2023-05-19: Ashland Pinnacle

Ashland Pinnacle, elevation 3068'. Solo ascent via Long Path, bushwhack. 2.32 mi, 673' gain, 35m round-trip.

I was searching for a relatively easy hike in the Catskills to reign in another summer, something short and quick to prepare me for aspirational future serious hikes. While it's not on any lists, the Ashland Pinnacle has always caught my attention due in part to its intriguing name (in spite of its relatively low prominence) and due to its location in the Huntersfield Range, a sub-range close to my house.

I had to pick up family in the afternoon and plans for the evening, so I had a roughly one-hour window to reach the trailhead, climb the mountain, and get back down. The summer trailhead is located at the end of B.G. Partridge Road, a very rough dirt road high up in the town of Ashland. The road was so rough that the heat shield for my exhaust pipe fell off on the way up, although it came off in one piece so reattaching it later would be a cinch. I arrived at the trailhead and prepared for a steep marathon-pace climb to the nearby summit.

At over 2400' in elevation, the parking area at the end of B.G. Partridge Road is the highest public road in Ashland.

Layered rocks and boulders lined the slopes of the mountain on ascent.

The first portion of my hike followed the old route of the Long Path, which was inconsistently blazed and led directly up to the top of the ridge with some areas of fairly steep elevation gain. The first section of this was washed-out and flat, and the second was steep but all hiking, no scrambling involved (unfortunately). This led to a junction with the current Long Path at the top of the ridge; here I turned right (south) and left the path a few hundred feet short of the summit. The marked Long Path bypasses the actual highest point, so I followed a few herdpaths and heavily degraded 4x4 trails on a short bushwhack to the true summit.

Ashland Pinnacle, elevation 3068'.

A view of the general summit area. There was no obvious highest point so I wandered around for awhile and called it good.

Rock outcrops I passed on the bushwhack portion of the ascent, just below the summit.

After a call confirming pickup times, I raced down the mountain, taking care not to snowball, and was somehow only a few minutes late in picking up family all the way down the mountain in Durham. Descent was fast and uneventful, as any climber would hope.

Bright spring leaves fill the forest along the top of the ridgeline.

Large rock outcrops characterized the steep portion of the trail, although the trail itself circumnavigated all of them.

Severely washed-out portions of the lower trail made it safer to hike alongside it.

Looking south over Ashland towards Tower Mountain from the side of the road on the drive out.