halia and flammeus
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Hard to write a trip report about Wittenberg and Cornell - a trail that is so popular, and for good reason, that many folks reading this probably consider this trail a good friend. Hopefully I bring a couple of new insights to bear on such a great place.
Choosing to hike on Saturday (8/9) meant choosing not to run the road race in Rosendale, nor go to Pilates class... tough choice
. Choosing to hike, however, with a bunch of the 35 still to go, meant figuring out where. We have the North Dome & Sherrill outing planned for later in the fall, Friday through Peek planned for our anniversary ... and winter Blackhead remains. But the clear sky and nice high ceiling necessitated a hike with views. Wittenberg and Cornell it was.
At Woodland Valley, we paid our day use fee to Carl - our daughter's friend's dad. Small world - we didn't know he worked there. A few cars in the lot, but we knew to expect plenty of folks on the trail - a bright sunny Saturday in high summer - could be crowded!
Is the hike to the trail register the steepest in the Catskills? I don't remember where the trail register is on Peekamoose or Plateau (the two other super steep ascents I can think of off hand), but this made us huff and puff despite being in "summer" shape. Sheesh.
The dogs appreciated the wet spots along the first section of trail. We passed a dad with two young boys, and then four young men passed us but we started to feel a little better about our pace when we fell in step with a gentleman hiking with his son. They were great folk, and we ended up hiking all the way to Cornell with them - but we were pleased that a young fit 24 year old and his marathon running dad were the best match for our pace.
The scrambling up Wittenberg must be one of the most satisfying hiking experiences in the Catskills. The last time I was there was a few years ago in June, and there was enough ice to make it especially tricky. On Saturday it was just delightful. Reminiscent of parts of Kaaterskill High Peak, and parts of the Devil's Path, but unique too. Gorgeous. The dogs had no trouble leaping or climbing as the need presented.
At the summit we shared sights and food with the four young men, a septogenarian and his two companions, a dad with two young sons, another couple, and our new hiking buddies. Everyone was so friendly and pleasant - it was a really great group of diverse folk. We were able to get an awesome view fix (view junkies that we are) - excellent views of the Devil's path including Hunter and West Kill, Overlook, Ashokan High Point, Friday and Balsam cap, the reservoir, etc. The clouds were dramatic, the views were forever, and it was exactly what we were out there for.
View questions: Hunter's firetower??? Am I just a spazz, or is it somehow not visible from that angle? If I knew where to look, should I have been able to pick out Red Hill's firetower? The huge tower to the South (see my other thread) - any ideas what that is?
On to Cornell. Our new friends were planning to turn back and head down, but I convinced them to join us by quoting the Kick & McManus' book - that Cornell is "only 20 minutes" from the summit of Wittenberg. We did it in 29 minutes, but that did include a log jam at the Hilary Step of Cornell. The dogs did fine going up, but I was truly impressed - that was the most tricky section of trail I've encountered in the Catskills. Very cool, but I would definitely be intimidated if conditions were not close to ideal. I doff my hat to all that have done that in icy conditions. Whew.
The view just east of Cornell's summit - at the top of the rocks I just described - was magnificent. Better than the summit of Wittenberg. I was in a hyper peak-bagging mode, and ran ahead to give Flammeus et al a sense of "how far to the summit?" We were there shortly, and used the rest break to chat about our various running injuries I guess runners can be incorrigible with all that comparing notes, scars, race results...
Back to Wittenberg, and a completely new cast of characters peopled the summit. Again, everyone up there was incredibly friendly and outgoing - good because Iske decided to steal a hiking stick and turn it into toothpicks (in truth she was given the green light by the stick's owner prior to making off with it). She thinks humans carry sticks to mountain tops so that she will have something to chew once up there herself.
We were unable to match our marathoning friend's pace on the way down (he must have amazing knees!), but caught up with him on the flatter sections of trail. The talk was of beer, wine, mead, and human services (Flammeus is the brewer; I admit it - I talked about work ).
We ended the day in Phoenicia - the ice cream shop in the village has Ronnybrook ice cream!!! Boo hoo to the closure of Black Bear Hollow Cafe - very sad for our friends (the owners) and very sad for hikers looking for a great place to eat. I hear the Wittenberg store has good eats and good folks running the place - it is a little off the beaten path, though. Bread Alone in Boiceville or Woodstock is the next best option, I guess.
Great day in the Burroughs Range. Part 2 - Approaching Slide - will be the subject of a separate post.
Peace,
Halia
Choosing to hike on Saturday (8/9) meant choosing not to run the road race in Rosendale, nor go to Pilates class... tough choice
. Choosing to hike, however, with a bunch of the 35 still to go, meant figuring out where. We have the North Dome & Sherrill outing planned for later in the fall, Friday through Peek planned for our anniversary ... and winter Blackhead remains. But the clear sky and nice high ceiling necessitated a hike with views. Wittenberg and Cornell it was.At Woodland Valley, we paid our day use fee to Carl - our daughter's friend's dad. Small world - we didn't know he worked there. A few cars in the lot, but we knew to expect plenty of folks on the trail - a bright sunny Saturday in high summer - could be crowded!
Is the hike to the trail register the steepest in the Catskills? I don't remember where the trail register is on Peekamoose or Plateau (the two other super steep ascents I can think of off hand), but this made us huff and puff despite being in "summer" shape. Sheesh.
The dogs appreciated the wet spots along the first section of trail. We passed a dad with two young boys, and then four young men passed us
but we started to feel a little better about our pace when we fell in step with a gentleman hiking with his son. They were great folk, and we ended up hiking all the way to Cornell with them - but we were pleased that a young fit 24 year old and his marathon running dad were the best match for our pace. The scrambling up Wittenberg must be one of the most satisfying hiking experiences in the Catskills. The last time I was there was a few years ago in June, and there was enough ice to make it especially tricky. On Saturday it was just delightful. Reminiscent of parts of Kaaterskill High Peak, and parts of the Devil's Path, but unique too. Gorgeous. The dogs had no trouble leaping or climbing as the need presented.
At the summit we shared sights and food with the four young men, a septogenarian and his two companions, a dad with two young sons, another couple, and our new hiking buddies. Everyone was so friendly and pleasant - it was a really great group of diverse folk. We were able to get an awesome view fix (view junkies that we are) - excellent views of the Devil's path including Hunter and West Kill, Overlook, Ashokan High Point, Friday and Balsam cap, the reservoir, etc. The clouds were dramatic, the views were forever, and it was exactly what we were out there for.
View questions: Hunter's firetower??? Am I just a spazz, or is it somehow not visible from that angle? If I knew where to look, should I have been able to pick out Red Hill's firetower? The huge tower to the South (see my other thread) - any ideas what that is?
On to Cornell. Our new friends were planning to turn back and head down, but I convinced them to join us by quoting the Kick & McManus' book - that Cornell is "only 20 minutes" from the summit of Wittenberg.
We did it in 29 minutes, but that did include a log jam at the Hilary Step of Cornell. The dogs did fine going up, but I was truly impressed - that was the most tricky section of trail I've encountered in the Catskills. Very cool, but I would definitely be intimidated if conditions were not close to ideal. I doff my hat to all that have done that in icy conditions. Whew.The view just east of Cornell's summit - at the top of the rocks I just described - was magnificent. Better than the summit of Wittenberg. I was in a hyper peak-bagging mode, and ran ahead to give Flammeus et al a sense of "how far to the summit?" We were there shortly, and used the rest break to chat about our various running injuries
I guess runners can be incorrigible with all that comparing notes, scars, race results...Back to Wittenberg, and a completely new cast of characters peopled the summit. Again, everyone up there was incredibly friendly and outgoing - good because Iske decided to steal a hiking stick and turn it into toothpicks (in truth she was given the green light by the stick's owner prior to making off with it). She thinks humans carry sticks to mountain tops so that she will have something to chew once up there herself.
We were unable to match our marathoning friend's pace on the way down (he must have amazing knees!), but caught up with him on the flatter sections of trail. The talk was of beer, wine, mead, and human services (Flammeus is the brewer; I admit it - I talked about work
).We ended the day in Phoenicia - the ice cream shop in the village has Ronnybrook ice cream!!! Boo hoo to the closure of Black Bear Hollow Cafe - very sad for our friends (the owners) and very sad for hikers looking for a great place to eat. I hear the Wittenberg store has good eats and good folks running the place - it is a little off the beaten path, though. Bread Alone in Boiceville or Woodstock is the next best option, I guess.
Great day in the Burroughs Range. Part 2 - Approaching Slide - will be the subject of a separate post.
Peace,
Halia
