Notch Lake, Stony Clove Notch, Phoenicia, NY, October 2013

Sometimes being outside isn't exercise of the body, but of the soul. My last experience on the Catskill trip was visiting Stony Clove Notch. I was tipped off to it by a passing reference in Scott Brown's book on New York waterfalls. Brown mentioned shooting photos at the lake was a good alternative to the waterfall hike he outlined, and he gave suggestions on how to frame the photo. While I never saw the lilypads he suggested focusing on, I found my own way. Mr. Brown and many other people are better photographers than I am, but the photo below gives me great pleasure.

Stony Clove Notch is a few miles north of the Town of Phoenicia on NY Route 214. The notch is a passage between the mountains Hunter and Plateau. At the foot of Hunter is Notch Lake, and on the edge of Notch Lake is a day use area and long-term parking lot for backpackers. A popular hiking trail, the Devil's Path, crosses the day use area.

Aside from one person asking for directions - his accent placed him as from the Bronx, so he was very lost indeed - I was alone. I lingered as the sky grew dark and the mist began to form. I hated to leave. I'd not climbed a mountain in the Catskills. I wanted to. I wanted to be atop Hunter or Slide or Halcott or... but it wasn't going to happen this trip. I'd fallen once, and I was bent like a question mark thanks to twisting my back the wrong way.

I delayed leaving as long as I could. But I had miles to travel before I slept, so I said "till we meet again" to Hunter and Plateau, and started the long drive to Pennsylvania and Pine Creek Gorge.