Catskills Peak Bagging trip - April 17-1 9

“plan is to climb Halcott and Double Top.”

“bump”

“Sounds good to me let me check my schedule with the boys, but for now count me in I need those two mountains.

I checked and I am free that weekend.

Where are you thinking about camping for the weekend?
last edited: 3/17/09 5:53:00 AM”

“I need to check my schedule, but could really use a backpacking trip. It's been way too long.”

“Tell me about it Zac, I need a trip bad!!!!

You guys know that Halcott and Doubletop aren't close to each other right?”

“Friday night, there are some free drive in sites near Phoenicia off of 28. We can camp there Friday night. Saturday morning we will get Halcott. We can either break camp and move it to the leanto on the northside of Doubletop or keep Friday's camp. I think we can either g for Doubletop in the afternoon or Sunday morning.

I know, they are two separate hikes, but those are the only two crazypace and I need to finish.”

“Looks like I'm probably out for this one. My parents are leaving for vacation on the 18th and I'll have to go pick up their dog that morning.”

“ENS, I had ruled this one out, but I may be able to get up there afterall..

Couple questions?

What time are you all heading up there on Friday night?

Also, assuming we wait until Sunday to bag Doubletop, what time do you think we will be getting back on the road on Sunday? I have a long drive back....

Man it sucks living in Richmond..

'32oz”

“ENS you might want to consider Biscuit Brook LT for Saturdays camp it is pretty easy to get into and the hike up is nice. The LT on Seager looked to me like quite the party spot, really close to houses, it is also the only enclosed LT I have ever seen in the Cats, sort of dark and dingy, although I think it had a fireplace inside if I can remember right ask Pennsy about it, it had stacks of firewood around it when I was there.

From BB LT people could also get Big Indian and Fir if the need them, the bushwack comes right down to the LT from Fir, you just follow a creek.”

“I was thinking of BB too. The goal would be to leave sometime in the afternoon on Friday, depending on when CP gets off.

I think it would be awesome if we can knock out both Halcott and Double Top on Saturday, but that is going to be a challenge. It is probably 6 miles round trip for Halcott and then e'd have to drive to BB and hike up to camp, drop gear, hike up to Dbl Top and then back down. Big Indian is just off the trail too and da, we would be an easy bag if anyone needs it.

If we can't get DT Saturday, we can get it Sunday morning and be out of the woods and on the way b noon.”

“I thought you swore off Trail Talk.

Hey-hey !!

Howzit goin', big daddy?”

“If possible, I hope we could do them both on saturday. I need to be on the road early sunday and back in time for something I have scheduled for 4pm.”

“I think doing them both Saturday would be best too.

I think what we should do is hike into the Leanto Friday night and then early Saturday bag DT and then break camp, out to cars, shuttle to Halcott, bag that and then make camp in Ph.”

“Is this the same leanto we stayed at leat time we tried this?”

“no it's the Biscut Brook leanto. that was the Balsam Lake. That's the long way. Biscut Brook will give us a hike over mostly trail and is shorter to DT.”

“Biscuit Brook does have some camping areas near it if we get there and it is full, but I don't think it is a popular spot.


I don't remember this on Biscuit brook



It looks like it is a 2 mile gradual up hill to Biscuit brook LT and 5.5 to Double Top..

Am i doing this right? from BB LT to Double top and out would be 13.5 mile day, that is at least 4-5 hours we might be cutting it close on daylight unless you want to start before light Sat am.”

“I think Halcott is 6 miles roundtrip. That'd be a 20 mile day. We've had long days in April and it's light out until 8. Maybe our best bet is to keep camp set up at the sites near Phoenicia both nights instead of breaking down and setting up.

That bridge looks wild.”

“yeah the guy that posted the picture said it was interesting.
Keeping one camp for both nights sure would make it easier although I wonder about leaving gear at a free drive up site.”

“Are you guys sure about that mileage?
I think we should base camp in Phoenicia too.
It would make it much faster to get ready and less things to do when we're done.
Plus we could haul in some firewood for a nice camp night.”

“I wonder if we basecamp instead of backpack into biscut brook, if we should look at the other side of Doubletop, where the other leanto is.. that might be a shorter hike.

All in favor of basecamping both nights?

Does Pennsy know about this trip? I better email him before he books a rock that weekend.”

“Pretty sure I checked my map and looked at some posts about it. doubletop from the parking area is going to be a 12+ trip”

“The Catskills 3500 site says Halcott is a short but steep hike, but does not give mileage.

Double is said to have the finest view of all the trailess peaks. There is also route from the YMCA camp.”

“I emailed Pennsy and Bobo. I am going to email sacco too. Haven't seen him in ages.

I put a thread up on VFTT today to see if I can get the best route to DT. I think it maybe via the YMCA camp. That'll make for a fun shuttle.

Awesome, Jackstraw is signed up!
last edited: 3/24/09 3:47:46 PM”

“here is some trustworthy info from views..

The Frost Valley YMCA is private and they may or may not like you tresspassing,
however, that's probably not even the fastest way anyway since the canister is
on the north peak which you'd either have to go over the south peak or sidehill
around. The fastest way to Doubletop is from the Seager Trailhead on Dry Brook
Road in Margaretville. It's on the TC maps and you would simply hike down the
dry brook trail to flatiron brook and head almost due south to the peak. The
only issue is how hard the two feeder stream crossings are. Flat Iron brook and
the one that is close to the trailhead. Also, the trail does cross the Dry Brook
at one point. Usually it's manageable though sometimes the dry brook is
impossible to cross (w/o wading) at the leanto. Fortunately, though, for
Doubltetop, you'll see that you wont need to go as far as the LT...

Jay”

“ok maybe maybe...will see if I don't have the dogs in RI I can get away for the weekend”

“Pete, I'm in Ct if you are gonna go and want to carpool we could save some gas money”

“has then turned into a base camp for sure? staying at the Biscuit Brook LT?”

“You thinking about going?”

“we're camping in some state sites near phoenicia.”

“the round trip mileage for Halcott is 4 miles, but it's a steep climb.”

“EnS, what is halcott. is that were the shelter is?
yes timberwolf, I am thinking of doing this trip. I like the idea of a base camp. this way I can still hike at my own pace :)
leave the real men to hike at their pace...”

“Halcott is one of the 3500 mountains in the catskills. It's a trailess peak and it's a 4 mile bushwhack to the summit, with a steep 2-3000 foot climb.

Doubletop is the other mountain I plan on climbing and that is also a trailess peak. We are trying to figure out which is the best route to take, so that we can get both peaks done that Saturday. This is going to be a very hard hike. The peaks are in different areas of the Catskills, so it will require finishing one hike and driving to another part of the park. It is going to be a long day, with a first light start and a late finish and we're going to need to hike fast to get it all done.

This hike may not be suitable for everyone planning on going to the trip. It's a very hard hike and has a lot of bushwhacking and steep and difficult terrain. That's ok though, since we are carcamping, there are plenty of options and tons of wonderful hikes for all levels closeby.

There is no leanto at the campsite. The campsite is more of an old campground. The sites there are free and at a great location near Phoenicia on Rt 28. They are drive in sites and I believe there are privies there as well.

The two peaks on the agenda are the two that Crazypace and I need to finish all of the Catskill 3500 peaks. If we can get them done, we'll party hard Saturday night.
last edited: 3/25/09 6:26:47 AM”

“ok now I understand.
I am sooo there. I can do car camping then day hiking.
FYI I will NOT be hiking with you fools Sat. But I will have a nice campfire waitig for you when you get home LOL

anyway of getting directions to the camping area?

oh and what map is this area on?

yes I am so needy.”

“I am going to email those out. It's very easy to find.”

“ok now I am super happy....

Sirpete, bring doggy.. I will doggy sit :)”

“ok we are in.

we will be there sat morning around 9:00
we will do our own hiking while you nuts go balls to the wall....

then meet back at the site for a night of laughter and drinks

:)”

“Cool, we are arriving Friday night and probably won't see you until we get back from the hike. Sounds good.”

“yup that sounds about right. trying to get to the Cats Fri night from South Jersey then pick tree up in NY means we would not get there until mignight. silly. head out early Sat morning sounds better for us :)”

“If possible I would like a marching band and some ballons for when we finish as part of the celebrations.”

“we can provide some good tunes
but I do not do balloons for obvious reasons...”

“No ballons ??

Ok. We'll have steaks and beer instead.”

“goody, after an extensive search, I found my Catskill maps. I was ready to order new ones. I need to organize my guidebooks and maps... I have tons of them at this point.

how abou spot lights and the mainstream media to document ou dramatic finish?”

“The Dry Brook route to Doubletop looks to be 4-5 miles and 8-9 miles roundtrip. It looks to me we will have 12-13 miles of hiking. The shuttling between the two mountains doesn't look to be two tricky.

This is totally doable in one day. Sweet!”

“possible dayhikes for anyone not doing Halcott and DTop:
Giant Ledge from Slide Mountain Road. It's a good 1300 foot climb and there are some steep rocky sections, but over all, I don't think it is too hard of a hike. The views from Giant Ledge are some of the best in the 'skills.
last edited: 3/25/09 9:19:23 AM”

“no thank you, you can keep your meat


ENS, I am so telling on you to your wife if you eat the meat!!!”

“if it's warm enough, she and Liam may come too.

Crazypace, there is a mountain back in there called Todd Mountain, and we will be driving on Todd Mountain Road.”

“Lt, when do you thik you will get there Friday? I think I can get up there sometime Friday afternoon, if I am still jobless around then. I'd be up for hiking another mountain with you on Sunday. Maybe Balsam or Peekamoose. That's a good morning climb.
last edited: 3/25/09 9:41:09 AM”

“mapleleaf, do you have the Catskill Trail conference maps?

I think I found a campsite that will be better than the Allaban site on 28.

I will email everyone with info. This site is still car-camping and is only a 100 foot walk in from the road and it's more private than Allaban and has a stream through it.

There is some easy hiking that leads away from the campsite on a trail into a wild area and it's said to be a hidden treasure. That sounds like to camp and might make for some good exploration for anyone not doing DT and Halcott.
last edited: 3/25/09 9:48:05 AM”

“yes I have the maps”

“map #42?”