Wittenburgh and Cornell

Wittenburgh is considered to be most people's favorite mountain in the Catskills.  This is for great reason, since it provides the best views of the Ashokan Resevoir.  It has been a couple months since I have gone on a real hike.  With today's low humidity and clear blue skies, Wittenburgh would make the perfect destination.

It's been almost five years since I last been on this mountain.  Today, I would start in Woodland Valley and go to Cornell before turning around.  I did this once before with the VPo Man and the MC under a full moon in the middle of February.  Conditions would be quite different on this day.

The Esopus

The trail up Wittenburgh is not one of the easier ones.  The trail winds up Wittenburgh in just under 4 miles and ascends over 2,500 feet.  Though not treacherously steep, breaks are few and far between.  Like most Catskill trails, the last couple hundred feet require some class 2 scrambling.  The last mile, I was dragging.  Finally, I reached the summit.

A fairly rocky trail

Even at this elevation, Spring has arrived

It gets steep near the summit

The view from the summit of Wittenburgh is arguably the best in the Catskills.  When I say arguable, I mean there are only a couple other contenders.  Almost the entire Ashokan Resevoir is in view.  With the low humidity and blue skies, the Ashokan had a beautiful almost glacial blue color.  The views extend to Hudson Valley.  Though, the river cannot be made out, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge is clearly visible.  To the north, the Devil's Path and Overlook are in view.  Ashokan High Point and Mohonk are visible to the south and east.  Through the trees, Peekamoose and Table's distinctive features are seen to the south.

Samuel's Point and the Ashokan Resevoir

Ashokan High Point

Devils Path

The Ashokan

A couple guys I met on the summit had a nice pair of binoculars.  The views were even better.  They knew the region better than me and pointed a few spots out.  There was a small body of water near Woodstock that clearly was not Cooper Lake.  It apparently is Yanketown Pond which is just west of Woodstock.

From Wittenburgh I continued to Cornell.  The drop from Wittenburgh into the col is less than 200 feet.  The fun part is hiking up to Cornell from the col.  It's only about a 200 foot climb, but in this 200 feet is some of the best scrambling in the Catskills.  I continue to be surprised that I actually have been able to do this section in the winter twice, with one of those times in the dark.

I reached the trickiest section and found a perfect rock to set up my camera and take some self portraits.  Of course, when I finished this a couple guys came down from Cornell.  They then asked me, "this isn't the trail is it?", thinking it could not possibly be.  I told them, "I'm afraid it is, but it's not quite as bad as it looks."  They took it slow and made it down without incident.

The Cornell Dike

Chris Hiker

Chris Hiker squeezing through

A couple hikers heading down

From there, it's a short walk to the summit of Cornell.  There is not much of a view from Cornell.  One can see some of the Ashokan, but it's heavily obstructed by the trees.  I continued a little further going towards Slide.  Just below the summit is a great view point.  From here, one can see many peaks of the Central Catskills.  Panther and Giant Ledge feature prominently to the west.  Looking south and west, views of Bellayre, Balsam, Eagle, Big Indian and Fir are in view.  To the south and dominating the view is Slide.  Behind it, Doupletop and Graham can be seen.

Looking back at Wittenburgh

Slide

Doubletop and Graham in the distance with Fir and Big Indian to the right

L to R: Eagle, Haynes, Balsam and Bellayre

Panther

After taking in the views, it was time to head back as it was getting late.  I stopped again on the summit of Wittenburgh to say good bye to those unparalleled views.  The walk down was quite quick without the humidity.

Some stats:  Trail Junction, 1 hour 10 minutes
                     Wittenburgh, 1 hour 50 minutes
                     Wittenburgh to Cornell    30 minutes
                     Cornell to Woodland Valley 2 hours
                     Total: 9.6 miles, 4 hours 50 minutes