Giant Ledges/Panther Mt.

[Dick]

Another fine day for hiking! A little cloudier than the past weekend, but still sunny and warm. Joanne and I decided to do Giant Ledges and Panther Mt. in the Catskills on 5/4 (her birthday). We figured we’d have the place to ourselves, but when we arrived at the parking lot there were three cars, two of which were vans from the same organization. The owner of the third car left as we prepared our gear, bringing it down to one small mob, we thought. I also had a sudden strong feeling of deja-vu, and remembered just at that moment that we had hiked the Giant Ledges many years ago (Joanne didn’t remember it at all)! We were greeted at the trailhead by a Porta Potty, right at roadside! Signing in (at the register, not the Porta Potty), we noticed a pair of glasses with dark frames in the register, if anyone reading this is missing theirs. The first part of the trail is quite rocky, and climbs quickly to a junction, then levels off, then climbs again to the ledges. There we shared the views with all of the members of the two vans. After a little chit-chat we sensed we were interrupting and we moved on. The trail drops to a col, then regains the elevation and more as it climbs up Panther. At the beginning of this part of the climb, we met 4-5 additional members of the large group, descending Panther. The entire trail seems to be quite well constructed. Once up on the ridge, balsam became the prominent scent, and the trail meanders along and up the ridge to the summit. There is a lookout rock here, very nice, but not nearly the views one has on Giant Ledges. I went farther along the trail and found one additional lookout with similar views. Along the ridge we also noticed some strange downed trees. Strange in that they appeared to be quite fresh, single trees along the side of the trail with others around them undisturbed, and apparently not the result of a storm. We ate our lunch here, and Joanne took copious quantities of pictures (will be posted soon). Saw two hawks sailing across the panoramic vista from one of the Giant Ledges on the way back – made my day! I'm certain he was putting on a show just for me! Almost no muddy sections, save for the area near the second spring and a couple of apparently perpetually wet areas, but with excellent rock hopping. I continue to marvel at the open woods, and the “civilized” trails we have encountered in the Catskills thus far.

[billandjudy]

One of our favorites. An easy day w/ a good payoff! Excellant views of the Devils Path Mts. When you look at your pics they will be from left to right:
Plateau(long and flat), Sugarloaf, Twin, (2 peaks), and Indian Head (laying flat forehead to the left) :tup:
PS--Happy Birthday!!! :D

[daLunartik]

HauntedFox and I were on Giant Ledge and Panther this Sunday (5/7/2006). Noted the downed spruce along the summit of Panther. It may have been storm damage. While nothing else appeared disturbed at that point, it was right on the edge of the cliff (er, clifflet? it's only a few feet down to the next set of level ground) that the trail runs across. The way the earth had lifted up with the root "ball" (pancake), seemed pretty whole, i.e. didn't look like a human had leaned against it, knocking it down, which in my mind would have caused the root ball to pop up against them and left an "arm" mark on the perimiter of the root ball. Not saying it wasn't human or animal induced, just didn't strike me as such (and I was looking, since I had read your TR before we headed out).

Also, the blowdown just below the spring on Panther around 3400' was recent, at least since I was up there in early March for my winter "requirement" - I didn't remember it, and I definetly remembered that section.

Did you happen to catch any of the Painted Trillium on top of Panther?

We also saw a number of birds, and postivly identified a number of them including the Black Throated Blue Warbler (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Black-throated_Blue_Warbler_dtl.html) , the Yellow Rumped Warbler (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Yellow-rumped_Warbler_dtl.html), the Ovenbird (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Ovenbird_dtl.html) and the tan form of the White Throated Sparrow (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-throated_Sparrow_dtl.html).

Didn't catch any Hawks from Giant Ledge, but we did see a Raven playing in the wind, plus heard an Owl call come rolling across the valley around 1 o'clock in the afternoon (it called two or three times, HauntedFox thought it was a Bard Owl).

We also may have seen a Worm Eating Warbler, but I need to get some film developed before we can confim that one (and hope the shots were in focus, that I didn't overexpose the shot 'cause I have nary a clue on what I'm doing with a film SLR, and that I didn't completely ruin that roll of film when I opened the camera without fully re-winding it this morning).

[Dick]

HauntedFox and I were on Giant Ledge and Panther this Sunday (5/7/2006). Noted the downed spruce along the summit of Panther. It may have been storm damage. While nothing else appeared disturbed at that point, it was right on the edge of the cliff (er, clifflet? it's only a few feet down to the next set of level ground) that the trail runs across. The way the earth had lifted up with the root "ball" (pancake), seemed pretty whole, i.e. didn't look like a human had leaned against it, knocking it down, which in my mind would have caused the root ball to pop up against them and left an "arm" mark on the perimiter of the root ball. Not saying it wasn't human or animal induced, just didn't strike me as such (and I was looking, since I had read your TR before we headed out).Actually that one you refer to may well have been storm damage. The others were smaller and even more isolated and secluded, and seemed strange to me.
Did you happen to catch any of the Painted Trillium on top of Panther? I don't think we saw any that day, but we did on Vly and Bearpen a couple of days later, along with trout lily and several other varieties. The hawk, and a possible raven were seen from the ledges. Unfortunately my wife didn't get them with the camera. We did hear the squawking of a bird down below in the open forest, but couldn't identify it.

Dick

[Edelweiss]

Here are some pics of our Giant Ledges/Panther hike:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=tdpb2qu.a8jqhta2&Uy=-x3j21m&Ux=0

[Mark Schaefer]

Edelweiss, some notes on the mountains in the photos (each line here is a different photo):

Views from the Ledges (? mts.) left to right: Hunter, Plateau (long), Sugarloaf, Twin, Indian Head (also looks like a twin peak), Plattekill. Mt Tremper is in foreground below Twin and Indian Head.

Plateau (summit only), Sugarloaf, Twin, Indian head, Plattekill, Overlook, and Tobias to the right and in front of Overlook.

Overlook (w/ Tobias), long ridge of Mount Pleasant.

Mount Pleasant, Ticetonyck (in distance over Cross), and part of the ridge leading to Wittenberg.

Wittenberg, Cornell.

Wittenberg, Cornell, Friday, Balsam Cap.

Friday, Balsam Cap, Slide.
....
yes those are lichens in a couple of pics, I don't think there are any fall leaves among them.
....
Views from Panther - Plattekill and Overlook (over Mt Tremper in the foreground), Tobias.

Overlook, Tobias.
....
More views from the Ledges - Wittenberg.

Wittenberg, Cornell, Friday.

Plateau, Sugarloaf, Twin, Indian Head.

?????? Mt. - Slide.

[Edelweiss]

Edelweiss, some notes on the mountains in the photos (each line here is a different photo):.

Once again, Mark, many thanks for taking the time to identify the peaks in the pictures - I will add to the captions on the gallery site.

daLunartik:

I wish you had been along with us on our hike that day to ID birds and their calls!

[billandjudy]

Along the ridge we also noticed some strange downed trees. Strange in that they appeared to be quite fresh, single trees along the side of the trail with others around them undisturbed, and apparently not the result of a storm.

While on the herd path to Leavitt Peak this past Sunday we saw alot of this type of blowdown. Trees w/3-4 inch diameter trunks--some snapped and some torn out root ball and all. They were always scattered, never occurring in the same area. All were very fresh. Quite strange :?:

[daLunartik]

daLunartik:

I wish you had been along with us on our hike that day to ID birds and their calls!

We brought the Audubon Field Guide of North American Birds with us, which allowed us to identify the birds we saw & heard - otherwise all I would have been able to ID was the BlueJay we saw when reclimbing Giant Ledge. We spent a significant amount of time standing still in the trail, as we essentially froze everytime we heard a bird calling nearby and tried to get a camera or binocular lens on it. This was definitely the right time of year though, with the birds nesting and doing mating displays and the trees mostly bare of leaves giving a nice open view of the canopy. The whole hike took us nearly 7 hrs, but my gps tracked us at 3.5 hrs moving time, so the remaining time was spent bird watching and enjoying the views (compared to the 3 hour roundtrip in March).

HauntedFox knows her birds and bird calls much better than I, and she was the one who identified the Bard Owl call (well, I knew it was an Owl!). We also heard a Catbird and Towhee. She just ordered a CD of bird calls, which we are going to listen to on the way to trailheads to sharpen our skills.

In your photo's, the plant you have marked with a ???? is Solomon's-Seal. We saw quite a bit of it, particularly on the climb up Panther. I managed to get a good shot of a field full of Solomon's-Seal, Trout Lilies and Spring Beauties that I'll try to post in a publicly accessible area.

[daLunartik]

heard an Owl call come rolling across the valley around 1 o'clock in the afternoon (it called two or three times, HauntedFox thought it was a Bard Owl.

HauntedFox knows her birds and bird calls much better than I, and she was the one who identified the Bard Owl call (well, I knew it was an Owl!).

I stand corrected - HauntedFox says its a "Barred" Owl, not a "Bard" Owl. I'll just blame it on being distracted by the wonderful views...... :oops:

[Mark Schaefer]

I stand corrected - HauntedFox says its a "Barred" Owl, not a "Bard" Owl. I'll just blame it on being distracted by the wonderful views...... :oops: Unlike many owls who are more nocturnal the barred does hunt through the day. I have seen and heard a few fly by in the Catskills -- always a treat.


There actually is a studious bard owl. http://www.thebusinesslogo.com/logo-design-cartoons-character/thumbnails/cartoon-charactor-owl-logo.gif A relative of the lowland barn owl. They are nocturnal and often seen at their Bard College near Red Hook in the Hudson Valley.

[Dick]

Unlike many owls who are more nocturnal the barred does hunt through the day. I have seen and heard a few fly by in the Catskills -- always a treat.


There actually is a studious bard owl. http://www.thebusinesslogo.com/logo-design-cartoons-character/thumbnails/cartoon-charactor-owl-logo.gif A relative of the lowland barn owl. They are nocturnal and often seen at their Bard College near Red Hook in the Hudson Valley.

I've heard that, in spite of appearances, they're not really very intelligent creatures. Is this true?

[Jay H]

That must be the same one that haunts Bard Rock in the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park!

Jay

[daLunartik]

I've heard that, in spite of appearances, they're not really very intelligent creatures. Is this true?
Not sure about the "Bard Owls" who frequent the Red Hook area (couldn't resist :D ), but I found this on the Bartelbys.com website, under the Columbia Encyclopidia entry for Owls:
Owls superficially resemble short-necked hawks, except that their eyes are directed forward and are surrounded by disks of radiating feathers. This peculiarity lends them an appearance of studious intelligence, and the owl has long been used as a symbol of wisdom. Not sure if that means they are smart, or just look like it.

Regarding the Barred Owls (Strix varia), the Audobon Guide says:
This owl is most often seen by those who seek it out in its dark retreat, usually a thick grove of trees in a lowland forest. There it rests quitely during the day, coming out at night to feed on rodents, birds, frogs and crayfish. If disturbed, it will fly easily from one grove of trees to another. Barred Owls regularly call in the daytime"

[mudhook]

The barred owl is often mimiced by turkey hunters who are trying to find a roosting turkey. For some reason a Tom Turkey reponds with a gobble when he hears a barred owl hooting( maybe because this owl hunts at day?). Most hunters call around dusk, but I have heard them do it at other times as well. Its easy to tell the real owls from the want-to-be owls, as most real owls don't drive around hooting out their car windows.

[Mark Schaefer]

Thanks for the references. I believe I also heard the following at one or more of the raptor centers, from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl): "Of the North American owls, they are the species most likely to be active during the day, especially when raising their chicks." I infer from that there is some day time hunting, although the rest of the Wikipedia article emphasizes that barred owls hunt primarily at night, dawn, and dusk.

Views of avian intelligence seem to vary and change over time. I have heard that as birds go owls may not be that smart. Mind you, I love birds and I don't mean to be specious or speciest, but the term "bird brain" may not be wholly unwarranted. Whatever their IQ, owls like all raptors are very skilled.

[Tmax]

Giant Ledge and Panther is always a nice little hike. In the summer, there will be tons of people on Giant Ledge but very few or none on Panther. I've often gone to the "high side" of Giant Ledge to watch the sunset in late fall or early spring when you have visibility through the trees. I hope to get up there one night after work soon to do just that! My "creepiest" hiking moment happened on this trail too. I was walking along on a solo hike and had a man step out of the woods onto the trail with a rifle. His first (and only) words to me were "you alone?" Scared the crap out of me. I bushwacked back down the trail for a ways trying to lose him!

Thanks for the TR Dick, and happy belated birthday Joanne.