Long southern bushwhack to Lone Mountain then Peekamoose Mountain(Slide Mountain Wilderness-Catskills)

As always, my buddy Jim and I try to come  up with new and interesting routes to some of the Catskill's wildest locations, and one that has been on the radar for a while is hitting 3720 foot Lone Mountain from the south.  It is probably one of the least visited areas of the Catskills because it is almost completely surrounded by other large mountains, hence our interest in this route.  The usual route to Lone would be either from the Denning trailhead or from Table via a herd path.  Today's would be 100% true bushwhack from Ulster County 42 to the summit, a VERY long approach.  We spotted a car at the Peekamoose Mountain trailhead, then headed east to an unmarked, rough DEC woods road, slightly SE of Breath Hill.  Elevation to start was a touch over 1600 feet, and the woods were shrouded in a thick mist as we set out.

The woods had a mysterious, eerie vibe, which only enhanced our wilderness feeling.

From a woods road high up on Breath Hill's shoulder, we caught a fogged in view towards nearby Ashokan High Point(completely in the clouds-left) and Little Rocky Mountain(right).

Bushwhacking in the summer months means fighting through many, many spiderwebs. 

A nice and steady ascent soon found us at the wooded 2568 foot summit of Breath Hill.  Although temps were cool in the low 60's, the humidity was very high, and we were both sweating profusely.

After leaving the summit of Breath Hill, we dropped down steeply into the isolated valley of the Slide Wilderness.  As we neared a quiet tributary of Picket Brook, we stumbled across the remains of a long ago homestead.  Classic Catskill stone walls...

...as well as the remains of some kind of foundation.

After crossing a couple of small tributaries, we arrived at beautiful and wild Picket Brook.  We easily rock hopped across and continued NW heading towards Lone.

A short climb followed by a steady descent brought us to our next crossing, which was a bit tougher than our previous ones, near the headwaters of Rondout Creek, which were flowing steadily.

We followed the Rondout Creek north for a shot distance, to a split in the creek.  At the split, there was a beautiful 8 foot waterfall.

To keep heading in the right direction, we carefully crossed the creek here and followed the west branch up.  The going was quite tough in spots, but the falls were absolutely incredible.  We lost count of how many falls and flumes there were along the way.

We eventually had to head further up the ridge because the blowdown and steep, eroding banks along the creek became barely navigable and very time consuming.  Before we left, however, we managed to find several more spectacular sets of tiered falls along the way.

Once higher up on the ridge, we found the going much easier, climbing very steeply gaining nearly 1500 feet in less than a mile.  The woods were remarkably open hardwoods and no cliff ledges to contend with until we got above 3500 feet. 

We flanked the 25 foot cliff bands east for a few hundred feet and found an easy way up them.  Once above a second set of cliff bands, we arrived in a giant fern glade near the summit.

Arriving at the 3721 foot summit of Lone Mountain. 

We quickly signed in and moved along due to viscous black flies.

We were both quite shocked to see how developed the herd paths had become on these supposedly wild summits.  There was even a well defined herd path to the lookout near the summit.  Unfortunately the clouds had rolled in again, consuming the valley, leaving us with no view whatsoever.

We left Lone's summit and headed SW towards Table Mountain's east ridge via an easily followed herd path.  Near a bend in the path at a steep drop, we managed to fight our way onto a fallen tree for this view of Table's shoulder.

A short drop and then steep ascent brought us up towards Table Mountain's far east ridge, where we were able to locate a couple of good view spots back towards Lone. 

Taking these pictures was not as fun as it might seem, as you had to donate a pint of blood for each shot.  I kept this photo so that you can truly see the black flies swarming in front of the lens.

Lone Mountain in the foreground with Cornell(distant left-shrouded in fog) and Friday Mountain(distant right).

A rare look at Rocky Mountain, just right of Lone, with fog covering its summit.

Another short drop and steady ascent brought us up to 3843 foot Peekamoose Mountain.

The short herd path off the summit brought us out to more spectacular views.  This is the south facing view towards Spencers Ledge(L) to Samson Mountain and Bangle Hill(R).

Clearing skies provided a nice view east towards the Ashokan Reservoir as well Balsam Cap and Mini Cap.

The towering twin peaks of Ashokan High Point(L) and Little Rocky(R) to the SE.

Once on the marked DEC trail, we really made good time, flying along.  From a viewpoint on the SW flank of Peekamoose we enjoyed a great view of Van Wyck Mountain(my favorite CHH peak).

The  amazing west vista also captures nearby Woodhull Mountain with many more distant peaks beyond.

A long, steady descent brought us back down off Peekamoose Mountain to the car.  Thankful for good company on this seemingly never ending route out.

A tough and grueling day in one of the wildest Catskill locations.  11.5 miles RT(nearly 8 miles bushwhack) and 3400 feet of ascent.  We arrived back at the car exhausted but fulfilled.