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Until the middle of 2019, the trail from Pecoy Notch to the summit of Twin Mountain included a ledge that required a semi-technical lift to pass. The lift itself depended on a single tree root as a handhold. It was super fun. It epitomized the ruggedness and difficulty of the Devil’s Path. Then, during the summer, a rock-slide tore the place apart.
But that was only the beginning of the drama…
After the collapse, the challenge of climbing this section became fully technical. To climb this section, you always needed steady nerves — but now, in addition, you needed rock climbing skills. Effectively, the route became impassable, and quite dangerous, even to experienced hikers. Someone was going to get hurt there. It was only a matter of time.
The entire area is currently cordoned off. Here’s what it looks like today…
Two Solutions
At first, the DEC addressed the problem by adding a via ferrata — a set of iron rungs. The idea was to keep the old way open with a ladder that needed little, if any, maintenance.
It looked like this…
But this first solution blew up in a major way among the Very Online People who became Extremely Angry Online People. Heads on platters were demanded. Careers were threatened.
The drama spilled over into the real world when, in secret, a vandal began sawing the rungs off the mountain. Yeah, you read that correctly.
By the time I got there in mid-September, at least one of the rungs had already been sawn off. You can see one pair of metal nubs above the highest rung in this photo…
Iron rungs like this are a common sight on hiking trails in many parts of the world. However, in the USA, at least on the east coast at exceptionally tricky spots, wooden ladders are the preferred solution.
Many people felt that the DEC’s iron rungs were an insult to the Devil’s Path. A few hotheads felt that if a hiker couldn’t handle this dangerous area, he or she should stay off the Devil’s Path altogether.
Meanwhile, over the coming weeks, again in secret, the vandal continued to remove rungs.
Eventually, the DEC closed this trail section and spent several weeks building a new route around the problem area, which they then re-opened in November.
A Great End Result
The new route takes a sharp right turn and climbs a few stone steps which have been laid down at the start of a dramatic, shattered cliff face.
A second set of stone steps then leads up to a tricky lift. From there, once again, you’re on your own…
The reroute is wonderful, and completely in character with what had come before. It’s beautifully done. If you’d like to check it out, here’s the route my daughter and I took: Hike Twin from Roaring Kill.
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