Burroughs Range Traverse 2/12/05

[MattC]

Carol (Dax), JayH, Ed (ADK4487) and I started from Woodland Valley around 9. The 3 of them had just come from their campground in Phoenicia, which was currently w/o hot water. After introductions, we geared up and hit the trail. Crusty, icy snow, nowhere near enough for 'shoes, and still a little too rocky for crampons. We barebooted all the way to the summit of Wittenberg. Jay was chugging steadily along most of the way, w/ the rest of us alternatively keeping up or catching up.

It was a bit windy and just a bit chilly. We were mostly in two layers while moving, three when stopped for more than five minutes. We had a pretty good view from Wittenberg, but it would be the last of the day. We congradulated Ed for his first Catskill summit (you could do worse than Witt in winter!) and moved on. At one point between Witt and Cornell my right foot slipped on some snow-covered ice and my entire right leg slid into a small crevice, causing me to painfully bang my left chin against the rock on the side of the crevice. Carol was right in front of me when it happened, and it only hurt for a minute or so, but I want to remember this experience, since it could have been much, much worse. I got lucky...

On the way up Cornell we came to the point at which crampons became essential. It was a short, but very steep and narrow, chute. We all managed to negotiate it w/ a combo of crampon use, finger-holds, and pushing and pulling each other up. After this we were at the summit in a short time, and we stopped for lunch. It was about 1:30. Somewhere in the col between Cornell and Slide, I realized the bottom half of one of my trekking poles had fallen out. Both poles had been close to failing all day, and at this point I had them completely collapsed and was mostly just carrying them. I went back on the trail maybe 500 feet or so and didn't see the piece, so I turned around and caught up w/ the others. The "remains" of my poles went on my pack, and a couple of fairly sturdy spruce branches made pretty good staves for the rest of the hike.

The crampons were still on, and became necessary again as we ascended Slide. There was another chute, and a lot of crusty ice patches. It had been lightly snowing for some time now. On the really steep slopes the old snow (and perhaps a bit of the new) had drifted deep enough for snowshoes, but this didn't last long. Jay had been anticipating a ladder at some point, and then all a sudden we saw the Burroughs plaque through a break in the trees.
We were scratching our heads then. Jay remembered a ladder on Slide last winter, but I was pretty sure there wasn't one in August of last year. We wondered if the trail had been rerouted.

After a few pictures by the plaque, we hustled up on the summit rock. It was of course totally socked in, it was getting cold, and it was about 3:30, so we saw no reason to linger. The descent of Slide's west slope was the easiest part of the hike and we merrily clomped along, just enjoying the snowy conifers lining the trail and each others company. We finally took the crampons off less than a mile from the trailhead, when our tired ankles were starting to complain about the rocky trail. It was just about 5 when we signed out and piled into Ed's truck. About half an hour later we were back at Woodland Valley, changing into dry socks, etc.

My 3 new friends were headed for dinner at the Inn @ Woodland Valley, but I had to motor back to New Paltz to meet a (non-hiking) friend visiting from Albany. Sorry I couldn't make it for the post-hike chowdown and I hope we have another opportunity. As I write this, Jay, Ed and Carol are spending their second night at the Phoenicia campsite. I hope they lucked out and the shower's fixed!

Matt

 

[Jay H]

Nope, no fixed shower... Although we considered pushing Ed into the Esopus... Just kidding.

I know where the ladder is/should be, carol and I were talking about it on Sunday, Remember the section when I was lobbing puffy snow at Ed and Carol? And the part at the base where I went to the right for about 50 feet? That, we believe is where the ladder is. It's been awhile since I've been back there and I think what I saw was a ladder that was one giant ball of frozen ice mixed in with some blowdown.

It looks that not many folks come down off Slide because as you know, that section between Cornell and Slide was pretty devoid of tracks. I know I would be hesitant to go down that steep slope that we went up without knowing what you're getting into. Going up, we have the option of at least testing the footholds before progressing, whereas going down, there is no margin of error (unless you've brought rope).

Anyway, that's where the ladder is or was but we'll have to wait for the spring thaw to find out.

BTW, had a really nice dinner at the Inn at Woodland Valley, the same place we had for the catskill's gathering. In fact, I sat at the same table that we had at the gathering.


We had a good Balsam Lake hike too, but we didn't go do Graham due to lack of a hot shower!!!!!!

I'm going to to trail conditions but perhaps post a report tomorrow. I'm going to eat some ice cream now..

Jay

 

[daxs]

I have done this traverse twice now and loved it both times. Even though on this trip I needed to be pushed/pulled in several places to get up thru steep icy areas. Thank goodness all hands were involved with pushing and pulling so there are no photos to commemorate this sad spectacle in my hiking life. I think Ed had a great introduction to the Catskills and I think he will be visiting the ADK's a little less often now that the Catskill 3500's are calling him. We ended the hike with a great dinner. By the time we finished, the snow had stopped and we did get a chance to sample 3 (three!) types of bourbon around a fire. We went to bed in "Ed's Edifice" a 6 person tent complete with portable propane heater. I know I dreamed about hot showers.

FYI for anyone thinking of staying at the Phoenicia Black Bear campground in the near future. Call and make sure the furnace in the bath house is fixed and the toilets actually flush and the showers are working with hot water....