Agile Trekker: Plateau Mountain, Catskills

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/9/2017	6.8 miles

Map: NYNJTC Catskills Map #141
Parking: Route 214
Directions: Cross street. Take red blazed Devil's Path to Plateau summit. Return the same route.

We are plugging away at hikes on map #141, as we are working on hiking all of the trails in the Catskills. The Devil's Path is notoriously tough, so we are working on completing it before the winter. We had hiked the beginning of this route before, but hadn't had time to hike all of the way to Plateau. This time we left ourselves enough time to get it done.

The beginning of the hike is brutal. It's just steeply uphill. There aren't many switchbacks, and it just climbs and climbs. I just tried to take it slow and steady. At the end of climb, there is a tough rock scramble. I remember it being trickier than it looks. You have to hoist yourself up a rock. I think last time, I went up backwards, using my arms to push me up. I'm nowhere near as strong as I was back then. I did manage to find a way up on the side of the rock. Phew. Trek had to be air-lifted up by his harness.

Once you get over that rock, there is a beautiful view. At that point, you forget all about the tough hike up. We sat down and I snacked & worked on my map & compass skills. I did pretty good at identifying mountains this time.

After our break, we knew the next few miles were easy! In a short while we stopped at Danny's Lookout and got another view. And then we walked across the flat top of Plateau Mountain. The trail across it, although it doesn't have views, is beautiful. And it smells so good. I love the way Catskill summits smell. We knew there was a 90 degree turn on the trail, right around the actual summit. We weren't paying attention and didn't notice the turn. But, we did notice we were heading downhill. I checked my compass, and yes, we had already made the turn. Oops. We headed the short distance back up. I couldn't remember exactly where the summit was, but again, I wasn't paying enough attention and we walked right by it again. I decided to go back, and try to identify that highest point. Aha! I found it, and a small cairn. We headed back across the lovely mountain.

We took another break at Overlook Point before heading down the steep part. The descent was slow and frustrating. It was steep and slippery (loose dirt/rocks). I couldn't go down fast, and my legs were feeling like jello by the end. Going that steeply downhill is much harder than climbing uphill. I was happy when we got back down to the bottom.