Halcott’s Herd Path

Climb up above the waterfall’s rim until the noise from below subsides.

Cross the brook and head south.

There are options above the waterfall. You can see on my GPS track how I mistakenly followed the wrong herd path for a minute before deciding to turn back. Easy to do.

You may pass this cairn on the way, on your right.

Nettles in Summer

In summer, Halcott Mountain is absolutely covered in nettles. This used to be a problem but, with the development of the herd path, it’s no longer an issue unless you’re wearing shorts. Just wear long pants and enjoy this short huffer of a hike.

Hemlock Stand

My favorite section of the hike is this wonderful stand of mature hemlock tress that starts just below 2,000’ and extends upwards to 2,250’ or so. These are some of the oldest hemlocks in the Catskills.

The terrain here is lovely, too, with many undulations, and water gurgling down the deep furrow to your left.

Not far above this section, the track bends left/southwest, crosses the drainage, and the real work begins.

The Final Incline

Starting just below 3,000’, the incline gets really steep; at times, the grade must be 120% or more. Your legs and glutes will feel it, here.

How to Hike this Section: Lean forward more than you’ve ever leaned forward on a steep grade. The weight of a backpack is more than enough to change a person’s center of gravity and, if you lean back here, you can easily tip backwards and start rolling downhill — and there is a lot of hill to roll down. So bend hard at the waist. Use your hands for extra balance and steadiness.

You’ll have plenty of stops to catch your breath. When the leaves are off the trees, you can see Sleeping Lion (on your left) which is connected to Halcott via the col between the two summits. On your right is Mount Sherrill.

The woods in this area look like this…

Above the steepest section, the trail winds through hobblebush for a while until, up ahead, you see the obvious summit knob.

Halcott’s Summit

In the spring, when I approached the summit from the northeast, it felt like there were fifty false summits — just one fake-out after the next. But the now-standard approach from the east is a cinch.

You can simply follow the herd path right to the canister.

Summit in winter…

In summer, it took my hiking partner and me about 90 mins to get to the summit. In winter, it can take more like two hours to reach the canister. In 2019, the temperature on the summit was 15°F (-9°C) and I had fun times eating a frozen sandwich. Once the cold started to crush me, I took two swigs of summit whiskey and started back down. What I learned that day: frozen Snickers and whiskey is tasty medicine.

Descent

This is mountain is a great place to think about using trekking poles, especially for the descent. The terrain is so steep near the top that poles really help with steadying for balance, and with taking some of the strain off one’s knees. (And make sure you’re well-prepared for hiking in the dark. )

As it happens, in every season, Halcott is a wonderful mountain to descend. You’ll scoot back down to Route 42 in no time.