We didn’t see any big cats, but we
could feel their presence. Hiking up the Kaaterskill Clove, we had the
sensation of being watched. Which cliffside cave had a pair of big bright eyes,
just out of view? Silent Panther and I had an amazing experience walking from
Palenville up to North Lake, in the beautiful and mysterious Catskills.
After a couple of years, we are
finally back on the Long Path! Most of the remaining sections are 10 miles or
more, so we picked this 5-mile trail to get back into the swing of things. It’s
a nice smooth path, but an impressive increase in elevation. Both of us felt
our ears pop on the way up. And the spookiest part: an invisible army of
Canadians we could hear in the distance…singing their national anthem!
We used two cars for this trip,
which made for less hiking, but more driving. We left the first Subaru (“I’m
Number Two!”) down on route 23A, just outside Sarah Palinville. I think you can
see Russia from here. Then we drove the other Subaru (“Goku”) up to North Lake
State Campground. Twisting and turning around the mountain roads, over dramatic
gorges, along beautiful waterfalls…
Anyway, there was a problem this
time: massive road construction projects. I don’t know if these bridges were
damaged during Irene or what, but there are still epic attempts to fix the
crossings. We had to pass through the construction zones multiple times to
jockey the vehicles around. Finally, we had the cars positioned, and we were
ready to roll.
Silent Panther is about to be a
Senior in college. His school is up near the North end of the Long Path. We
will enjoy all the sections of the trail that are in the Catskills. This part
is very smooth sailing: an old carriage road. Even though we were climbing
steeply, the path is pretty smooth. And the bedrock here is very forgiving. We
are accustomed to the hard igneous diabase of Rockland County and the
primordial metamorphic rocks of Harriman Park. These Catskill sedimentary rocks
form nice flat layers and steps. Much easier for hiking. And, they form epic
caves, cliffs and overhangs. We found several shelters that would be perfect
for big cats.
To get an idea of the views and the
history of the area, you can read the excellent Long Path guide on the NY-NJ
Trail Conference website. I will just say that the 5 miles went by in a fluid,
feline manner. Major Tom started floating on the Hikers’ High about halfway up.
Silent Panther claimed he wasn’t feeling it, but he sure was smiling a lot. I
kept a lookout for my vulture friends, but never saw any. It seemed like a
perfect sunny day for rising air currents, but nobody was riding them.
But the Big Cats were nearby; we
could feel them. I would scan a cave way up the hillside, and know that my
glance was just a split second too late. Something large and limber had eased
back into the dark recesses. A memory of a wilder time? A spiritual presence? A
smaller cat who is living large? I know there is something magical and feline
up there.
The
trail took us up along Kaaterskill Clove, with beautiful views all around. The
wooden trail signs were contradictory and confusing, but the LP Guide had it
right, as did the map from the campground. Halfway along, we had great views to
the East, featuring miles and miles of the Hudson River. Split Rock and Boulder
Rock are both pretty cool. The Canadians were singing again as we approached
the old Mountain House site. Suddenly, we found the coolest cave of all.
This deep dark recess was formed by
a huge flat slab of rock perched on a much smaller erosional remnant. The
resulting cave was the same height all around, going way back and back and
back. Silent Panther got really quiet, feeling the presence of a kindred spirit.
He said “Dad, there MUST be something living in there…” and I said “Oh, yeah!”
We bounced down the other side of
the hill, on a much more rocky and twisty path, hopping from boulder to
boulder. Too soon we were in the parking lot at North Lake. What a great hike!
So many special things to see and feel in just 5 miles. Driving home in
silence, we thought about the power and the mystery of the mountains, and the magical
creatures just out of reach…
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