Slide

[MattC]

Went up from the Rt 47 side, back down on the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail for a loop. I used snowshoes, but it could be barebooted, and I saw two other hikers doing so. Perfectly still below 3500' and just a little wind at the summit. The sun was out over the peak, but there were clouds all around obscuring everything. The snow was crusty throughout, as seems to be the case all over the Catskills after the freezing rain. The main trail was fairly broken, mostly by boots, so it was uneven. Sometimes it was easier just walking on the crust.

The C-O Trail was only postholed by two barebooters from the previous day.
The Phoenicia-East Branch Trail going towards Denning was unbroken, at least where it meets the C-O Trail. No views anywhere, but the forest was beautifully glazed w/ ice and snow, and it was still a great day to be out. The P-E Trail had many spots where the snow was very shallow or completely melted due to all the little streams. One would be better off barebooting until the C-O Trail if coming up this way.

After the hike I rounded out the day by going to the Bearsville Theatre for the memorial for Alf Evers, the great Catskill historian. The place was packed, and there were about 20 speakers and singers. Alf was really loved. Perhaps there should be a memorial for him placed on Overlook Mountain.


Matt

 

[Jay H]

Hi Matt, I presume this was Sunday, it looked pretty hazy on most of high peaks although it was fairly clear coming up the Thruway towards Kingston. Fred, Al, Ralph, and I decided that Saturday was a mess, just an awful day to be out there so we decided not to camp out and just do a dayhike on Sunday, which we did.

Did Friday and Balsam Cap on Sunday, 3 of us just brought crampons and one of us wore snowshoes. I'm fairly light, me and daypack was probably around 140lbs so I was actually able to float on the snow in the begining just with my boots on the flat surfaces but as it turned up, the rest of us put on our crampons and used that once it got steep.

Did you see us? We left hiking around 7:30ish and got back out around 4pm.

Nice Re: Alf Evers.. I'm very slowly reading his book on the catskills: Wilderness to Woodstock. He was really knowledgable on the history.

 

[MattC]

Hey Jay,

It was indeed Sunday. You guys probably made a good call not camping on Saturday night. Although I did see two backpackers coming down from Slide on my way up. They said they had camped in the col between Witt and Cornell. Anyhow...

Congrats on finishing the 35! I just have Blackhead (as a winter) and West Kill left. I'll definitely be up for some of the lesser-traveled Catskill trails and bushwhacks in the future. The 100 does seem interesting. Do you know anything about the ownership of say, Onteora Mountain or the East Jewett Range? Or how about Spruce Top, which is shoulder of Plateau?

While on Slide's summit I did look in the direction of Friday, but all I saw was clouds. Seemed like there was a reddish, horn-shaped glow coming from that direction though. I too am grinding through my dad's old copy of Catskills Wilderness to Woodstock. You should check out the chapter "When the Devil Was Romping the Catskills" for inspiration.

Matt

 

[Jay H]

Ack, didn't bring the horns... Was afraid it would get caught up in some of the balsams on BC...

As far as ownership, I have no idea, not being a local, best bet would be to post a query. Dennic C, Mark Schaefer, Hermit, somebody's bound to have a clue. SpruceTop is probably in that Elka Park club.. that owns the trail to Plateau from the Elka Park section... You can see the spur trail when o the Devil's path on Plateau even though it's not on my 1998 catskill map. You can probably contact the Elka Park association who owns the land that Spruce Top is on.

Do you have an idea of when you are going to do Blackhead or West Kill?

Re: Alf's book, That was the first chapter that I read. I bought that book a little before my Devil's Path charity event last year and I actually used some quotes from that in some of the flyers I made out to raise money where I work!

Jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Matt, Sorry to hear you had clouds again on Slide. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Dennis C and John Swanson, having climbed all the 3K peaks, may be the best authorities on ownership of the Catskill 3K summits. In prior threads they have offered to give advice. I have climbed a few of the 2K and 3K Catskill peaks which are privately owned.

Jay is correct that the Elka Park Club owns Spruce Top. My trail condition report is still on VFTT, but it may disappear the next time the NY conditions list is clipped. It gives some info on the trail and ownership. The start of the private Spruce Top trail is shown on the 2001 edition of the NYNJTC map #41 by a couple of dashes.

I climbed Onteora many years ago from Onteora Park. I had a friend who had connections there at the time. I believe the Onteora Park Club still owns the summit.

 

[MattC]

Mark, as usual, thanks for opening the encyclopedia of Catskill knowledge that is your brain. If I don't get to see the view from Slide the third time, I'll, I'll... go back a fourth.

Jay- There are 3500 Club hikes to both Blackhead (this Saturday) and West Kill (two weeks) in the coming weeks. I'll probably hike with the club, unless I don't. I sent you a PM about this.

Matt

 

[imarchant]

The catskill3500 group on yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3500club/ is also a good place to ask the question about land ownership and contacts.

Matt, you have the same luck as me on Hunter. Iv'e been 3X with no good views yet. I still need this as a required winter peak, so I'll have a least one more chance.