Goodbye to North Lake

Silent Panther and I reached the last high peak of the Central Catskills. We do need to go back and finish a section farther South (we hiked up Slide Mountain, and back the same way). Once again, we stayed in the North South Lake campground, which is a magical place. On previous visits, we did not have the opportunity to fully appreciate the campground. This time, we experienced it to the max!

We woke up cold and stiff on Tuesday morning, fumbling around in the dark for our packs. I went with my second-best shoes, since the best pair got soaked in last evening’s storm (along with all our camping gear!).

We drove 30 minutes to drop a car at the end of the hike, at Elm Ridge Wild Forest. Ours was the only car in the parking lot. It was cold for August! The sun was rising and the fog was amazing. Then we drove back to the beginning of the hike, the familiar parking lot at the end of Big Hollow Road. We hiked up toward the Escarpment Trail, in a dense mist. Silent Panther went back for his sweatshirt, and was grateful to have it. We crossed the Batavia Kill on a couple of nice wooden bridges.

The ground was wet, and there were amphibians everywhere, like Lucky Newt:

We reached the Long Path/Escarpment Trail at the top of the ridge, and headed North.

At Acra Point, there was not much of a view. Farther along the trail, we got a good look at our upcoming challenge, Burnt Knob.

We walked down into a valley, then back up again to the Knob. Here we had a great view West to the Blackhead Range. From left to right, the peaks are named Blackhead, Black Dome and Thomas Cole mountains.

Looking North, we could see our next workout, Windham High Peak:

Back down into another valley, then up to the Peak. Here we found the dramatically-named “Great Northern Viewpoint.”

The mountains are shorter as you go North from here, and the views less spectacular. This picture shows some of the hills to the North that we will have to climb on the way to Altamont.

We descended from Windham High Peak, heading into Big Hollow. We saw a couple of interesting things: a bear footprint and a cool snake.

Unfortunately, I developed a big blister on my little toe, so the last couple of miles were painful! When we arrived at the Elm Ridge parking lot, there were lots of cars, and people biking on the trails.

Finishing the 10 miles early gave us time to enjoy the campground. After years of returning too late, we finally had a nice swim and soak in North Lake when we got back to camp. We did some fishing, and explored the shoreline. It’s easy to see how artists like Thomas Cole were inspired by this beautiful area.