Marc,
The high peaks that make up the eastern escarpment, e.g. Kaaterskill High Peak at 3655, are typically between 3,000 and 3,600 feet, with a couple to 3,900. As you approach the Catskills from the east the elevations are often between 300 and 700 feet. The mountains looming up immediately to the west rise a full 3,000 feet to their crests and sometimes more. Even within the catskills, that can be the case. The Ashokan Reservoir is 590 feet. The Catskills rise above the Ashokan to summits like Cornell and Wittenberg at 3,860 and 3,780 feet, respectively. Trailheads to the peaks often start well up on the sides of the mountains and cannot be taken as a measure of the base to summit rises of the peaks themselves. I didn't think you had confused the Berkshires with the Catskills. I thought you might have been thinking of the Taconics, which are in the elevation range quoted. However, there are large areas of the Catskills which are in the 2,000 to 3,000-ft height range, but 35 peaks make it to 3,500 or more. They have spawned the 3500 club. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marcboston" <[email protected]> To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:31:53 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [ENTS] Re: Back to Marc Oh, I did not mistake them as the Berkshires, but I just never gave much thought of the Cats and truly underestimated there size. Your pictures want me to make a road trip out to NY. I take it that the eastern escarpment sound like the best area to hike! I would be curious to see that spot where you can experience +3,000' of elevation change! On a side note I am hoping to do some backpacking and highpointing in the Dacks next summer. Love the pictures Bob, I will post some of mine as soon as I learn how to reduce them. I shoot with a DSLR and they are very big files. Perhaps I should just get an IPhone. On Oct 27, 9:00 am, [email protected] wrote: > Marc, > > The Catskills are relatively close to the Mass border. From Northampton, MA, > it is about 105 miles to their eastern base. I haven't checked the distance > from the border, but it isn't far. Monica and I usually travel I90 over to > the New York Taconic Parkway and head south to SR 23. We then head west to > the town of Catskill where we pick up 23A. That takes us to Hunter NY and our > Catskill Mecca. > > Yes, the Catskills are part of the Appalachians as opposed to the uplift that > created the Dacks. The Catskills are technically part of the Allegheny > Plateau. Their relief is from water erosion, but as Ed Frank points out, they > are mountains. > > The Taconics along the NY-MA border are the 2,500-ft mountains you were > thinking of, except at their northern extreme in Vermont where the Taconics > reach to 3,864 feet in Mount Equinox. Also, Mt Greylock, at 3,487 ft (old > elevation is listed as 3,491) in MA is part of the Taconics, although most > people think it is in the Berkshires. > > The big peaks of the Catskills are all on the eastern side. One of the best > peaks is Black Dome at the northern end of the Catskills. It is 3,990 feet > and the 3rd highest Catskill peak behind Slide (4180) and Hunter (4040). > Black Dome sees little foot traffic. Farther south in the Burroughs part of > the Catskills, Slide (4,180), Wittenberg (3,780), and Cornell (3,860) make a > classic steep hike. > > On the DEC trails, there is usually a sign that tells you when you reach > 3,500 feet altitude. There is no campsites or camping above 3,500 feet. The > upper elevations are fragile and usually wet. The annual precipitation on > several of the Catskill high peaks averages between 60 and 70 inches > annually. That means plenty of snow and ice. I think snowfalls on the summits > averages between 120 and maybe 180 inches. > > Several hikes in the Catskills requires an elevation gain of over 2,000 feet > and a few hikes are over 2,500 feet. The eastern escarpment, as it is called, > rises boldly above the Hudson River Valley. In places the escarpment rises a > full 3,000 feet and even up to 3,300 in a few spots above the valley region. > The relief is dramatic. I absolutely love the Catskills. I just have to > always be careful on my visits not to awaken Rip Van Winkle. He continues his > classic snooze. > > OUCH! Okay, Marc, sense you twisted my arm - one more image of the Catskills. > You see Slide Mtn in the distance, a little left of center. Fabulous view. > > Bob > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marcboston" <[email protected]> > To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 8:12:31 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [ENTS] Re: More Mountain Magic > > Bob, how far are the Kats from the Massachusetts border? I had no > idea that they had some 4k mountain, I thought they only hovered > around 2,500'. Are the Kats part of the Appalachian chain or did they > give rise with the Adirondacks? I here the "Dacks" are seperate of > the Appalachians in how they were formed etc. > > On Oct 26, 4:35 pm, [email protected] wrote: > > Larry, > > > Thanks, much. If you make it up this way, I'll show you these great spots. > > > Bob > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Larry" <[email protected]> > > To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> > > Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 1:43:48 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > > Subject: [ENTS] Re: More Mountain Magic > > > Bob, Nice photos! The Autumn hangs on photo is my favorite. You know > > we don't get much fall foilage down our way. I really enjoy your > > photos and the Awesome reports. Larry- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - > > > > BurroughsRange2.jpg > 393KViewDownload- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
