 Doubletop
Mountain is the highest mountain in the Catskills that doesn't have a trail to it's
peak. Doubletop is also one of the toughest hikes in the Catskills because it is in
the middle of nowhere. From personal experience believe it when I say it took ALL
DAY to get to the top and back. The path I took started at the YMCA at the bottom of
the map. We hiked to the Pigeon Brook and followed it to it's first branch.
Just make sure when you come from the YMCA that Pigeon Brook is the second creek.
The first one won't take you to where you want to go. When you hit the first branch
of Pigeon Brook you follow that up the mountain until you reach the top of the ridge which
has a trail marked by the dotted line. But I didn't find any trail so I wouldn't go
looking for it. If you are experienced (which you should be if you decide to hike
this mountain) you will know when you have hit the top of the ridge. Then all you do
is follow the ridge to the top of the mountain. The going is rough because there is
a thick growth of balsam fir along the ridge. There is a canister at the top of the
mountain so you will know when you are there. Do yourself a favor and don't make the
mistake I made. Don't go looking for the canister on the first peek cause it isn't
there. It's on the second peek. Thus the name DOUBLETOP. You should be
experienced in map and compass if you want to hike this mountain and since you are
probably a Scout or Scouter viewing this page that shouldn't be a problem.
This is a shot from the top of the Doubletop. On the
tree is the canister that you need to look for. Hopefully in the past couple years
since I've hiked this mountain the canister has been replaced with the new one because the
one on the tree is pretty beat up. But I figure I should give you a picture of what
the area around the canister should look for. |