Fri, Apr 17 to Sun, Apr 19 – Quick Lake Backpack, Willowemoc Wild Forest, Western Catskills
Leader: Russ Faller
This was a joint outing with AMC.
We had a good turnout and a wonderful time on this backpack. We gathered at the Frick Pond parking area on Beech Mtn. Rd. at 1 PM on Fri, Apr. 17. We hiked to Frick Pond to camp for the night. It was less than 2 miles, so we had ample time to set up camp and socialize before dinner. On Saturday, we hiked up Beech Mtn, the highest point in Sullivan County. We did not go to the summit because trees have grown up and now block the view. Gregg H. had a map, from the Catskill Mountaineer, which showed that there are 2 viewpoints along an old woods road that rings the mountain just below the summit. So, we decided to follow that old road since none of us had ever done this. We happily found a grand view that showed many of the Catskill High Peaks. There was a mysterious cabin there and a fire ring with log seating. So, we sat down, enjoyed the view and had lunch. Continuing along the road, we found the second outlook. It gave us a view down to Hodge Pond, our next destination.
After leaving Beech Mtn. and reaching Hodge Pond, we decided to cancel our planned destination of Quick Lake. We reasoned that, since we had spent much more time than planned on Beech and since the forecast was for rain, high winds and a significant drop of temperature on Sunday, we would be better off camping at Hodge Pond rather than Quick Lake. This would afford us a much shorter distance (~2 mi. rather than ~6.5) back to our cars.
We crawled out of our tents at 6 AM on Sunday to exactly what was predicted. The weather was terrible and strong gusts of wind knocked down our tarp. We quickly packed up and left for the parking area. We got to our cars at 9:10 AM. Since we did not take time for breakfast at Hodge Pond, we decided to drive to Livingston Manor for breakfast at the lovely Farm Market Restaurant on Main St. After breakfasts that were far superior to the breakfasts we had in our packs, we parted our ways and pledged to get together again.
Participants were ADK members John O, Gregg H, David R, Manny G and Jim C. AMC participants were Ernie B, Travis C, Steven M (AMC), along with the leader, Russ Faller (ADK & AMC).
