Fire at the Cha Cha Hut

A fire recently occurred at the Roxbury restaurant Cha Cha Hut. It was known for their barbecue. Below is a quote from their website.

This is the worst day of our life. Sometime after 1am on Wednesday the 25th the Cha Cha Hut caught fire. The phrase “burned to the ground” is not totally accurate (see photos) but might as well be. We’ve basically lost everything.

Source: http://chachahut.com/2010/05/26/yes-we-had-a-fire/

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The Cha Cha Hut has been receiving many positive reviews. A link to the Cha Cha Hut was added recently to the CatskillSearch Directory after reading the favorable ratings it was receiving from customers on the Yelp website.  (Link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cha-cha-hut-bbq-roxbury)

Cha Cha Hut has a detailed blog posting on their website regarding the fire tragedy. They seem to have a positive outlook on the future.

CatskillSearch wishes them the best.

Hotel Kaaterskill

The Hotel Kaaterskill is great moderate hike and the start of the trail is located just outside the entrance of the North South Lake Campgrounds. The Scutt Road DEC parking area is a popular starting point for many Catskill hiking destinations. 

We parked at the Scutt Road parking area and was reading the hiking board when an orange car drove up to us. The license plate on the car read ‘CHOWTIME’. The driver of the vehicle asked us if this was a good location to walk dogs. We were unsure but answered that there was a horse resting area and loading ramps to help people get on horses within the confines of the parking area. We then mentioned there was no horses at the site or horse trailers parked at the location. The driver thought best to maybe find another spot in case any horses did show up. We started a small conversation with the driver of the vehicle. My father made a positive comment about his 2 Chow Chow dogs found in the back of his car. As my father approached the rear window of the car the driver stated:  “You did it right. That is how you should approach. They are very protective”. The driver then started to talk about his 2 Chow Chows and how protective they were to him and his wife. His wife was in the passenger seat. The owner of the dogs then told us a story about how one of his Chow Chows which was in the backseat helped wrestle down a black bear when the black bear wandered into to their backyard of their home and attempted to attack him. The driver of the car with the license plate ‘CHOWTIME’ stated that the story of his black bear attack was featured on Discovery Channel.

His black bear story could have been easily forgotten and not mentioned in this blog post if was not for the fact of our encounter a few short hours later. We met a black bear on the way back down from the Hotel Kaaterskill. It was walking on the trail where we were heading too. The bear was huge.  However myself and father walked the other direction slowly and the bear did not follow and soon disappeared back into the woods.

A few quick pieces of information regarding the hike:
1- The trail is marked very well to the top. However once at the location there is little current signage regarding the hotel or location.
2- It is easier if you walk on Scutt Road to the end and then utilize the old railroad right of way to get back onto the trail. The trail which parallels Scutt Road is rocky.
3- This area has a very high incidence of encounters with black bears. We did encountered a very large black bear while hiking to the Hotel Kaaterskill remains. Several sources state 750 lbs is the large end size for black bears. This bear weighed as much.

LINKS:

Dogs 101- A short informative piece about the Chow Chow breed
CatskillMountaineer.com- Hotel Kaaterskill Information and History

Ulster & Delaware Railroad Caboose

According to John M. Ham author of ‘Light Rail and Short Ties Through the Notch‘ on page 108- “This caboose is currently located at the end of Schutt Road in the Town of Hunter and is the only surviving piece of U & D equipment.”

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We drove to the end of Schutt Road and then parked in the area allocated for motor vehicles and this was the caboose found at the end of road. (Historic Note: Peter Schutt was the original founder and builder of the Laurel House) On page 108 0f  ‘Light Rail and Short Ties Through the Notch‘ there is a terrific photo of this caboose that is dated from 1900. It is described in the book as:  ‘Side door caboose #631 was photographed at Kaaterskill in 1900.’

In the photograph from 1900 there are 5 men in front of the caboose. The caboose has 3 instances where ’631′ is written and one instance where ‘Ulster & Delaware’ is written. Below are photos taken 110 years after this particular photo. In the newer photos below the caboose has been repainted because there is no current observations of 631 or Ulster & Delaware. The caboose is currently located on private lands with obvious NO POSTED signs. However it can easily be seen and photographed from Schutt Road.

Kaaterskill Falls (top)

A few photos from the top of Kaaterskill Falls.

The first image was taken around sunset.

Ulster & Delaware Railroad (Laurel House Road)

Remnants of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad trestle abutment at the end of Laurel House Road. This part of the railway was the Kaaterskill branch. It was constructed between 1881-1883.

Tannersville Bike Path

A revisit to the Tannersville Bike Path (Huckleberry Multi-Use Trail). This time we walked east from Railroad Ave.

Tannersville Bike Path (Huckleberry Multi-Use Trail)

For family riding and walking, the Tannersville Bike Path offers a 2.7 mile stretch of graded dirt path starting on Clum Hill Road directly across from Cortina Valley. The opposite end is on Bloomer Road. In the middle of the path is Tannersville Lake, a village park that is open to the public.

Mount Utsayantha

First trip of the year to the top of Mount Utsayantha. Beautiful weather.

South Gilboa Railroad Station

A revisit to the South Gilboa Railroad Station on the same day that I passed by the Hunter Railroad Station. Unlike the Hunter Railroad Station not much has changed with the South Gilboa Railroad Station.

The photo gallery below shows: the front and backside of the South Gilboa Railroad Station; a NY railroad marker that lays in the brush along the Catskill Scenic Trail; remnants of an old foundation to a unknown building that would have been close to the railroad tracks; a photo that helps shows the relative flat trail found along the CST (Catskill Scenic Trail); and new residential buildings that overlook a closed farm.

Hunter Railroad Station

A revisit to the former Hunter Railroad Station. It looks like someone painted the outside of the building from white to a light brown (beige) color since the last visit. Also the porch overhang poles are now white and the bricks/ blocks in the front have changed color.

Link to previous visit and photos. Read more about the history of the Hunter Railroad Station at Wikipedia.