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Tags: campinghardest hikesmost dangerous hikesbackpacking triphunter mountaincatskills backpackingtrailhiking the devil's pathtoughest hikescatskill mountainsdevils pathbackpacking the devil's pathsintax77sugarloaf mountainhikinghikehardest hiking trailmost dangerous hikehardest hiking trailscatskills 35ersdevil's pathmost dangerous hikes in the worldhardest backpacking tripcatskillskyle hates hikingbackpacking

Description: Some say it’s the Toughest, most Dangerous Hiking Trail in the east. We set out on a backpacking trip to find out how tough the Devil’s Path trail really is. Set in New York’s Catskill Mountains, the Devil’s Path is a 24.6 mile long end to end hike on steep, rocky terrain with around 8,500 feet of elevation gain and and 9,000 feet of elevation loss. The mountain range that the Devil’s Path traverses is basically one large plateau with a handful of deep notches carved into it. The result? Almost all of the elevation change is crammed into a handful of 1 mile or less stretches, with little to no distance in between each ascent and descent. Scrambles, loose rock and mazes of gnarly roots add to the challenge. Myself, Kyle from the Trail Tails Podcast and Flossy packed up our backpacks with some tents and hammocks and hit the trail on a mid-August morning to find out if this hiking trail would live up to it’s devilish reputation. (Gear list at bottom) Kyle’s Podcast trailtalespod.com For an easier read & GPS data: sintax77.com/backpacking-the-devils-path-most-dangerous-hiking-trail There are 5 Major Summits (Catskill 35ers) on this hike Indian Head Mountain 3,573′ Twin Mountain 3,652′ Sugar Loaf Mountain 3,806′ Plateau Mountain 3,840′ West Kill Mountain 3,880′ Starting Trailhead Used (East): Platcove Trailhead Prediger Trail Road, Elka Park, NY 12427 Accessible parking lot with room for a decent amount of cars, but it does fill up by early morning on weekends. Trails Used, Day 1 Follow the red plastic trail markers for the Devils Path. At the Mink Hollow intersection (mile 8) take the spring side trail for water. Continue on the DP trail Grab water near Devil’s Acre Lean-to Continue for 1/4 mile To the left there will be a herd path to Southwest Hunter Mountain (Leavitt Peak) After a tenth of a mile you’ll find some nice campsites on the right side of the herd path. Note: The left side of the herd path is just above 3500′ & not legal to camp on. Day 1 Mileage: 14.5 miles Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 6,694' Day 2 Gross Descent: 5,205' Trails Used, Day 2 Head back out on the SW Hunter herd path Continue west on the Devil’s Path trail. Keep following those red discs until you arrive at the Devil’s Path Western Trailhead on Spruceton Rd. Day 2 Mileage: 10.1 miles Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,210' Day 2 Gross Descent: 3,968' Grand Total Mileage: 24.6 Miles Grand Total Gross Elevation Gain: 8,904' Grand Total Gross Descent: 9,173' Ending Trailhead Used (West): Spruceton Road Trailhead 1589 County Rd 6, West Kill, NY 12492 Check out Kyle’s YouTube Channel youtube.com/channel/UC72zCOrxkfXxZAnqQoS43Qw Notable Backpacking Gear: ULA Ohm 2.0 Backpack ula-equipment.com/product/ohm-2-0 Dutchware Pack Cover dutchwaregear.com/product/waterproof-pack-cover Dutchware Gear Half-Wit Hammock dutchwaregear.com/product/half-wit-hammock Dutchware Whoopie Hook hammock suspension w/ kevlar tree straps. dutchwaregear.com/product/whoopie-hook-complete-suspension/#tree-huggers Hammock Gear Burrow 40 Top Quilt hammockgear.com/premium-burrow HG Phoenix 40 Underquilt hammockgear.com/premium-phoenix-custom Dutchware Folding Sit Pad dutchwaregear.com/product/folding-sit-pad Hammock Gear Dyneema Hex Tarp hammockgear.com/dyneema-fiber-hex-tarp DIY Cat Can Alcohol Stove Light My Fire Mini Fire Steel Striker amzn.to/30S3rxm Vargo Windscreen Pot Stand amzn.to/2M3uRuG Toaks 750ml Titanium Pot amzn.to/2GR7AJX Sea to Summit Long Handled Spork go.magik.ly/ml/v9xv Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets amzn.to/2EMQDSA Outdoor Research Helium III Rain Jacket amzn.to/2BiSnB1 Outdoor Research Helium III Rain Pants amzn.to/2MkuI5F Outdoor Vitals Satu Adventure Pants satu-adventure-pants-comfort.kckb.st/sintax77 La Sportiva Wildcat Trail Runners amzn.to/3hyKrMi Nitecore NU25 Headlamp amzn.to/2YVsp0A Casio ProTrek FR-30 Smartwatch amzn.to/3dtY7Xj Mountain House Southwest Breakfast Hash amzn.to/3gHedx8 Korean Coffee Sticks amzn.to/2VXijcS Camera & Nav Gear: GoPro Hero 8 Black amzn.to/2D8n6lL GoPro Shorty Tripod Grip amzn.to/2MPhGOM 128GB Sandisk Extreme Memory Card amzn.to/2YWsFIB Garmin Oregon 650 GPS unit amzn.to/2WFzsps Spot Gen3 GPS Messenger & SOS device amzn.to/2EJLQhC FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links. Want to help support the channel? The next time you're about to do some shopping, go through sintax77.com/Amazon (or bookmark it) & a portion of your session will help support the next trip ...at no additional cost to you! Free Stickers sintax77.com/free-stickers Merch teespring.com/stores/sintax77-official-merch-store