Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We accompanied PA Ridge Runner and Muddybottom on their Catskill 35 Finish Saturday. They have a much more detailed version of the trip, but I will hit the highlights from the aquatic point of view.
Last week, I wrote about Fire. This week the theme was water, or more broadly, liquid. We started off at the Slide Mountain Road Parking lot, and traversed over to Woodland Valley Campground, about 9.5 miles away. Immediately upon starting the hike, I fell into the Neversink stream!
I was trying to cross the stream on a pair of logs, but lost my balance, and in I went. I was more or less soaked on the left side of my body from chest to boots. Included in the dousing were my pack, cell phone, electronic keys, and my dignity! I took off my pack only to find that my spare socks were not among my belongings, having been misplaced when I transitioned from the Winter to the Spring pack. Steve, Fran, and Laurie all had spare pairs, so I was good to go. Fortunately, my electronics all survived!
I was a little chilly, but it was a warm, dry day, and I was wearing fast drying clothes, so I started warming up and drying out quickly. Eventually, everything was dry except my pack. The bottom just seemed to be constantly wet, and not improving like everything else. I finally stopped and investigated. It turns out I had a bag of ice keeping some beverages cold, and it was leaking! DOH! I remedied this problem, and off we went. Slide was the first summit, seemingly accomplished effortlessly, as we all made it to the top with barely a sweat. Even though it was only 10:47, we opened the first of the celebratory beverages, Dale's Pale Ale, and passed it around. As Steve commented, it was Noon somewhere!
Since we are focusing on water, I must mention that the Spring below the summit of Slide was running like a gusher! All the more amazing when one realizes that it flows out just 300' below the summit!
Off we went to Cornell, where Steve and Fran officially celebrated their 39th peak! Woohoo! More Dales' was produced, along with a small bottle of bubbly, in addition to the more traditional hiking beverages of Gatorade and water. A brief celebration ensued, and we were met by some friends coming from the other direction, who just happened to be doing the same peaks.
Again, before we knew it, we were on Wittenburg, where Steve and Fran began their quest over 20 years ago. The snow falling that day obscured a large body of water, the Ashokan reservoir, which was revealed in all its splendor today. We stayed quite a while and enjoyed the expansive views.
Eventually we tore ourselves away, and briefly visited the Boy Scout Cave, where a bottle of very strong liquid had been left behind, presumably for the Scoutmaster, not the boys!
The streams on the Wittenburg side were barely flowing, but again the spring around 2300' was a torrent of water. And it was delicious! We finished the day by crossing the stream in Woodland Valley, and tossing down a few more cold ones. Well, we weren't quite done yet, we went to Brio's and ate and drank a little more. Seriously, I drank a lot of water here, a fitting end to a wet day!
And speaking of Fire, I was pleased to see the evidence of fire rings was greatly reduced from the last time I did this traverse.
Next week: Either Earth or Wind. We shall see!
Last week, I wrote about Fire. This week the theme was water, or more broadly, liquid. We started off at the Slide Mountain Road Parking lot, and traversed over to Woodland Valley Campground, about 9.5 miles away. Immediately upon starting the hike, I fell into the Neversink stream!
I was trying to cross the stream on a pair of logs, but lost my balance, and in I went. I was more or less soaked on the left side of my body from chest to boots. Included in the dousing were my pack, cell phone, electronic keys, and my dignity! I took off my pack only to find that my spare socks were not among my belongings, having been misplaced when I transitioned from the Winter to the Spring pack. Steve, Fran, and Laurie all had spare pairs, so I was good to go. Fortunately, my electronics all survived! I was a little chilly, but it was a warm, dry day, and I was wearing fast drying clothes, so I started warming up and drying out quickly. Eventually, everything was dry except my pack. The bottom just seemed to be constantly wet, and not improving like everything else. I finally stopped and investigated. It turns out I had a bag of ice keeping some beverages cold, and it was leaking! DOH!
I remedied this problem, and off we went. Slide was the first summit, seemingly accomplished effortlessly, as we all made it to the top with barely a sweat. Even though it was only 10:47, we opened the first of the celebratory beverages, Dale's Pale Ale, and passed it around. As Steve commented, it was Noon somewhere! Since we are focusing on water, I must mention that the Spring below the summit of Slide was running like a gusher! All the more amazing when one realizes that it flows out just 300' below the summit!
Off we went to Cornell, where Steve and Fran officially celebrated their 39th peak! Woohoo! More Dales' was produced, along with a small bottle of bubbly, in addition to the more traditional hiking beverages of Gatorade and water. A brief celebration ensued, and we were met by some friends coming from the other direction, who just happened to be doing the same peaks.
Again, before we knew it, we were on Wittenburg, where Steve and Fran began their quest over 20 years ago. The snow falling that day obscured a large body of water, the Ashokan reservoir, which was revealed in all its splendor today. We stayed quite a while and enjoyed the expansive views.
Eventually we tore ourselves away, and briefly visited the Boy Scout Cave, where a bottle of very strong liquid had been left behind, presumably for the Scoutmaster, not the boys!
The streams on the Wittenburg side were barely flowing, but again the spring around 2300' was a torrent of water. And it was delicious!
We finished the day by crossing the stream in Woodland Valley, and tossing down a few more cold ones. Well, we weren't quite done yet, we went to Brio's and ate and drank a little more. Seriously, I drank a lot of water here, a fitting end to a wet day!And speaking of Fire, I was pleased to see the evidence of fire rings was greatly reduced from the last time I did this traverse.
Next week: Either Earth or Wind. We shall see!
