2021-12-27: Stoppel Point

Earlier this week I decided to finally climb a relatively minor mountain in the town of Cairo: Stoppel Point. At an elevation of 3420', Stoppel Point isn't a high peak, high point, or particularly popular mountain, fairly isolated from trailheads and main roads. I made a half-serious attempt on Stoppel Point from the south back in 2019, but lost track of the trail and ended up just wandering around Mary's Glen. This time, I took a more serious approach from the northeast.

I parked the mid-afternoon at the trailhead at the end of Stork's Nest Road in Round Top. The Dutcher Notch Trail, which I took most of the way up, starts here, and the trail's easement goes across someone's front yard, which had me questioning if I was on the right path. (I refrained from photographing this section out of respect to the homeowners' privacy). Soon, however, I headed into the forest and began the fairly steep eight-mile climb to the summit.

Unlike most Catskills trails, the register and information on the Dutcher Notch Trail is located some distance in from the trailhead proper.

The path up the Catskill Escarpment follows the route of an old road that used to connect Round Top and East Jewett back in the 1800s.

Large boulders and small oak trees line the lower portion of the trail.

As the mountainside steepens, the trail changes to a more gradual switchback pattern that bypasses steep rock walls.

A look down the Escarpment at Blackhead and Arizona Mountains above the treetops.

Looking up one of the steeper parts of the trail atop the Escarpment. For a path with significant elevation gain, this hike had surprisingly few steep scrambles.

Atop a small knob, about a mile from Stoppel Point proper, I came across a northeast-facing overlook. While much of the overlook was covered in ice (unlike most of the high-altitude terrain), I was able to stop for awhile and take some pictures from safer, grassy ground nearby. I had underestimated the length of this hike and started very late in the afternoon, so this was my first pause in the otherwise non-stop hike.

A wide view from the overlook, looking mostly over the towns of Cairo (L) and Catskill (R).

Mixed pine and hardwood forest covers much of southern Cairo, cut intermittently by farms, yards, and businesses.

A view of Cairo Round Top, a very prominent, perfectly round hill that gave its name to the hamlet of Round Top, is one of the only clearly-visible hills to the north of the Catskills.

A temperature inversion created a line of dense clouds in the distance, lining the entire northern horizon. Equinox Mountain, eighty miles away in southern Vermont, was the only feature to rise above that cloudy wall.

In the hilly, forested terrain of Cairo, even just the well-landscaped lawn of a local business stood out from the mountainside overlook.

Buildings and businesses in 'downtown' Cairo, made blurry in the afternoon haze.

The Hudson River and the more distant peaks of the Taconic Mountains are clearly visible to the east of the overlook, beyond the limb of the Escarpment.

Just below the summit of Stoppel Point, I came across the wreckage of a crashed airplane. Dating to 1983, the small craft collided with the mountain when its unlicensed pilot became disoriented in foggy spring weather. The pilot, the only occupant, was killed on impact, but the plane was left due to the difficulty of removal. The Catskills are dotted with small plane wrecks, many becoming destinations for bushwhacking and geocaching.

The four-seater Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft still bears its registration marking N1316T.

The plane rests where it came to a stop, several hundred feet from where it first impacted the treetops according to aviation investigators.

A view from the tail of the aircraft. Aside from the visible debris, lots of metal sheets and small bits of debris were buried under the leaves and young growth on the forest floor.

A small overlook west of Stoppel's summit gives a view of the rarely-seen south side of the Blackhead Range. From left to right: Thomas Cole Mountain, Black Dome, Blackhead Mountain.

Just beyond the crash site was the highest point and true summit, several dozen feet off the trail. The Escarpment Trail wraps around the summit, somewhat strangely avoiding the exact summit. Beyond the summit was a trail sign and more expansive, northeast-facing overlook.

A view from the second, summit-adjacent overlook, this one also covered in slick ice.

An east-facing view shows the Hudson River at one of its widest upstate points (L) and the wide open fields of Sunrise Farms (R).

A view of the city of Hudson below the hills of the Berkshire Taconics to the northeast.

A hazy close-up of the city of Hudson. Also visible are power lines reflected in the river, carrying electricity from the nearby Athens Generating Plant.

A limb of Stoppel Point partially obscures the landscape landmark of Sunrise Farms in western Catskill.

Mount Everett, in southern Massachusetts, is the central peak in this shot over the lowlands of nearby Columbia County.

The suburban areas of the town of Catskill, with the Rip Van Winkle Bridge (left of center) crossing the unseen Hudson River in the background.

Snow-coated Equinox Mountain rises above the shrinking cloud layer in the distance. Windmills are visible atop the ridge in front of the massif.

Factories create billows of white smoke, disappearing into the cloud layer to the northwest beyond the foothills of the Helderbergs.

Another lone field cuts into the dull grey forests farther to the north.

Stoppel's northeastern limb cuts in front of the landscape beyond, where the Taconic Mountains rise rather suddenly from the central Hudson Valley.

My descent from the mountain was relatively quick, as I raced the oncoming darkness to get back down to my car. I stopped only briefly at overlooks on the way back, focusing mostly on making sure my feet didn't slip on my mad dash to the car. I was glad to finally complete this long-awaited hike and grateful to make it back before nightfall in spite of my late start.

This view of Blackhead from the northwest overlook shows how high the peak rises even above its three thousand foot surroundings.

Typically seen as almost perfectly rounded peaks, these side views of Thomas Cole and Black Dome reveal wider summit plateaus.