Mike Siudy reported:
This is a great Catskills loop I have done a number of times. It is possible to start in a few places and go different directions but I started at the end of Spruceton Road (rt.6) at the PA for the Spruceton trail up Hunter. I ran up the Devils Path and down the Spruceton trail with a .75 mile detour to the summit register of Leavitt mtn. (SW Hunter).
I ran the 9.76 mile loop today [9/17/2012] CCW in 1:45:23. It has about 2400 feet of ascent and all but around a mile of the DP are runnable. If you went CW it would all be runnable but would have a much tougher downhill at the end. A faster time is definitely possible as I spent 2-3 minutes on Leavitt signing the register and chatting with some hikers and I took a photo of a couple on the top of the Hunter tower (mandatory ascent). I also got stung on the ankle on the way down so I think I can break 1:40. I'll try again next month maybe. There is still room in that time for someone faster.
connect.garmin.com/activity/224007143
Ben Nephew ran a slightly different (longer?) route on 9/29/2012:
I couldn't find the herd path over to Leavitt, so I ran out to the Colonel's Chair. I'm sure I should have had a great view from there, but the top of the mountain was in the clouds, including the mandatory climb up the tower. Since my Garmin is consistently short by about .1 mile per mile, the loop with the Colonels Chair is probably around 11.2 miles, with about 2700' of climb. My time was 1:31:09.
connect.garmin.com/activity/228787156
Siudy:
Nice job. The herd path for Leavitt is a minute uphill (west) of the lean-to, not at the lean-to where you zig-zagged a bunch. There is usually a rock stack there. It looks like you went on it for a few feet and stopped. No view from the summit but it's fun to run the old railroad grade while ducking for branches and jumping trees, and you get to sign in at the register. Try it again on a clear day, the tower view is worth it.
