T
the_swede
Guest
Date of Hike: 4/13/08
Trip Report/Trail Conditions: I started this hike at 8:30 AM at the Woodland Valley Campground under a light drizzle. It was a pretty miserable day for hiking, as the visibility was extremely low, especially high up. By about 2,500 feet, the rain had turned to snow and everything was getting covered in a slick layer of slush. Down low it was clearly mud season in the Catskills but by the 3,500 foot mark, it was still very much winter.
I had to don my crampons, as the freeze/thaw cycle had turned much of the snow-covered trail into thick sheets of ice. I arrived at the summit of Witt at 10:30 AM. The summit of Witt was completely shrouded in a blanket of fog. At this point it was snowing pretty hard and I was getting pretty wet but I pushed onto Cornell. About 20 minutes later I found myself at the summit clearing of Cornell. There were a few tricky spots on Cornell's steep ledges and I don't know how the others that came after me managed to make it without some form of traction. I had a bite to eat and drank some water before heading back down.
While photographing the summit of Witt on the return, a lone hiker startled me; I thought I was the only person crazy enough to be out in such nasty weather. He was heading to Slide and back. We exchanged a few words and then I was on my way.
Luck was not on my side. The entire way up, I felt a bit claustrophobic due to the limited visibility and the tunnel-like nature of the balsam-lined trail. There were no views at the summit of Wittenberg, I was wet, and fatigued due to not sleeping much the morning of this hike. By the time I got to 3,500 feet, however, the sun came out and the sky was blue. At this point, I decided I wanted to take some pictures, when my camera decided to crap out on me due to the intense moisture. Oh well....
I made it back to Woodland Valley at 1:00 PM and treated myself to a hot cup o' Joe and some semi-stale Fig Newtons. I began heading back home to Jersey when my fatigue from not sleeping really caught up with me. I pulled into the parking lot of some abandoned building on Route 28 and passed out for a half hour. After that, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the mighty Thruway.
Pics: http://flickr.com/photos/t3h_sw3d3/sets/72157604528104419/detail/
Equipment: Crampons or some other form of traction. It was very icy at 3,000 feet and up.
Trip Report/Trail Conditions: I started this hike at 8:30 AM at the Woodland Valley Campground under a light drizzle. It was a pretty miserable day for hiking, as the visibility was extremely low, especially high up. By about 2,500 feet, the rain had turned to snow and everything was getting covered in a slick layer of slush. Down low it was clearly mud season in the Catskills but by the 3,500 foot mark, it was still very much winter.
I had to don my crampons, as the freeze/thaw cycle had turned much of the snow-covered trail into thick sheets of ice. I arrived at the summit of Witt at 10:30 AM. The summit of Witt was completely shrouded in a blanket of fog. At this point it was snowing pretty hard and I was getting pretty wet but I pushed onto Cornell. About 20 minutes later I found myself at the summit clearing of Cornell. There were a few tricky spots on Cornell's steep ledges and I don't know how the others that came after me managed to make it without some form of traction. I had a bite to eat and drank some water before heading back down.
While photographing the summit of Witt on the return, a lone hiker startled me; I thought I was the only person crazy enough to be out in such nasty weather. He was heading to Slide and back. We exchanged a few words and then I was on my way.
Luck was not on my side. The entire way up, I felt a bit claustrophobic due to the limited visibility and the tunnel-like nature of the balsam-lined trail. There were no views at the summit of Wittenberg, I was wet, and fatigued due to not sleeping much the morning of this hike. By the time I got to 3,500 feet, however, the sun came out and the sky was blue. At this point, I decided I wanted to take some pictures, when my camera decided to crap out on me due to the intense moisture. Oh well....
I made it back to Woodland Valley at 1:00 PM and treated myself to a hot cup o' Joe and some semi-stale Fig Newtons. I began heading back home to Jersey when my fatigue from not sleeping really caught up with me. I pulled into the parking lot of some abandoned building on Route 28 and passed out for a half hour. After that, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the mighty Thruway.
Pics: http://flickr.com/photos/t3h_sw3d3/sets/72157604528104419/detail/
Equipment: Crampons or some other form of traction. It was very icy at 3,000 feet and up.
