mountainmeijin
10-13-2007, 09:49 PM
First off, let me say that I've never seen a bear attempting to cross a highway before. Heading west along Route 28 today, a bear darted in front of my car and retreated back to the shoulder with just a few feet to spare. Offhand, I'd guess he was about 200 lbs. I wish I'd pulled over and gotten a picture of him.
Today, Kmorgan, his friend Rich and myself started out of Woodland Valley at around 8:30 am, having spotted a car on Slide Mountain Road, for a traverse of the Burroughs Range. The weather was crisp and clear, with temperatures in the mid 30's in the valley. Fall has finally arrived, it seems. We hiked at a moderate, steady pace up Wittenberg and made good time, taking only about three real breaks on the way to the summit. The last mile was still long, as we scrambled up ledge after ledge.
We reached Wittenberg's summit around 11:00 am. It was still as spectacular as ever. The revelation of Wittenberg's summit is probably one of my favorite summit unveilings anywhere. The trail zigzags endlessly upward and finally moderates, tempting you with sunlight shining through the trees before you suddenly spill out onto the open summit ledge. The best summit in the Catskills, in my opinion.
We started our descent towards Cornell at 11:25 am. I was keeping an eye on the alternating ribbons of sun and clouds to the northwest, remembering my Adirondacks hike last weekend. With the cool temperatures today, rain might have been dangerous, but it stayed dry all day.
We reached Cornell's summit around noon, having happily bumbled our way up the Cornell Crack. There are so many great cliff scrambles in this range. On Cornell western face, we were treated to a spectacular view of Slide. From the valley on the east branch of the Neversink, Slide seems like an easy walk-up. It's hard to believe that it's the highest in the Catskills from that side. From Cornell, it looks high, distant and very imposing. There were some tricky ledge descents down Cornell, but once we reached the bottom of the col it was an easy stroll to the base of Slide, though the trail seemed to make some odd zigzags.
The east face of Slide is spectacular. We scrambled up several large, near-vertical rock faces along the way, often with not much in the way of good handholds or footholds. At one point, we waited for a group of twelve students from Binghamton University to shimmy down narrow cleft in an almost vertical cliff as they traversed the range in the opposite direction from us. At around 3,950' the trail ascended a long ladder over some actually rather benign-seeming ledges. It was puzzling why they would put a ladder here, but not on the tougher ledges down below. At the top of the ladders, we were treated to a spectacular view back over the range. We admired how far we'd come since Woodland Valley.
At 2:15, we reached Slide's summit which was teeming with other hikers. Though the views at the top are rather overgrown, you can still tell how much higher you are than the surrounding peaks. We began our descent around 2:30. To add some variety, I suggested that we descend the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail. The views south and west along this trail are becoming rather treed-in, but overall it's got more flavor than the section of the Burroughs Range Trail that it bypasses, in my opinion. The upper reaches are soft under foot, and the lower parts were showing some nice foliage, as well as several interesting rock formations.
Kmorgan's knees were feeling sore from the long descent, so we slowed our pace in this section but still made good time down to the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail. This trail was beautiful; a gentle walk along an old road, covered with fallen leaves in a multitude of colors. If the conditions stay like this, it might be a worthwhile hike just to spend a day strolling along this old road.
We made the steep final descent and arrived at the Slide Mountain Road trailhead at 4:30 pm. This was a wonderful hike, and not nearly as strenuous as I was originally expecting. Every lover of the Catskills should make this traverse at one time or another, and preferably many more times.
Congratulations to Rich on becoming a Catskills 13'R and I wish you both the best of luck on your remaining peaks. I had a great time today. Thanks for the company.
Pictures will be up tomorrow.
Today, Kmorgan, his friend Rich and myself started out of Woodland Valley at around 8:30 am, having spotted a car on Slide Mountain Road, for a traverse of the Burroughs Range. The weather was crisp and clear, with temperatures in the mid 30's in the valley. Fall has finally arrived, it seems. We hiked at a moderate, steady pace up Wittenberg and made good time, taking only about three real breaks on the way to the summit. The last mile was still long, as we scrambled up ledge after ledge.
We reached Wittenberg's summit around 11:00 am. It was still as spectacular as ever. The revelation of Wittenberg's summit is probably one of my favorite summit unveilings anywhere. The trail zigzags endlessly upward and finally moderates, tempting you with sunlight shining through the trees before you suddenly spill out onto the open summit ledge. The best summit in the Catskills, in my opinion.
We started our descent towards Cornell at 11:25 am. I was keeping an eye on the alternating ribbons of sun and clouds to the northwest, remembering my Adirondacks hike last weekend. With the cool temperatures today, rain might have been dangerous, but it stayed dry all day.
We reached Cornell's summit around noon, having happily bumbled our way up the Cornell Crack. There are so many great cliff scrambles in this range. On Cornell western face, we were treated to a spectacular view of Slide. From the valley on the east branch of the Neversink, Slide seems like an easy walk-up. It's hard to believe that it's the highest in the Catskills from that side. From Cornell, it looks high, distant and very imposing. There were some tricky ledge descents down Cornell, but once we reached the bottom of the col it was an easy stroll to the base of Slide, though the trail seemed to make some odd zigzags.
The east face of Slide is spectacular. We scrambled up several large, near-vertical rock faces along the way, often with not much in the way of good handholds or footholds. At one point, we waited for a group of twelve students from Binghamton University to shimmy down narrow cleft in an almost vertical cliff as they traversed the range in the opposite direction from us. At around 3,950' the trail ascended a long ladder over some actually rather benign-seeming ledges. It was puzzling why they would put a ladder here, but not on the tougher ledges down below. At the top of the ladders, we were treated to a spectacular view back over the range. We admired how far we'd come since Woodland Valley.
At 2:15, we reached Slide's summit which was teeming with other hikers. Though the views at the top are rather overgrown, you can still tell how much higher you are than the surrounding peaks. We began our descent around 2:30. To add some variety, I suggested that we descend the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail. The views south and west along this trail are becoming rather treed-in, but overall it's got more flavor than the section of the Burroughs Range Trail that it bypasses, in my opinion. The upper reaches are soft under foot, and the lower parts were showing some nice foliage, as well as several interesting rock formations.
Kmorgan's knees were feeling sore from the long descent, so we slowed our pace in this section but still made good time down to the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail. This trail was beautiful; a gentle walk along an old road, covered with fallen leaves in a multitude of colors. If the conditions stay like this, it might be a worthwhile hike just to spend a day strolling along this old road.
We made the steep final descent and arrived at the Slide Mountain Road trailhead at 4:30 pm. This was a wonderful hike, and not nearly as strenuous as I was originally expecting. Every lover of the Catskills should make this traverse at one time or another, and preferably many more times.
Congratulations to Rich on becoming a Catskills 13'R and I wish you both the best of luck on your remaining peaks. I had a great time today. Thanks for the company.
Pictures will be up tomorrow.