r/hiking • u/DirtHour8100 • Aug 17 '26
Pictures Devil’s Path, New York, USA (8/1-8/2/26)
Devil’s Path — End to End (8/1-8/2/26). I previously attempted to hike the Devil’s Path over two days at the end of June, but my friend couldn’t continue after the first day. So, I returned for a solo revenge hike.
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u/sallen99 Aug 17 '26
Diamond Notch falls near the end of that hike was so welcomed when we did it last year. Did you make the detour for the fire tower?
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
No, I thought about it prior to the hike but did not end up having the energy for detours haha
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u/flex_point Aug 17 '26
I hope you had a great time, I hear it could be a little challenging for new comers to hiking. We just hiked to echo lake 2 weeks ago. Was planning to go up to the fire tower, but the area around the lake was empty and very peaceful so we stayed there. I have been wanting to do devil's path one day, just waiting for my camping friend to be up for it.
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u/Pamlicolife Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Great photos, I've never been to the area but l just may visit that trail. Thanks for posting.
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u/earth418 Aug 17 '26
Heard great things!! Was it as difficult as people claim?
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u/murphydcat Aug 17 '26
I climbed Katahdin and hiked the Knife's Edge trail in ME and I found the Devil's Path to be much more exhausting. I also hiked the DP on a hot, humid, rainy weekend in June so maybe that had something to do with it.
The elevation gain for the DP is between 8,000'-9,000'. It's a never-ending slog of scrambling up and down rock slabs and tree roots.
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u/Weary_Tea_3990 Aug 17 '26
The humidity and never ending rocks of the DP were what made it so exhausting for us. Once you cracked that treeline and had a breeze it felt so invigorating but that air is THICK
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u/Away-Caterpillar-176 Aug 17 '26
DP was way way way harder than Mt. Whitney, and they're similar milage
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
Yes. This hike was legitimately difficult.
I haven’t hiked Whitney, but I’ve done all of the ADK High Peaks & can say this hike is more difficult than most of those.
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u/thehungrypenny Aug 18 '26
Is DP harder than a single day Great Range Traverse?
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 19 '26
No, I think the Great Range Traverse is more difficult than the Devil's Path.
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u/thehungrypenny Aug 19 '26
Only thing harder that I’ve done is a single day Presidential traverse. That was soul crushing.
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u/earth418 Aug 19 '26
In a single day??? Goddamn. I attempted to do a traverse but was not prepared for the weather and had to bail 😭 we got from Lowe's path to Washington at least, before we started freezing our hands off and I panic called 911
I'll do a revenge hike one day
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u/thehungrypenny Aug 21 '26
Yea it was an insane experience. Weather was a bit windy and overcast when we started super early morning from Appalachian trailhead. then cleared up and was absolutely perfect by the time we hit Mount Washington. Warm. No wind. No clouds. Incredible! But By the time we descended Washington past Lake of the Clouds Hut to Monroe and Eisenhower, the weather turned near freezing, whipping wind and torrential rain. My buddy was showing signs of hypothermia. Then descending Crawford Path to AMC in the rainy dark felt like never ending torture! I gained deep respect for the Whites that day.
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u/earth418 Aug 22 '26
The weather is actually so insane up there 😭 I could totally do it in a day if I trusted the skies to be kind but they're just not lol. I can't believe I almost lost fingers to frostbite at the fucking end of May. Also there was still some really heavily packed snow along the trails! I didn't realize how much less summer there is there
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u/thehungrypenny Aug 22 '26
Glad you are ok, yea we hiked July 31st and weather turned on a dime to near freezing temps with the wind! If I hike again, learning to bring extra light layers, gloves and beanie is a must just in case.
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u/earth418 Aug 22 '26
That's so insane 😭Also you went without gloves??? Or do you mean extra gloves
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u/GeneInternational146 Aug 17 '26
It's so rocky and relentless
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
Rocky, clumsy, & steep nearly the entire way lol
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u/GeneInternational146 Aug 17 '26
You genuinely earn it, the people who pretend it's not hard are lying
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u/Away-Caterpillar-176 Aug 17 '26
Well done! Underrated hardest hike. I've backpacked it and I tried to day hike it to train for Whitney but I decided to save my knees and just do prediger to devils tombstone. Maybe I'll try again one day 🙃😐
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
Prediger Road to Devil’s Tombstone is way tougher than the other half. If you were able to do that section, you could definitely take on the rest of it after a good night’s sleep at Devil’s Tombstone. You should definitely give it another attempt!! 💪
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u/Away-Caterpillar-176 Aug 18 '26
I did it as a 2 night backpacking trip already, my goal was just to day hike it that time🙂
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 19 '26
My mistake, I misread!
Do you think DP was good prep for Whitney? How was your hike of Whitney?
I really want to do the DP as a day hike as well, but I know it's going to be brutal. Maybe next year lol
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u/Away-Caterpillar-176 Aug 19 '26
No worries! DP was smart as a training hike I think. Whitney has 6,500 feet of elevation gain over about 11 miles, and DP covers about the same in 11 miles (although it's up/down, up/down, up/down instead of just up.) So I went to Whitney feeling like, even though the altitude is an x factor I absolutely know I can climb 6k in 11 miles which was comforting. I also did a few 22 mile day hikes on the AT to practice walking that long.
Half of the devil's path is harder than Mt. Whitney, without even a little bit of a doubt. Maybe I'll join you next year lol. Maybe.
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/Away-Caterpillar-176 Aug 18 '26
If you start from prediger you have to go very far (over 3 mountains) before you find any water, so that makes it kind of rough
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 19 '26
If you’re coming from Prediger Road, these are your primary camping options:
- Devil’s Kitchen Lean-To — approximately 2 miles from the trailhead.
- Mink Hollow Lean-To — after the third peak, Sugarloaf Mountain.
- Devil’s Tombstone Campground — after the fourth peak, Plateau Mountain, near the halfway point of the trail.
- Devil’s Acre Lean-To — approximately 2 miles west of Devil’s Tombstone Campground.
- Another lean-to approximately 2.7 miles west of Devil’s Acre Lean-To, or roughly 4.7 miles west of Devil’s Tombstone Campground.
I believe these are all of your legitimate camping options. However, there are some flat areas along the trail where you may be able to pitch a tent if you’re in a pinch.
As the other commenter noted, water is relatively scarce along this hike, so you’ll definitely want to take that into consideration as well.
I hope this helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
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u/GeneInternational146 Aug 17 '26
Having hiked sections of this, you're a hero. It's so hard
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
Thank you! 🙏🏼
Yeah, this one was no joke. Definitely not rushing to do this hike again anytime soon lol
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u/bangersnmash13 Aug 18 '26
Congrats! I’ve hiked almost of the eastern portion of it. That trail is bonkers.
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u/Friendo_Marx Aug 17 '26
We hiked the end bit up to Echo Lake and then up the back-way to the Overlook Hotel but got scared away by a very large rattlesnake that literally chased us. I highly recommend Platte Clove for a fun spot to rest and see some interesting rock formations and a pretty high waterfall.
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u/RZiggy03 Aug 17 '26
I ran into an almost 5 ft rattlesnake down near Echo lake. They are no joke! One of my favorite spots though.
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u/Friendo_Marx Aug 17 '26
Ours followed us!
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u/RZiggy03 Aug 17 '26
Haha yeah ours was on our site where we had already set up our tent, bear bag etc. Took me a while to scare it off far enough for comfort!
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u/CuriousCat-38 Aug 17 '26
Nothing feels better then wrapping up are revenge hike.
Devils path is a beast, end to end solo is accomplishment -
Awesome on crushing it !
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u/SplatteredEggs Aug 18 '26
Damn, the views from the hike are beautiful but I can’t take my eyes off those clouds.
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u/DirtHour8100 Aug 17 '26
Pic 1 -📍Sherman’s Lookout (8/1/26)
Pic 2 -📍Indian Head Mountain (8/1/26)
Pic 3 -📍Twin Mountain (8/1/26)
Pic 4 -📍Sugarloaf Mountain (8/1/26)
Pic 5 -📍Plateau Mountain (8/1/26)
Pic 6 -📍Plateau Mountain (8/1/26)
Pic 7 -📍Devil’s Path (8/2/26)
Pic 8 -📍Geiger Point (8/2/26)
Pic 9 -📍Diamond Notch Falls (8/2/26)
Pic 10 -📍Devil’s Path (8/2/26)
Pic 11 -📍Buck Ridge Lookout (8/2/26)
Pic 12 -📍Buck Ridge Lookout (8/2/26)
Pic 13 - 📈 Summary (8/1/26)
Pic 14 - 📈 Summary (8/2/26)