Wittenberg and Cornell Mountain – Catskills, NY 7-29-17

[Darkmatter]

Did Wittenberg and Cornell Mountains from Woodland Valley on Saturday. 9.4 miles and 3,029 elevation gain in 3.5 hrs. Was a great hike. Constant elevation gain from start to finish with beautiful view from Wittenberg. The Cornell Crack was also a fun feature. Trail was nice and dry. Also managed to not get a single bug bite all day which is rare for me.

Full trip report below:

https://operationalaska30.com/2017/...rg-and-cornell-mountain-catskills-ny-7-29-17/

 

[Tom Rankin]

"Constant elevation gain from start to finish", Wow that sounds hard!

I guess you also forgot about that stretch that goes down hill on the 'ascent', after the spring. I seem to have an excellent memory of where trails are going the 'wrong' way.

Glad to hear the bugs are gone, at least for a while!

Reading your blog, I have a few comments/questions:

If you see illegal camping, please report it. Also, mention the sad state of the trail register.

Did you see evidence of other illegal camping?

The crack is indeed not to be trifled with. I can think of 3 injuries that I know of, involving, head, shoulder, and knee.

Thanks again for posting!

 

[Darkmatter]

Hey Tom, I think I must of blanked out in a daze during the ascent and missed the down and up hah, I also missed a spring apparently too. I need to become more observant I think!

That was the only illegal camper I saw but I didn't see the owner of the tent when I passed. Although I did see a couple of groups with heavy packs headed up on the way down so there may have been others with the same plan. What is the proper channel to report those kinds of things in the Catskills?

 

[Tom Rankin]

The Catskills are divided into 2 regions:

Region 3 http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/607.html
Region 4 http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/611.html

The Rangers are the people to contact, and who will investigate illegal activities. Of course, after the fact, there is little they can do.