West Kill Mountain

"Doing West kill for the month of March of the 5th grid. Then down to the Catskill Visitor center to see what’s new and pickup a few brochures before visiting the Esopus Fire Tower for the 2023 Fire Tower Challenge. Finally up to Overlook for fire tower #4 of 6 of the FT challenge. Because of my late start, 9:30 am, I missed helping breaking out the DP to West Kill which was nicely done by the folks just ahead of me. To add some fun I detoured off the trail near the spring to bushwhack down to the end of Spruceton road as a shortcut. The dense cement-like snow made the plunge a bit challenging. On Overlook the usual parking on Meads road was full so I dropped down to the new, lot which is much larger, then headed up from there and adding 0.7 miles each way. The remainder of the Overlook Spur trail was a combination of boot-packed track and mine field of deep gopher holes which slowed forward progress considerably." — Nimblefoot • Mar 18, 2023

"A twosie of Hunter in the morning and West Kill in the afternoon. Old crusty snow with about an inch of new fluff on top so it was bare boots all day with the micro spikes riding on the pack. A crisp temperature of 10 degrees at 9 am rising up to 22 degrees at 4 pm. Only met one other hikers at the summit of Hunter. Cleared a lot of tree debris off the Devils Path heading up West Kill from ice and wind storms back in December." — Nimblefoot • Feb 1, 2023

"A beautiful sunny day with Tina using spikes and snowshoes. Several people on the trail using both. Big up after flat walk on trail before the bridge. One bit of sketch, but not bad. Icy trees made a winter wonderland at the top. Down and up on relatively flat top to Buck Ridge Lookout. Beautiful views of Blackhead Range. 5 hours round trip with about 7 miles. " — lfrancois • Jan 28, 2023

"A loop of West Kill and the two Hunters out of the Spruceton trail PA. Found a drone laying in the trail/road on my descent from Hunter at the end of my loop. It was right at the hairpin curve, jump off point for Rusk, so I carried it out to the register box near the PA." — Nimblefoot • Nov 21, 2022

"Did the classic loop of West kill, the Hunters and Rusk via East Rusk for the month of October. Saw my first icicles of the season on my climb of West kill. With the low temps and a bit of a breeze I almost put on hand shoes, aka gloves, but I toughed it out on my trip up and down West Kill. Only saw women hiking on West Kill then a couple near the summit of SW Hunter. Hunter was a ghost town which was a bit of a surprise and the two Rusk peaks were quiet which was not surprising. The descent off of Rusk was tricky in the steeper parts as all the fallen leaves were hiding the loose rock and roots adding slipping and tripping to the mix of fun." — Nimblefoot • Oct 20, 2022

"Loop of West Kill, SW Hunter and Hunter. Bushwhack off of West kill down to Diamond Notch then up to SW Hunter. Descent down went fast then the ascent up went much slower staying away from the spruce thickets and weaving my through the numerous ledges/outcrops. Unfortunately my phone battery basically died, I failed to put an external battery in my pack, so navigating to the canister on a plateau- like summit was interesting. Herd path and rail bed out to the Devils Path then all trails up and over Hunter and down to Spruceton road. Warmer and less breezy today, compared to yesterday, so back to shorts and fewer upper layers." — Nimblefoot • Sep 24, 2022

"A solid lazy “alpine start” of 10 am from Johnson Hollow to visit Bearpen with the longer gentler ascent then over to Vly with the shorter punchier climb. Ran into Erica from Delhi descending Bearpen with her two small but energetic dogs. A short chat to learn about her and her husband’s distillery business and other ventures. Over on Vly didn’t see a soul. Quick lunch at the car then headed up to Spruceton road for a quick romp up to West Kill where it was another ghost town." — Nimblefoot • Jun 30, 2022

"Wanted to get my trail maintenance duties on the Diamond Notch trail done before the end of May. Plus I needed to get West Kill done for the month so put them together and finish up before the holiday weekend. It just so happens that West Kill was the final peak in my 50th round of the Catskill 35. Fortunately a DEC maintenance crew had already taken care of all the water bars on my trail section and the Devils Path up to the top of West Kill. A crew of 3 were taking a lunch break at Bucks Ridge lookout, after cutting numerous blowdowns on the DP, as I passed by heading for summit sign. Another great day with comfortable temps and no bugs. A light breeze provided a touch coolness at the higher elevations." — Nimblefoot • May 26, 2022

"Opening winter ‘21/22 with a twosie of Slide and West Kill. Sporadic icy spots on both trails that warrant the use of micros. Did some bushwhacking shortcuts to avoid some non-icy/rocky sections to save the points on my micros and time." — Nimblefoot • Dec 21, 2021

"A chilly hike with Maryellen, Chris, Tina, and Alison. Easy first mile, steeper 2nd, and ridge type elevation at the end. Hot hands and spikes needed for half up and most of the way down. Sun came out as we were almost done! A few icy patches, but not too tricky. " — lfrancois • Dec 19, 2021