Doing the Catskills

Yesterday was an exercise in frustration trying to access the Internet from our campsite.  Cell service was exactly zero and I managed to get just enough occasionally with a signal booster to upload just the text of yesterday’s journal.  I finished the pictures today.  We got a little smarter today.  We stopped in the visitor center parking lot on the way back to the campground and used the Super Sniffer to glom onto their WiFi.  Works much better.

Stopped by the visitor center this morning to plan the day since the lack of Internet last night prevented us from doing it then.  We talked to the  ranger there who was super helpful and enthusiastic.  He was a treasure trove of information about the hiking. That all made sense when he told us he hiked half of the Appalachian Trail last year.  *Of course.  This dude is a born hiker.*

Apparently, hiking to fire towers is a thing out here.  There are six fire towers open to the public, with varying hiking distances to get there and something called the “fire tower challenge”, where you hike to all of them.  Many of the trails were many miles long, so we decided we were not doing the fire tower challenge.

There was a replica fire tower directly behind the visitor center, so we got our fire tower fix by climbing this one.

The most popular place in the area is Kaaterskill Falls, a 290-foot falls that is the highest cascading waterfall in the state.  We figured we would do this today, in the middle of the week and middle of the day to avoid weekend and evening traffic.

Short but steep hike to the bottom of the falls, the trail includes 181 stone steps to the bottom. Perfect for tiring out the legs.

We had lunch below the lower portion of the falls, sitting on the rocks jumbled up there.  Several others had the same idea.

Beautiful falls, I can see why it is a favorite.

The same trail branches out and goes along an escarpment for several miles, and one attraction is an overlook called Inspiration Point, about 1.5 miles farther down the trail.  We hiked this one also.  We were warned at the visitor center that this would be a scramble over boulders and it was, so it took quite a while.  A large rocky point offered a commanding view of the narrow valley below and the ridge on the far side.  Well worth the scramble.

Deb wanted to take my picture as I was sitting on the rock eating an apple.  “Move a little closer to the edge so I can get a good picture,” she told me.

Me: “Just a reminder, we don’t have any life insurance.”

Deb: “Ok, stay where you are.  I’ll just take the picture.

Hmmm, what does that mean?

Coming out of there, we decided to bike the Ashokan Rail Trail.  If our legs get too tired, we can just let the electric bikes do most of the work.

One of the advantages of being a turtle (carrying your house on your back), is that everything is always with you.  We parked in the trailhead parking lot and made dinner right there. No need to go back to the campsite or anything.  Then we rode the trail along the Ashokan Reservoir for 10 miles and then back.

The Ashokan Reservoir was made in the early 1900’s to help supply the water needs for New York City.  10,000 acres were taken over, mostly by eminent domain, and then flooded to create the reservoir, displacing several towns and hundreds of homes, churches, businesses, cemeteries, and the like.  This trail is a former railroad that ran along the reservoir.  While it is close, the many trees by the side of the path block the view of the water for the entire length except for just a few spots.  It was a beautiful setting, with the mountains in the background.