Date: May 26, 2012
Location: Overlook Mountain Preserve, Woodstock, NY
Difficulty: A bit strenuous due to sustained elevation gain, but easy terrain
Rating: B+ (but for the weather, this could have been an A or A+)
Excited at the prospect of my first Catskills hike, I set out from Woodstock around 10:30 a.m. on the Saturday of the Memorial Day long weekend, and headed along Rock City Rd. towards the Overlook Mountain Trailhead. After a while, there is an intersection with the Glasco Turnpike and Rock City continues on as Mead Mountain Rd. I headed further on Mead Mt. Rd., and it being an extremely humid and somewhat overcast day, I was soon perspiring through, and not enjoying this roadwalk at all! But the prospect of soon reaching the trailhead kept me motivated, and after what seemed a very long time but was actually only around an hour and 20 min., I finally glimpsed the KTD Tibetan Buddhist Monastery on the left side of the road. Since I knew the trailhead to be just across the road from its entrance, I hurried up the last winding turn with renewed vigor, happy to finally be starting the "real" hike. It was almost noon at this time.
The hike up Overlook itself is not very scenic. The trail is actually an access road and there are no viewpoints en route. The humidity and the fact that I had been walking all the way from Woodstock resulted in my doing it relatively slowly with frequent stops. The sun was out at this time, though the clouds took over as I proceeded further. However, a little after 1:00 p.m., I did find myself at the ruins of the Overlook Mountain House (another failed attempt at running a hilltop hotel...how many of these are strewn around NYS is anybody's guess) and, eager to get to the summit, headed on past a cell tower to where the access road ends. Here, a trail branches off towards Echo Lake, and a side trail takes one up the remaining 0.4 miles to the summit. The latter is the one I took, getting to the summit around 1:30-ish. The summit itself had a festive picnic feel at the time I got there since a group of little girls was there with some adult chaperones, and their chatter filled the air. By this time, it was overcast again and there was a lot of mist and fog. Thus, climbing up the fire tower, I did not get to see the vaunted clear views of the Catskills, the Hudson, and the Ashokan Reservoir, though I again had the chance of seeing surreal landscapes comprising mist-shrouded peaks that reminded me of my Cascade/Porter hike last year.
Having taken some photos and had a bite, I was ready to head down by around 2:00 p.m. Stopping to examine the ruins of the Mountain House and take some pictures, I then made my way down. True to my luck, the sun was back out once I had left the summit behind, though it is hard to say if that would have improved the visibility by much up there. Around 3:15 p.m. or so, I was back at the trailhead, and taking a few minutes to rest, I then trudged back the 3 miles to Woodstock, getting there around 4:30 p.m.
Since Overlook Mt. is 3150 ft high and Woodstock is at 500 ft and is 3 miles away from the trailhead (from where the summit is ~2.5 miles), I ended up clocking around 11 miles roundtrip and an elevation gain of 2650 ft (with a corresponding elevation loss on the way back). Not too bad for my first Catskills hike!
Relevant Trail Map: NY-NJTC Trail Map 141
Location: Overlook Mountain Preserve, Woodstock, NY
Difficulty: A bit strenuous due to sustained elevation gain, but easy terrain
Rating: B+ (but for the weather, this could have been an A or A+)
Excited at the prospect of my first Catskills hike, I set out from Woodstock around 10:30 a.m. on the Saturday of the Memorial Day long weekend, and headed along Rock City Rd. towards the Overlook Mountain Trailhead. After a while, there is an intersection with the Glasco Turnpike and Rock City continues on as Mead Mountain Rd. I headed further on Mead Mt. Rd., and it being an extremely humid and somewhat overcast day, I was soon perspiring through, and not enjoying this roadwalk at all! But the prospect of soon reaching the trailhead kept me motivated, and after what seemed a very long time but was actually only around an hour and 20 min., I finally glimpsed the KTD Tibetan Buddhist Monastery on the left side of the road. Since I knew the trailhead to be just across the road from its entrance, I hurried up the last winding turn with renewed vigor, happy to finally be starting the "real" hike. It was almost noon at this time.
The hike up Overlook itself is not very scenic. The trail is actually an access road and there are no viewpoints en route. The humidity and the fact that I had been walking all the way from Woodstock resulted in my doing it relatively slowly with frequent stops. The sun was out at this time, though the clouds took over as I proceeded further. However, a little after 1:00 p.m., I did find myself at the ruins of the Overlook Mountain House (another failed attempt at running a hilltop hotel...how many of these are strewn around NYS is anybody's guess) and, eager to get to the summit, headed on past a cell tower to where the access road ends. Here, a trail branches off towards Echo Lake, and a side trail takes one up the remaining 0.4 miles to the summit. The latter is the one I took, getting to the summit around 1:30-ish. The summit itself had a festive picnic feel at the time I got there since a group of little girls was there with some adult chaperones, and their chatter filled the air. By this time, it was overcast again and there was a lot of mist and fog. Thus, climbing up the fire tower, I did not get to see the vaunted clear views of the Catskills, the Hudson, and the Ashokan Reservoir, though I again had the chance of seeing surreal landscapes comprising mist-shrouded peaks that reminded me of my Cascade/Porter hike last year.
Having taken some photos and had a bite, I was ready to head down by around 2:00 p.m. Stopping to examine the ruins of the Mountain House and take some pictures, I then made my way down. True to my luck, the sun was back out once I had left the summit behind, though it is hard to say if that would have improved the visibility by much up there. Around 3:15 p.m. or so, I was back at the trailhead, and taking a few minutes to rest, I then trudged back the 3 miles to Woodstock, getting there around 4:30 p.m.
Since Overlook Mt. is 3150 ft high and Woodstock is at 500 ft and is 3 miles away from the trailhead (from where the summit is ~2.5 miles), I ended up clocking around 11 miles roundtrip and an elevation gain of 2650 ft (with a corresponding elevation loss on the way back). Not too bad for my first Catskills hike!
Relevant Trail Map: NY-NJTC Trail Map 141
 |
| Mist-shrouded ridgeline |
 |
| More surreal views of the semi-conceaked Catskills |
 |
| More fire tower views |
 |
| The fire tower at the summit |
 |
| Unidentified birds of prey circling over the summit |
 |
| Ruins of Overlook Mountain House |
 |
| The cell tower in monochrome |
 |
| Though fern are abundant all over the area, these few stands stood out |
 |
| Back at the trailhead: the KTD gate across the road |
 |
| Nice typo! |
No comments:
Post a Comment