ABOUT THE PARK:
Kaaterskill Wild Forest - New York Department of Environmental Conservation
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 42.13383, -74.08197
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| This was our second hike of the day so by the time we got there, a little after noon, the lot was packed and we had to park along the driveway. |
TRAIL MAP:
Northeastern Catskill Trails Map 141 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
HIKE DISTANCE: 5.25 miles*
* Shawnee and I only hiked about 4 miles
Hiked together with Kaaterskill Rail Trail, about a 9 mile drive away.
THE HIKE:
I had read that this hike was easy with little elevation gain so I figured it would be OK for Shawnee. It was not. It was very rugged and had quite a significant amount of elevation gain and after a point I had to wait with Shawnee and let the others finish because it became too much for her.
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| The trail starts through the gates to the left of the trail register. There is occasional traffic on this woods road as it leads to residences. |
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| The woods road goes up rather steeply most of the way. |
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| It's very rocky with large pieces of loose rocks. |
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| This would be Hell Hole Brook which would normally be flowing and feeding Devil's Kitchen down below but it was just a stagnant puddle and as we saw on the drive out, the normally raging waterfalls at Devil's Kitchen off of Platte Clove Road were bone dry. |
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| The trail becomes quite rooted after it leaves the rocky woods road. Not at all dog wheelchair friendly. |
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| We kept thinking that any minute now the trail would become easy. It only became rockier and more rugged. So about 2 miles in and about .7 miles from Huckleberry Point, I sent the others on ahead and stayed back with Shawnee. Her paw had started bleeding because her nails had worn down past the quick from scraping rocks so I sat off the trail with her, cleaned and bandaged her paw and let her nap. So from this point the camera and GPS were in the hands of Bryan and Caitie. |
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| The trail becomes yet more rugged. (Photo by Caitie) |
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| (Photo by Caitie) |
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| (Photo by Caitie) |
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| (Photo by Caitie) |
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| (Photo by Caitie) |
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| Huckleberry Point (Photo by Caitie) |
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| Huckleberry Point (Photo by Bryan) |
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| Huckleberry Point (Photo by Caitie) |
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| Huckleberry Point (Photo by Bryan) |
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| Heading back. (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| A little over an hour later and after nice power nap with a bandaged paw, we were all heading back together. (Photo by Bryan) |
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| Bryan kept control of the camera since it was getting in the way every time I had to bend over to help Shawnee, which was just about every step. (Photo by Bryan) |
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| Caitie was a great help in getting Shawnee through sticky spots and watching that the boot stayed on over her bandage. (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| (Photo by Bryan) |
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| That rocky woods road that we thought was challenging for Shawnee in the beginning, piece of cake now! (Photo by Bryan) |
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| Shawnee was able to manage on her own with me just controlling her speed with the leash. And I was able to take the camera back. |
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| Back at the parking lot, which was now empty since the hike took us so long with Shawnee and everyone else had already finished and left. |
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| It was dark when we returned home with two exhausted dogs. |
Awe poor Shawnee....she is still a trooper though and I'm sure she still wants to be with you. Good for you taking such good care of her on the trail. It looked like nice a hike. Your son and his girlfriend did a good job on the photos for you also. Thanks for sharing! Joanne from NJ
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