After months of planning, I jumped in my packed tight car and drove up to CT to pick up my brother and head off to The Catskill Mountains. I had 2 waterfalls planned and 1 summit in 3 days. Its not often I get to hang out with my brother, and that’s one of the things I love about the wilderness, you get a chance to get out of your normal day, and get to know your family again. Last time I went on a camping trip with my brother, I was 6 and my dad was dragging me by my back pack up the trail as my older brothers were dying laughing. I never liked exercise much, but know its a different story. With every trip to the wilderness I try to reclaim some of that lost time, that wasted energy of my early youth. Its crazy that now Im leading my brothers into the wilderness, instead of being dragged behind.
Me in the Middle and my Bros on each side
The camp ground where we made camp was Devil’s Tombstone, right at the base of Hunter Mountain. I was great to be back in nature. By the light of the campfire I scouted out our first location for the next day,
Campfire at Devil's Tombstone
Kaaterskill Falls. This waterfall is crazy, just insane. Its got 2 levels and from the right angle you can seem them both just towering above you.
Kaaterskill Falls from the base
Hiking to the second level with all this gear on my back was not easy, there were sections on these wet rock cliffs, where I had to rope up my equipment. At the Top half of the falls I almost slipped into the water as I got right under the falls.
Im in the bottom right corner, almost slipping on my face.
Waterfalls this size are just amazing. Wind the wind picks up the just mist into the wind, It feels like your in the middle of the jungle and a bunch of gorillas are going to appear. I showed the video to my brother at the top of the cliffs and he said “Looks like Gorillas In The Mist“. I told him to run to the top and see if it was a good view, worth hiking up with all my gear. He gave me the thumbs up and it was not easy. At the top was a great view, but what struck me most was these carvings in the rock.
Carving in the rock at the top of Kaaterskill Falls
They looked too perfect to be just some punk kids, and it made a great shot. Later when researching for the Script of the episode I found out it was a Triple Spiral and is sometimes suggested to represent the Triple Goddess of the three ages of womanhood. It later came to represent the holy trinity in Christianity; God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The symbol traces its roots through Celtics, Spaniards, modern pagans, and wiccans. In more recent history, Celtic Christians have sometimes used it to represent the Christian Trinity. But the mystery is that I couldn’t find out who put it here, and as I gazed at it right on the edge of the cliff, I had no idea that hundreds have fell of these very cliffs. Its crazy what you discover when doing research about a place for a script.
The whole time in the Catskills there were just tons of dump-trucks hogging up the roads and crowding the place with noise and fumes, not what I was expecting from a trip to the wilderness of the Catskills. While researching why those trucks were here I read the following “Marcellus Shale, a natural gas found thousands of feet below the Catskills and other parts of the Appalachian Mountain Range, has been gaining the attention of Texas Energy companies. This specific Shale has been accumulating for over 300 million years deep within the earth’s crust. To further stall our dire inevitable need for renewable energy sources and specifically to make money, greedy Texas energy companies are attempting to purchase leases to drill wells on the property of Catskill Landowners. If their plans pan out, they will drill 7,000-10,000 ft. into the surface, using methods of directional drilling and fracking. The effects of drilling on the Catskill environment have the potential to be devastating.” It seemed like to strong of a conflict to include in the episode but very interesting.
Hiking behind my brother
The best memory from the trip with how I lost my brother on Hunter Mountain. For hours I was thinking how I was going to tell our mother that I lost her son in the Catskills. (Not Cool) Half way up the trail, not held back with 50 lbs of gear on his back, and without telling me, he looses me around a corner. 20 min later I am Running around everywhere trying to find him. The sun is dropping quickly and I know he has no light, I have no Idea where he is, and where in black bear territory. I have been doing the wilderness thing for a while now and know the risks, but he has no clue. Did he fall off a cliff, get picked off by a cougar, or just take the wrong trail. This is why I told him we must stay together. Well after 3 hours, I make one last shout from the base of the mountain before calling rescue, and I finally heard a reply. I ran up as quick as I could to meet him, I told him to stay where he is, I have the light and I wont break my leg trying to climb in the dark. Turns out he hiked all the way to the summit, I had no Idea and he hiked all the way down with a mini book light. Watching him hunch with his little light was hilarious.
The next day driving through the mountains we were talking about bears, and how were lucky he didn’t spot one on the mountain in the dark alone. Just as he says “Man, I want to see a Bear!” one just leaps out in front of the car like a deer. In broad daylight, a baby black bear running across the street, My brother says “Lets go see” as he tries to open the door. I quickly informed him that young bears like that usually have a mother near by that will rip you head off. He stayed in the car after that.
These types of trips are way too rare, you spend all your childhood with a person and with the snap of your finger you never see each other for months, and even when you do its at a birthday party or some other event where its just a passing, how have you been, good to see you… That real quality time of your youth is gone for good, but once in a while we get it back. Now i just got to get my other brother to come too.
24. June 2010
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