It was a 12 mile, mostly moderate hike, with some harder uphill sections. But it was a lovely day and the trail is GORGEOUS. It is very long, but I think it is one of the nicest that I have ever been on in the Catskills.
The people who worked to build the trail should be very proud! It was extremely well thought out and expertly cut with switchbacks and stairs making the uphill climb from Lane St much easier. And unlike many of the trails in this area, it was not just rocks, but a fair amount of level ground too which is far less tiring on your feet. The only negative thing about it in my opinion is that it is under marked in certain areas. In a couple of stretches I had to work very hard to find the next blue circle blaze. But other than that it was excellent.
The views were amazing. There was several big payoff vistas that we enjoyed along the way. There were views of the Ashokan reservoir and several panoramas of the local mountains. And even if you didn't want to do the entire 12 mile length you could hike in from the Woodland Valley side and get to a decent view in a few hours. I definitely want to do that some time again this summer.
It was a great group and I had fun hiking with fellow Woodland Valley residents Michael Janensch and Philip Ficks who are big fun (and very nice for watching out over me along the way). And I would like to shout out Tim Luby from The Storehouse (camping supplies on the Boardwalk in Phoenicia - storehouseny.com) and Jeff Vincent from Catskill Mountain Wild (guided mountain nature tours - catskillmountainwild.com). They were the leaders of the trip and did a great job in making sure everyone was having fun and staying safe. And also Pete and Rose DiScafani of The Catskill Rose (great local restaurant - catskillrose.com) in Mt Tremper. They made an AWESOME barbecue for us to have at the end of our trip! Many thanks to all. It was a fabulous day!!!
