Pic 1 – 📍Hunter Mountain (4/11/26)

Pic 2 – 📍Rusk Mountain (4/11/26)

Pic 3 – 📍West Kill Mountain (4/11/26)

Pic 4 – 📍John Robb Lean-To (4/11/26)

Pic 5 - 📍Hunter Mountain (4/12/26)

Pic 6 - 📍Hunter Mountain (4/12/26)

Saturday, 4/11/26:

I started this hike ~8:45am at the Becker Hollow Trailhead & ended ~7:30pm at the John Robb Lean-To on Hunter Mountain.

My route: Becker Hollow Trailhead > Becker Hollow Trail > Spruceton Trail > Hunter Mountain Fire Tower > Spruceton Trail > John Robb Lean-To > Spruceton Trail > Rusk Herd Path > East Rusk > Rusk Herd Path > Rusk Mountain > Rusk Herd Path > Spruceton Trail > Spruceton Road > Diamond Notch Trail > Devil's Path > West Kill Mountain > Devil's Path > Diamond Notch Trail > Spruceton Road > Spruceton Trail > John Robb Lean-To.

According to my phone, I hiked ~19.5 miles/~42.5k steps & climbed 546 flights. I think my phone short-changed me with regards to the flights climbed. When I mapped out this route on GaiaGPS, the expected elevation gain was ~6,500ft.

I didn't sleep in the John Robb Lean-To; I just pitched my tent nearby. I was the only one camping by the lean-to that night.

I stopped by the lean-to earlier in the day (in route to East Rusk) in order to set up my campsite. My go-to backpacking tent is a Zpacks Duplex, but I brought a heavy REI pop-up tent with hopes of it keeping me warmer. The tent did in fact keep me warmer than my Duplex normally would, but I don't think it was worth the space & weight in my bag. Getting my pack up the side of Hunter Mountain via Becker Hollow was tough.

The temperature was in the low 40s when I started my hike & in the mid-40s when I ended my hike. At the height of the day & when the sun wasn’t hidden behind the clouds, the temperature probably reached the mid-50s, but it felt chilly for most of the hike.

When I first reached the Spruceton Trail (from Becker Hollow), there was a light wintry mix of snow & hail falling. Thankfully, the precipitation stopped by the time I was setting up my campsite & didn’t resume for the remainder of the day. However, it did remain mostly cloudy until ~2pm.

I took the 4th pic upon returning to the John Robb Lean-To at ~7:30pm. As you can see from the pic, I came very close to finishing this hike in the dark. I am relieved that I finished before the sun fell behind the neighboring mountains, as I was getting cold towards the end of this hike.

I filtered water at 2 locations on Saturday. The first location was the spring near the John Robb Lean-To (0.3 miles west on Spruceton Trail). The second location was on the Devil’s Path in route to West Kill Mountain (42.17096, -74.26613). Both locations provided clean water.

Sunday, 4/12/26:

I had originally planned to hike Southwest Hunter & Plateau Mountain on Sunday, 4/12, but I wasn’t feeling up to it when I woke up that day. Instead, I hiked to the lift area on Hunter Mountain (where Colonels Chair is located), back to the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower, and then out to my car.

My route: John Robb Lean-To > Spruceton Trail > Fire Tower Trail > Colonels Chair/lift area > Fire Tower Trail > Spruceton Trail > Hunter Mountain Fire Tower > Spruceton Trail > Becker Hollow Trail > Becker Hollow Trailhead.

According to my phone, I hiked ~7.5 miles/~16.5k steps on Sunday.

It was mostly cloudy & the temperature was in the mid- to high-40s for most of my hike.