September 3, 2023

Start/End: Spruceton Trailhead

Peaks: Hunter (4,040')

Elevation Gain: 1,940 ft

RT Mileage: 6.85 mi

Duration: 2 hours, 57 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

After Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide the previous day, I had Hunter up next. I was initially planning on hiking from Becker Hollow, but ended up choosing the Spruceton Trail instead.

Leaving Woodland Valley at 9:10 AM, we arrived at the trailhead at 9:50, and were on the trail just after 10:00. The entire Spruceton Trail is effectively a gravel road. The trail was rather gradual for the first 1.7 miles, until the fork to the trail to the Rusks. After steepening to around a 20% grade for the next 0.7 miles, the trail flattened back out for the final mile. We summited at 11:45.

The summit wasn't as busy as I had expected considering the accessible chairlift up. There were decent views of the surrounding area from the fire tower but nothing too crazy. After spending around 45 minutes on the summit, we began making our way down. The descent of the gravel road was very smooth. We were back down by 2:00 PM, and both Catskills 4,000ers were in the books.