While Merlis is no stranger to burly trails - she was also the winner of this year’s Escarpment Trail Run and last year’s Breakneck Ridge Trail Marathon - she said the “sheer ruggedness and technicality” of the Devil’s Path makes it among the most difficult trails she’s traversed.
In September of 2020, Michelle Merlis, a trail runner from Albany who represented Team USA in last year’s World Mountain & Trail Running Championships, found her flow along Lucifer’s twisted spine and ran the entire trail unsupported in a women’s record time of 5 hours and 29 minutes. Some extreme athletes even attempt to run the path. And for a select few, this torturous trail can be tackled in one day. More adventurous types will through-hike, camping out a night or two along the trail and enjoying some respite and refueling time between summits.
Hikers trying to get a feel for the Devil’s Path can take it one or two summits at a time and then head back to the trailhead, knocking off the route in sections. If you are up for the challenge, the trail can be approached in several ways. Appropriate footwear with the necessary traction is a must, as are a map, compass, first-aid kit and being in fit condition. Rusin and Vincent say it is critical to bring lots of potable water because there are few sources along the path, and even those can be frozen or dried up depending on the season. While the name is sexy and the danger tantalizing, the Devil’s Path is for expert hikers only. “The terrain and conditions are totally unpredictable.” How to attempt the Devil’s Path “They think the Catskills are just hills, but the Devil’s Path packs a wicked punch,” he said. Stash Rusin, host of the podcast “Inside the Line: The Catskills” and an avid explorer of the region, said that many people underestimate the trail because the Catskills lack the open summits of the Adirondacks or the White Mountains. “When you hike it, you will quickly learn how it got its name,” said Dick Vincent, founder and race director of the legendary Escarpment Trail Run. No matter what origin story you believe, the burliness of the Catskills, with their rounded summits and thick undergrowth, lead most to feel there’s something seductive and sadistic about the Devil’s Path. Others say that European settlers, particularly the Dutch, believed the devil lived in the Catskills because the weather changed so rapidly and dramatically. Some claim that Indigenous people wouldn’t go up the treacherous summits because they believed the devil lurked there. The lore is as thick and mercurial as the path itself.
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