alistair
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I'm planning to climb this loop within the next few weeks. I have never climbed in the Cats before. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me?
Wittenburg-Cornell-Slide
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SherpaKroto
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I found a ledge on Wittenberg tough (HarryK needed to spot me as I descended it as I could not reach the next spot comfortably. It is a great loop, and in hindsight, heading up Wittenberg is the way to go. It is a beautiful loop (even though it was raining!
AOC-1
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Words of wisdom
This is one of the best day hikes in the Catskills. I've done it several times. as a loop hike back to Woodland Valley. You can avoid much of the tedious walk on Slide Mountain Road to access the trail back to Woodland Valley. Soon after passing Winnisook Lake, look for an unmarked path on the right of the road. This side trail bypasses the road and takes you to the Woodland Valley trail. It is marked with a dashed black line on the NYNJ trail conference map, and I believe it is legal to hike (no posted signs). In the last mile or so of the mostly level Woodland Valley trail, there is a bit of climbing and descending. Nothing much, but it arrives at the end of a 14 mile hike, and caught me by surprise the first time. Have a great hike.
This is one of the best day hikes in the Catskills. I've done it several times. as a loop hike back to Woodland Valley. You can avoid much of the tedious walk on Slide Mountain Road to access the trail back to Woodland Valley. Soon after passing Winnisook Lake, look for an unmarked path on the right of the road. This side trail bypasses the road and takes you to the Woodland Valley trail. It is marked with a dashed black line on the NYNJ trail conference map, and I believe it is legal to hike (no posted signs). In the last mile or so of the mostly level Woodland Valley trail, there is a bit of climbing and descending. Nothing much, but it arrives at the end of a 14 mile hike, and caught me by surprise the first time. Have a great hike.
teejay
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W-c-s
I have only done this in the W-C-S direction. I would agree with SherpaKroto that some of the challenging (but fun) scrambles up in that direction (WCS) could be even more daunting in reverse. Wear good boots. You will need to wedge your feet to get up some of them. Also, the trail down Slide is much easier at the end of the hike than the trail down Wittenberg.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/190464165/190464165epWnwV
teejay
I have only done this in the W-C-S direction. I would agree with SherpaKroto that some of the challenging (but fun) scrambles up in that direction (WCS) could be even more daunting in reverse. Wear good boots. You will need to wedge your feet to get up some of them. Also, the trail down Slide is much easier at the end of the hike than the trail down Wittenberg.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/190464165/190464165epWnwV
teejay
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Rob S
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teejay said:
Ditto.
I agree with everything already said and would add only to bring a camera. This hike is one of my favorites, my previous avatar showed one of the viewpoints near the Cornell summit. On a clear day, the views are arguably some of the best in the Catskills. This hike is particularly fun because of the scramble sections, but the views are the icing on the cake.
Have a great hike. I'm looking forward to your trip report and photos.
Rob
Mark Schaefer
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I agree that the WCS direction is the way to go. You get almost all of the climbing done early in the day. The first mile climbs over 1000' up from Woodland Valley, but then there is a nice respite before the climbs up the 3 summits. Both the Wittenberg and Cornell views are on short side trails to your left that may not be well marked, so be sure to watch for them. There is a very good pipe spring 0.2 miles below the summit of Slide which is reliable even in dry summers. It should have a very good flow this year.
The unmarked trail north of Winnisook Lake that AOC-1 mentioned is entirely legal to use, the NYS DEC holds a conservation easement there. There are actually two old roads. An old logging road closer to the lake climbs more steeply and is marked no trespassing. The one you want is nearly level. It will save you about 0.2 miles off the 15.1 loop, and more importantly will save you about 500' of elevation loss and reclimbing. This was the original trail, but it lacked adequate parking so a new trailhead was established at the hairpin turn below.
If you still have some extra energy the Giant Ledge is short add on (less than 2 mile round trip). The view can be very nice in the late afternoon.
The unmarked trail north of Winnisook Lake that AOC-1 mentioned is entirely legal to use, the NYS DEC holds a conservation easement there. There are actually two old roads. An old logging road closer to the lake climbs more steeply and is marked no trespassing. The one you want is nearly level. It will save you about 0.2 miles off the 15.1 loop, and more importantly will save you about 500' of elevation loss and reclimbing. This was the original trail, but it lacked adequate parking so a new trailhead was established at the hairpin turn below.
If you still have some extra energy the Giant Ledge is short add on (less than 2 mile round trip). The view can be very nice in the late afternoon.
Tuco
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Mark beat me to the punch, but here is a link to a trail report for my hike last year:
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3865&goto=nextnewest
Enjoy.
Its a real nice hike.
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3865&goto=nextnewest
Enjoy.
Its a real nice hike.
Artex
New member
That hike is fantastic. It's still one of my favorites to this day. I also concur with starting at Woodland Valley.
Here are links to two trip reports on the loop that I've posted on my website. One of them is for my first solo hike ever. They might give you some further insight:
Trip from last year
First solo trip ever
Have a great time on your trip!
Here are links to two trip reports on the loop that I've posted on my website. One of them is for my first solo hike ever. They might give you some further insight:
Trip from last year
First solo trip ever
Have a great time on your trip!
TMax
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One more gem...
I've done this hike in both directions, and even as an "out and back" which was my favorite. It's amazing how your perspective can change with both the direction you're travelling and your level of fatigue!
Any option you choose Alistair will delight you, I'm sure. However...I would encourage you not to miss Terrace Mountain. It really is a wonderful little gem and worth the tiny bit of extra energy used.
I've done this hike in both directions, and even as an "out and back" which was my favorite. It's amazing how your perspective can change with both the direction you're travelling and your level of fatigue!
Any option you choose Alistair will delight you, I'm sure. However...I would encourage you not to miss Terrace Mountain. It really is a wonderful little gem and worth the tiny bit of extra energy used. 
MattC
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As with Artex, this was my first real solo hike. It was also sort of a life-changer-the hike where I really got hooked. A Catskill classic, no doubt.
I found it enjoyable to car-camp at Woodland Valley, which is a nice little spot in it's own right. I did the WCS loop and then went for a hearty dinner in Phoenicia.
Matt
I found it enjoyable to car-camp at Woodland Valley, which is a nice little spot in it's own right. I did the WCS loop and then went for a hearty dinner in Phoenicia.
Matt
imarchant
Active member
This is one of the best hikes in the Cats! I have done the loop (15 miles) as a solo overnight in 2003 (my first) from Woodland Valley in the counter clockwise direction. I wish I knew about the shortcut AOC-1 describes at the time. I have done the section from Woodland Valley to slide mountain road in both directions. It is definetaly more difficult from Woodland Valley due to the elevation differences of the parking areas. If you are only doing this section (10 miles) I recommend you take the Curtis-Ormbsy (sp?) trail. If you are doing the entire loop (and you are really ambitious) consider a side trip to Giant Legde. The views from Wittenburgh are increadable seconded by the views from Giant Ledge!
Have fun, it won't be your last Catskill trip.
PS, one of my trips, Teejay and Sherpas comments refer to the 2004 VFTT gathering hike. If VFTT chose this hike as one of the feature hike for the weekend it's got to be good
Have fun, it won't be your last Catskill trip.
PS, one of my trips, Teejay and Sherpas comments refer to the 2004 VFTT gathering hike. If VFTT chose this hike as one of the feature hike for the weekend it's got to be good
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una_dogger
Well-known member
WCS loop
This is a classic Catskill Trek !
I second (make that third, fourth, fifth?) starting at Woodland Valley and going up The Wittenberg, the ladders up the backside of Slide are much easier going up than down, IMHO!
If you'd like to add a day and some more nice easy miles to this, consider starting and finishing with Slide parking at the Denning Trailhead, hiking in about five really nice, easy miles on the Pheonecia East Branch Trail, and accessing Slide from the Curtis Orsmbee Trail. Then continue down Slide via the main trail, out through Winnisook Club, and do the loop, starting and finishing at Slide, returning to the Denning Trail head via the Curtis Ormsbee Trail.
Have a great time!
Sabrina
This is a classic Catskill Trek !
I second (make that third, fourth, fifth?) starting at Woodland Valley and going up The Wittenberg, the ladders up the backside of Slide are much easier going up than down, IMHO!
If you'd like to add a day and some more nice easy miles to this, consider starting and finishing with Slide parking at the Denning Trailhead, hiking in about five really nice, easy miles on the Pheonecia East Branch Trail, and accessing Slide from the Curtis Orsmbee Trail. Then continue down Slide via the main trail, out through Winnisook Club, and do the loop, starting and finishing at Slide, returning to the Denning Trail head via the Curtis Ormsbee Trail.
Have a great time!
Sabrina
una_dogger
Well-known member
WCS loop
This is a classic Catskill Trek !
I second (make that third, fourth, fifth?) starting at Woodland Valley and going up The Wittenberg, the ladders up the backside of Slide are much easier going up than down, IMHO!
If you'd like to add a day and some more nice easy miles to this, consider starting and finishing with Slide parking at the Denning Trailhead, hiking in about five really nice, easy miles on the Pheonecia East Branch Trail, and accessing Slide from the Curtis Orsmbee Trail. Then continue down Slide via the main trail, out through Winnisook Club, and do the loop, starting and finishing at Slide, returning to the Denning Trail head via the Curtis Ormsbee Trail.
A slightly off topic aside, but the ridgeline on the otherside of the Neversink Valley would make an amazing loop trail, connecting from the col between Table Mntn and Lone Mntn, than all the way on the ridgeline through to the col bw Cornell and Slide....side rant here...but I really wish the state would put some money into the Catskills because there are so many looping opportunities that could be developed!!!
Ok, side rant over....enjoy your trip!
Sabrina
This is a classic Catskill Trek !
I second (make that third, fourth, fifth?) starting at Woodland Valley and going up The Wittenberg, the ladders up the backside of Slide are much easier going up than down, IMHO!
If you'd like to add a day and some more nice easy miles to this, consider starting and finishing with Slide parking at the Denning Trailhead, hiking in about five really nice, easy miles on the Pheonecia East Branch Trail, and accessing Slide from the Curtis Orsmbee Trail. Then continue down Slide via the main trail, out through Winnisook Club, and do the loop, starting and finishing at Slide, returning to the Denning Trail head via the Curtis Ormsbee Trail.
A slightly off topic aside, but the ridgeline on the otherside of the Neversink Valley would make an amazing loop trail, connecting from the col between Table Mntn and Lone Mntn, than all the way on the ridgeline through to the col bw Cornell and Slide....side rant here...but I really wish the state would put some money into the Catskills because there are so many looping opportunities that could be developed!!!
Ok, side rant over....enjoy your trip!
Sabrina
