrow I’ll probably stay home – going to be mild but cloudy ☁ – except for walking down to the library. πŸ“–

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 27 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees below normal. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Cold but not that bad. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2006. 9 inches of snow fell back in 1894.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.6° from the due south horizon (-36.2° vs. 6/21). The golden hour πŸ… starts at 4:47 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (247°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) starting at 5:24 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 1 seconds with dusk around 5:55 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:29 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 26 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 34 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 41 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly between 2am and 5am. Increasing clouds 🌧, with a low of 22 degrees at 9pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 4th. Maximum wind chill around 16 at 6pm; South wind 11 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2019, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1943.

🌹🌻🌼Only 33 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼But still very cold ❄ today.

One month πŸ“… from now will be Ides of March ✝ when the sun will be setting at 7:02 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm (Daylight Savings Time). It will give the friendly stranger in the black sedan more time to give out candy 🍬 before it gets dark. And if it’s warm enough, I’ll go to the park β›² with a book πŸ“™.

Approaching the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower