Rising to the north of the Clove is the South Mountain, from whose
beetling crags are obtained some of the finest views offered by the
Catskills; then follows the Pine Orchard, where are the well-known
Mountain House, the twin lakes, and the Laurel House at the head of the
Kauterskill Falls; and finally, the North Mountain, which looks down
upon a graceful spur to the east, Kiskatom Round Top, and then sweeps
away to the northwest. Beyond the North Mountain is a considerable
depression, down which passes an execrable road, leading from East
Jewett, within the mountain range, to Cairo, at its foot. Finally, we
reach Windham High Peak,[1] and the fine road crossing the mountains
from Catskill to Delhi, and passing through Windham and Prattsville.
On the southern side of the range, west of Overlook, are two wild and
beautiful clefts, the one known as the Stony Clove, and the other as
West Kill or Bushnell Clove. The first begins as a narrow gorge with
lofty hemlock and moss-clad mountain sides, and gradually opens out, at
Phoenicia, upon the hills of Ulster and Esopus Creek. It is watered by
a trout stream, and its few but cosey farm cottages offer shelter
sufficient for amateur fishermen and artists, bewitched by its fairy
recesses and fine forest growth. In the narrow portion of this clove are
ice caves, where ice may be found at all seasons of the year, and whence
issue cooling winds appreciable in the warmest summer days.
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