Wittenburg-Cornell-Slide Loop

High Point from the Ashokan Resevoir




The Burroughs Range




A closer look at where I'd be shortly.




The long trail up to Big Bad Wittenburg.




The outstanding view from the summit.




Arguably the best views in the Catskills.




Wittenburg from Cornell.




Man's best friend getting some help on one of the trickier sections on Cornell.




Slide from Cornell.




Fir, Big Indian, Eagle and Balsam with Doubletop in the background. Views are from Slide.




Peekamoose and Table




Working their way down the slide.




Devil's Path in the distance.




Peak foliage in Woodland Valley.




Ladders to negotiate the slide.




Cornell and Wittenburg from Slide.




The ridge from Cornell to Friday known as Dink. Don't go there!!!




Friday and Balsam Cap.





More peak foliage.





Giant Ledge and Panther.




Pine needles make for a great trail and happy feet!




Lone and Table




Burroughs Range. Somewhere in there is Rocky




Lake Winnisook. The Source of the Esopus Creek and at 2,660 feet, the highest lake in the Catskills.





Instead of getting married, I thought 10/10/10 would make for a great day to do the Wittenburg-Cornell-Slide loop from Woodland Valley. It was perfect hiking weather. No humidity and clear blue skies and peak foliage in the valleys below.

As usual the climb up Wittenburg was long and winding. Many hikers were out, but I beat much of the crowd up and shared the summit with about 5 others. I stayed up there for about a half hour admiring the views. Almost every time I had been up here in the past, it had either been dark (the last time was a full moon hike) or very near sunset. Today the views seemed to be rather extraordinary.

From here you can see almost the entire Ashokan Resevoir. The Upper portion looked rather muddy, probably due to all the rain. But, the lower section, closest to Kingston was fairly clear and appeared to be below normal levels. To the north the devils path is visible, although its deep cols aren't as recognizable due to mountains in the foreground. To the south and east, Ashokan High Point and the tower on Mohonk are visible.

The stroll over to Cornell is short and sweet. This is a rather tricky section, which makes for some difficulty if you are a dog or are hiking in the winter. The walk from Witt to Cornell is one of my favorites in the Catskills, as is the walk from Cornell to Slide. The Col of Cornell and Slide has some great camping spots, which one of these days I will take full advantage of. It's also the source of the Neversink which flows into the Delaware.

The summit of Slide had many people on it as usual. Also as usual, there were many Asians. I very rarely see Asians in the Catskills, but almost every time I'm on Slide there are quite a few. On previous occasions there were groups burning incense. This leads me to believe that maybe slide is treated as holy mountain and makes for a pilgrimage. Next time I will ask.

On the way down Slide I hiked with Kevin who was from Kingston. We mostly talked about what was going on locally and I helped point out the mountains from the different view points. Much to my surprise, despite him being relatively new to hiking in the area, he pretty much got the layout of the surrounding area.

The last few miles went by pretty quick, with the exception of one last climb before I reached the car. All in all it was a great hike and fortunately for me, it seemed easier this time than when I did this same hike in reverse almost 10 years ago. I'm really becoming a fan and a believer in hiking in trail runners outside the winter season.

Alander Mt and Bash Bish Falls

I got lazy once again and bailed out on doing the Seward Range in the Adirondacks. Although, I wouldn't have been doing them legally since I don't have a bear canister. That's my excuse this time.

Instead, I took advantage of this beautiful day to check out Bash Bish Falls in Copake and scale Columbia County's high point. Interestingly, to summit the high point of Columbia County consisted of walking entirely in Massachusetts until the last few feet. The high point is a shoulder of Alander Mt about 100 feet below.

The 3 and a half mile walk had many stream crossings on a trail with great footing. The summit of Alander is more reminiscent of being near timberline in the Adirondacks than the much higher and closer Catskill Mountains. The views were expansive. To the west the Catskills dominated the horizon. The beautiful farm land could be seen in the valleys below in all directions. To the south and east Brace and Frissel reigned supreme.

Once back at the car, I decided to head over to Bash Bish Falls. I had been here previously on a bike ride and decided it wasn't very impressive. I think the drought probably had something to do with that. There is no drought to speak of after the massive amounts of rain we've had the past few weeks. And gone were these Falls unimpressiveness. There were impressive indeed. Kaaterskill Falls are much higher, but these Falls raged with such a force it was hard to take your eyes off them. They also lied in this spectacular narrow gorge adding to its splendor. And the paths are set up to enjoy views from above and below.

Escarpment Trail

The start of the trail.


Taking pictures of.......taking pictures.


Blackhead Range from Windham.


Black Dome Valley.


Windham from Burnt Knob


Great section of trail.


A nice woods walk.


Looking back towards Blackhead.


Can it remain this flat?


The Devil's Path.


Lake Capra.


Tight squeeze.


Our leader doing the limbo.


Plane wreck on Stoppel.


Blackhead Range.


The Hudson Valley.


North Lake.


The march down North Mountain.


Slow going.


Bad Man's Cave.


Trail was rugged despite its close proximity to North Lake and the influx of jean wearing hikers.


A nice spot for a break.


It took all I could to not hold onto that tree.


Great spot to hang glide from.


North Lake. And telephone poles.


Tivoli Bays in the distance.


Time out for some bouldering.





Having done the R-D and the SBM, it was time to finally do the Escarpment trail. All three trails are similar in mileage and elevation gain. The AMC would be leading a hike on this day, so it was a perfect opportunity. This would be my first hike with the AMC, hopefully it will not be my last.

Starting from route 23, we had to negotiate the washed out trail a little bit. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the climbing would be done in the first ten miles, which was nice. The walk from Windham to the ascent of Blackhead was a pleasant surprise with many views along the ridge.

I spent most of the day behind the group, but enjoyed the company when taking a rest. I spent a good amount of time talking football and about the National Parks with Michael, who I later found out thru hiked the A.T. the same year I attempted it.

We were very efficient, using all the sunlight that was available and some of us got to see a bear. I think it was the longest time I watched a bear. And I didn't get a single photo. Oh, well. The 24 mile trail with over 6,000 feet elevation gain took 12 hours. Maybe next spring, some of us will tackle the Devil's Path.