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Devil's Kitchen trail donated to state for safer access

Mar 09, 2016 12:02 am
Jessica Porter reports in The Watershed Post that two local ice climbers, Morris Sachs and Marty Molitoris, bought a plot of Greene County land for $30,000 to donate it to New York State as a safe trail into the Devil’s Kitchen. The area is includes a cliff-lined gorge and steep, rocky trails in the Platte Clove valley in the town of Hunter. In recent years there have been several accidents and deaths among hikers accessing Devil's Kitchen by several routes, and the land Sachs and Molitoris purchased contains what is considered the safest trail into the area. Molitoris, who owns the Ulster County-based climbing guide service Alpine Endeavors, found out three years ago that Viera Bolcek was selling her Platte Clove property that hikers had been using illegally for years to access Devil's Kitchen. “I’ve been climbing for twenty-some years and I’ve seen places like this get closed off,” Molitoris said. “It’s such a special area to me and many others.” This past November they donated the property to the state. See the full story in The Watershed Post.