Cat Mountain (or is it "meowtain"?)

Lake George from Cat Mountain
(All images mine)

Cat Mountain is the less popular of the two mountains that make up what was once the Cat and Thomas Mountains Preserve, now a portion of the Lake George Wild Forest. Even though the mountain is now DEC land, the Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) continues to maintain trails on the mountain and their marking practices are slightly different than those of the Adirondack Mountain Club, who maintains most trails in the park. Most people who visit Cat Mountain do it as a loop from the easier Thomas Mountain via the main trailhead and parking lot near I-87 Exit 24, but Cat can be hiked alone from a secondary trailhead next to Edgecomb Pond. There isn't much parking here and it's all on the shoulder. No trail register is present here, either. Only indication of a trail is a small sign on a utility pole that is only visible if you're facing north on Edgecomb Pond Road.

From the road. Sign on the right indicates that this is the Bolton water supply.

Closeup of the sign

My purpose for this hike was to climb Cat Mountain, an ascent of roughly 1,000 feet from Edgecomb Pond Road and a 4.5 mile loop, checking off another peak on the 12ster list in the process. In all, this hike took me 2.5-3 hours, including time spent at the summit. I rated this as 3/5 difficulty solely because of the descent down the red trail from Cat Mountain. An out and back from Edgecomb Pond via the blue trail and north fork of the red trail would be a moderately easy 2/5 hike, but 0.5 miles longer. My plan for the day was to hike to Cat Mountain via the red and blue trails, returning down via the red trail to make a loop.

I started up the trail late on a Saturday morning in early May. The first mile of the trail is an old woods road and there is little elevation change in the first half mile. Starting at the trailhead, there were many branches and a few fallen trees across the trail, likely from a large storm the previous night.

Looking back toward trailhead at fallen trees

Lots of fresh branches and trees across the trail

The old road, blazed in red, curves around Edgecomb Pond. The trails up here have a combination of NYSDEC markers, LGLC markers, and paint blazes (mainly the south fork of the red trail).

Curve around south end of Edgecomb Pond

There were a few muddy spots, but these were easily avoidable.

Somewhere in this area, roughly half a mile from the trailhead, the narrow and steep fork of the red trail leading directly to Cat Mountain forks off to the left. I did not see it while walking along the road, though I had always intended the steep trail to be my return path. Eventually, the pond is left behind and the old road enters the woods as it begins to climb.

Entering the woods

There is a large creek that must be forded up here. If you come in the spring after a large storm like I did, there's a decent chance you'll get your feet wet. Even the stepping stones had a couple inches of water above them.

Large stream across the trail. No way for me to avoid getting wet here.

Past the creek, the trail begins to climb steadily. There's a gate up ahead to block vehicle access along with new signs, but I don't know how a vehicle that isn't an ATV could get up here.

The gate

Blazes near the gate

Just past the gate, the trail takes a hard turn to the left and continues to climb.

Not too far past this point, we reach the junction with the blue trail, a little under a mile from the Edgecomb Pond trailhead. At this junction, straight leads to the main trailhead at County Route 11. Sharp left leads to Cat Mountain.

Looking toward main trailhead from end of red trail

That's where you want to head 

A trail map is nailed to a tree at this junction.

Trail map

The next half-mile or so of trail gently ascends with some elevation loss. Still generally an old woods road, this is easy hiking with little shade.

The trail crosses a couple of creeks on its climb up the mountain

Some trees had fallen across this portion of the trail, too.

Roughly 1.75 miles from the trailhead, we leave the road behind as the trail turns into the woods and becomes a footpath.

Trail turns here

The remaining 3/4 mile or so to the summit is a typical Adirondack trail through the woods, ascending pretty steadily. Much of the ascent is in this last 3/4 mile.

The trail crosses the old road a couple of times, which has been brushed off. Signs and blazes direct hikers to the current trail.

A short distance below the summit, we meet up with the yellow trail from Thomas Mountain. Left here keeps you on the blue trail and on your way to Cat Mountain. Right leads to Thomas Mountain

Junction with the yellow trail to Thomas Mountain

Above the yellow trail, we start seeing several rock outcrops and there are many roots crossing the trail.

Up here, we reach the upper end of the old woods road, with the trail making a right to keep climbing. The sign below awaits people heading downhill here.

Think it's a permanent closure, though...

It's not far from this point to the summit. Just a little bit more climbing.

Almost there...

Eventually, there is no more mountain to climb and we're at the summit of Cat Mountain, which provides a panoramic view of Lake George and the southeastern Adirondacks. At this point, I had hiked 2.5 miles per my GPS.

Lake George from the summit 

Looking toward the mountains along the eastern shore

Looking west

While I could not find a benchmark at the summit (likely hidden in the brush near the highest point), there was a reference mark above the overlook.

Quite a bit of damage from lightning strikes and hikers.

Several nice vistas can be seen up here and there is quite a bit of exposed rock to rest on and enjoy the view.

Ready to go, I started making my way across the summit to the red trail leading directly to Edgecomb Pond, listed as "very steep" on the LGLC map.

From near the red trail

Once I found the trail, it was time to head down.

One parting shot of Lake George

The descent is steep and it begins immediately.

There are several places where the trail levels off, only to drop steeply again.

The main markings on this trail are red paint blazes, common in other states but quite unusual in New York.

Typical blaze

Still some views across the lake at the upper part of the descent

 The upper part of the red trail has some grassy areas with views of the lake.

I wouldn't say that this trail has any real scrambles, but some places come close.

I'll call this a "pseudo-scramble"

 Quite a few places on this trail don't even look like a trail.

This is the trail?

 After descending from the mountain, there's at least a mile more of ups and downs before the trailhead. Make sure you follow the blazes - really easy to get lost in here and the trail is hard to follow.

Some more stream crossings located in ravines the trail passes through

The remainder of the trail back to the junction with the old road (and other fork) is a lot of the same. Up, down, some small streams and mud.

You can barely see a trail marker across this stream bed

Much of this trail is little more than a marked herd path 

Don't miss the turns!

That is the trail. Again, herd path.

Approaching the old road

Eventually, we're back at the old road. Turn here to get back to the trailhead.

Looking down the south fork from the old road. Hard to tell this is even a trail.

Looking along the north fork toward the blue trail at where the trail splits

After roughly half a mile on the old road, we're back at the trailhead.

Trailhead from the trail

Cat Mountain may be one of the less-popular mountains in the area, but the hike is relatively short and the views are excellent. Depending on how hard you want your hike to be, it can be easy or moderately difficult.

Getting Here

The Edgecomb Pond trailhead is located on Edgecomb Pond Road between Potter Hill and Finkle Roads. Parking is available along the shoulder. The trailhead is not easy to spot from the road if you aren't looking for it and easiest to find from the south. The trailhead is roughly 1.3 miles north of the parking lot for the Pinnacle Trail.

Resources

Cat and Thomas Mountains Preserve: LGLC website for the area, has the most up to date trail map for the area

Short Hike #4: Christman Sanctuary

Main waterfall from end of spur trail
(All pictures mine)

Having just finished my only exam of the semester, I was in no mood to do any more work and I wanted to spend the remainder of the beautiful day outdoors. A friend of mine had told me about the Christman Sanctuary a couple months ago and I had yet to check it out, so I figured I'd head over there instead of my typical nearby short hike destinations. The Christman Sanctuary, managed by The Nature Conservancy, is located in southwestern Schenectady County in the Town of Duanesburg, with the main attraction being the waterfalls along Bozen Kill.

I pulled into the parking lot around 3:30 PM on a warm Tuesday afternoon. The small parking lot can hold 4-5 cars, but there is also some room to park along the road. Leaving the trailhead, the main loop trail, marked with blue blazes, proceeds through a grassy area. Planks cross some muddy areas.

Near the trailhead

Running along the edge of the woods, the blue loop begins. While not readily apparent, one can follow the loop clockwise by ducking into the woods or continue straight along the wide path (the most direct way to the waterfalls). Soon enough, this trail too bends into the woods

Blaze near the beginning of the woods

Not too far into the woods, we reach a bridge with plaque next to it. The plaque dedicates the bridge to Doris Saunders Plant.

Continuing across the bridge, the path begins a hard to follow winding trek through the woods

Yeah, that's the trail

The occasional blue blaze served as reassurance that I was indeed on the trail.

Eventually, the trail makes a sharp turn to the left and we begin the descent into the Bozen Kill ravine.

Down, down, down we go

Near the bottom of the ravine, there is a junction. Straight ahead, the blue trail follows Bozen Kill downstream. Sharp right is the yellow-blazed spur trail to the falls. I turned right.

Looking down the falls spur trail

The yellow trail wastes no time getting up close and personal with the cliffs, narrowing and descending through cracks in the rock.

Yup, that's the trail 

Ropes in much of this area help one to keep their balance and, in a couple places, the trail is under rock overhangs.

Did I really just walk under that?

By this point, we're walking right along the edge of Bozen Kill and a small waterfall is to the left.

Continue down the trail a bit and we reach the main attraction, a 30-foot waterfall, less than half a mile from the trailhead.

The waterfall cascades into a shallow pool rimmed by cliffs. Swimming and wading are expressly forbidden. A shelter containing a table is also located here.

Shelter

Having viewed the falls, I was ready to continue on.

Looking downstream along Bozen Kill 

Retracing my steps back to the blue trail, I followed the blue trail downstream to complete the loop.

A ways down, the orange trail breaks off to the right, crossing Bozen Kill on a set of stepping stones. This trail loops through the southern half of the preserve.

Orange Trail's crossing of the creek

Some more small falls and rapids are located downstream of the Orange Trail.

The blue trail turns away from the creek and a spur trail departs on the left, leading to the Christman Memorial.

Spur trail to the Christman Memorial

The trail enters a more open area near the road before turning back into the woods.

Soon enough, we're back at the point where the blue trail splits.

Approaching the loop split point

Looking down the other side of the Blue Trail loop

Turning right here leads back to the parking lot.

Approaching the parking lot

While not a ton of effort, the Christman Preserve makes for an excellent short hike if you'd like to see some waterfalls and don't have a lot of time to do it.

Getting Here

The Christman Sanctuary is located along Schoharie Turnpike in Duanesburg, about halfway between NY Route 7 and US Route 20. 

Resources

The Nature Conservancy: Christman Sanctuary: official website for preserve. Contains trail maps and more information.