Stony Clove Ledges on Plateau Mountain(Indian Head Wilderness-Catskills)

After my morning hike up Pine Mountain near the Schoharie Reservoir, I decided to drive a bit further south into the heart of the Catskills to visit an area of ledges located high above Stony Clove Notch on Plateau Mountain's west slopes.  There are actually a series of ledges ranging from about 2300 feet to 3100 feet and are a short but challenging bushwhack off of the Devils Path.  From Notch Lake, the lowest set of ledges are clearly visible across Route 214.

I was surprised to find only two others car parked at Notch Lake when I arrived at the trailhead(Elevation 1990 feet) on a pleasant winter day.  Crossing the road, I picked up the red blazes of the Devils Path and quickly began to gain elevation as I made my way up Plateau's lower slopes.  At about 2300 feet, the trail turns east, but I left the trail and continued north along a steep area of ledge bands.  Within just a few minutes I already had very good screened views down towards Devils Tombstone and I even stumbled upon some rock climbing ropes here.

It has been a fairly mild end of fall and beginning of winter, which usually means lots of ice in the mountains. 

As I made my way up through numerous ledge bands, the terrain became more and more dramatic.  At about 2600 feet, I spotted a rough and tumble area of loose boulders and talus slopes.

I carefully made my way over to the talus slopes and found my first unimpeded view of the day, looking south down Route 214 towards the tiny community of Edgewood.

From the same spot, Hunter Mountain's steep east facing slopes tower directly across Stony Clove Notch.  There are some good views from some off trail ledges over there as well.

As I fought my way up through the steep terrain, the view south grew a little broader by the minute.

I continued a very challenging ascent up through a series of dizzying ledges and cliff bands, which were a bit scary in spots.

 

A small shelf provide a nearly vertical view down into the Notch.  Scenes like this were quite common on my way up the mountain and I had to struggle to find a chute up in spots.

 

At about 3100 feet, I turned back south towards the trail, hugging a steep area of ledges.  One spot in particular provided the best vista of all....perhaps one of the best I've seen in the Catskills at all.  A small rock ledge perched high above the valley made it feel like I was on top of the world.  A shoulder of Hunter Mountain sits to the right of Route 214 with Silver Hollow Peak just beyond.

I sat and marveled at this vista for almost a half hour, finding it hard to drag myself away.

From the open ledge, I made my way steeply back down to the marked trail and from there it was an easy trail hike back to the car.   Hiked a tough 3 miles RT with over 1200 feet of elevation gain.  One of the scariest but rewarding bushwhacks I've undertaken in the Catskills.  

Map Below.  Red P=Parking   Red X=Vista   Blue X=Furthest point north on my bushwhack