~*~ Whittenberg, Cornell & Slide Loop ~*~

Catskills, NY

Date: August 27 & 28, 2005
Hikers: PhantomSoul (George), Green Monkee (Antonio), jackstraw (Harry), littleforest (John), RedDawg (Ron), swampy (JD) & me...the token estrogen.
Mileage: 17’ish

Elevation Gain/Loss:

My first time in the Catskills! Ahhhh what a joy it was! Mini-Daks, almost.

Friday
I met Green Monkee around 2pm to carpool up to the Catskills. Since Campmor was "on the way" we decided to stop in. Hey...I needed a footprint for my Mach 1! We both needed to stop at the grocery store but figured we'd wait until we got closer. After some fun I-87 traffic, we made it to our exit and proceeded West into the Catskills. The ride was beautiful as we were surrounded by the rolling mountains. Jackstraw, RedDawg and littleforest were on their way to the campsite, as was Swampy. PSoul would be spending the night at his dad's and joining us in the AM.

After touring the booming metropolis of Phoenicia, NY, GM and I finally found the campground. We registered and set up camp before heading back out for firewood and a store. According to the Mayberry-like ranger...there are "lots of grocery stores". Uh huh. Right. We indeed found a "grocery store" as well as a couple little restaurants for dinner possibilities. After picking up necessities, we headed back to camp. Shortly, the crew from MD showed up and 5 minutes later, Swampy pulled in. Gangs all here!

We set up Jackstraw's son’s ultra-light tent before we all piled into the cars and went for pizza & beer. Back at the campground, we settled around the campfire and chatted until around midnight before calling it quits. PSoul would be arriving at 7:30am so we needed our sleep.

Saturday
I think Green Monkee got up first. The rest of us soon followed suit...and I don't think RedDawg even had to kick Swampy in the head to wake him up. 7:30am on the nose and PSoul came sauntering into camp, all cowboyed up in his new hat from MT!

After packing up camp and moving the cars, we loaded up our gear and hit the trail. The backpacking gang and their trekking poles must have been a site in the campground. We had about 50 feet of flat terrain before we went straight up. Welcome to NY! Who let PSoul and his giant strides take point, anyway? I was happy to see the trail register because it meant we were stopping for at least a minute.

The trail is well maintained and pretty typical of NY. Smaller scale ADK hiking and today was all about climbing to reach Whittenberg. We didn't stop too often and we kept a nice pace. So nice that when I stopped to use the Saturn, I all but ran to try and catch them again. Thankfully they stopped at the junction trail to Whittenberg. From there it was a little over a mile and a lot of climbing. As we got closer to the top, there were quite a few scrambles to negotiate (my favorite part!). I snapped photos of the guys as the ascended up the rocks.

We reached Whittenberg's summit just in time for lunch. It was a beautiful day with moderate temps and other than a couple of dayhikers we had the place to ourselves. PSoul, GM, Swampy and I settled in and ate. Jackstraw, littleforest and RedDawg joined us soon and did the same. We were enjoying the view, the serenity and the day when we were overtaken by about 31 people. By the time we left the summit, at last count, there were 38 people up there! Holy hell!!!

We had about 150' drop and a 300' gain to Cornell's summit. It was relatively pain free and quick. There wasn't a huge view from Cornell but we could see Whittenberg so it made it worthwhile. Coming off the other side of Cornell, we had views of Slide Mountain (next!), Giant Ledge (where we would be camping) and Panther Mountain (the possible peak for tomorrow). The clouds sort of rolled through, threatening to open up.

Another fairly steep and rocky descent back below 3500' before we climbed up to Slide Mountain (the highest peak in the Catskills at around 4400'). PSoul kept saying that the part after Slide would be "cake". We'll see...

The ascent up Slide was nice and we were greeted with more scrambling (some fun ones!) and a couple of ladders for the steeper rocks. It was about 3:30pm when we hit the summit. This is about the time everyone threw off their packs and laid down. Tired, much? 15 minutes or so passed when we heard Jackstraw, littleforest and RedDawg coming. I think RedDawg was beat and called PSoul the "Understater of the Year" since he claimed this wasn't a buttkicking trip. RD asked "aren't y'all tired?" Apparently he hadn't noticed us in nap-mode when he reached the summit.

4:15pm and 5 miles to go before we reach Giant Ledge. This was about the time PSoul kicked it into high gear. We descended off of Slide quickly on a nicely graded (albeit rocky) trail. 2.7 miles of steady downhill following the speed demons of PSoul, GM and Swampy. We filled up at the bottom with water (a scarce commodity in the dry weather) and were ready for the last 3.1 miles. Oh...and the road walk. There was a 3/4 mile road walk from the trailhead to the spur for Giant Ledge. We hit the road, and I took off on the gradual climb. Swampy mentioned he can keep up with anyone...but he couldn't hold pace on the road with me. GM inquired as to whether I had smoked crack before hitting the road. Nah...I just hate road walks.

It really was a nice level path to Giant Ledge, except for that "final push". Yeah, we had about 7 "final pushes". Thanks, PSoul. PS and Swampy took their time and rested a minute. I just wanted to get there so I kept going. I think I was up the 2nd "final push" when GM blew by me. Damn hobbits.

Giant Ledge is beautiful. The views were spectacular and we made it before sunset. I snapped some shots from the ledge before we went to set up camp. Boots off, tents up (those clouds look ominous), and dinner! I was starving! We sat on one of the Western ledges to cook dinner and enjoy the view. We gobbled down our meals, went back to camp and started a fire. No sign of the other three yet.

The rain was inevitable and finally came. We didn't last long by the fire since we were all pretty beat from the day. 9:30pm and the four of us were in bed ~ a little worried since we still were missing the other three. We hoped they had camped below. At 10:30pm, GM yelled and I jumped up. Jackstraw and littleforest had arrived. They came up to tell us they were camping at the base of the ledge...but littleforest was determined to get to the top! (Good for him!) Relieved and relaxed...we went to sleep to the sound of the rain on the tent.

Sunday
Rain. More rain. And even more rain. I was in NO hurry to get out of bed. None whatsoever. Then I heard Jackstraw and littleforest who came to tell us they were heading out and say goodbye. After another hour or so of putzing, the rest of us finally got it into gear and left as well. We bailed on Panther Mountain because of the rain and bolted for the last 3+ miles out. Down, down, down, down...and then you have it. The Stairs of Death! Nothing like gaining an instant 500'! Big rock stairs...at the end of the hike. Damn NY.

10 minutes later we were back at the trailhead and saw JS, LF and RD by their car. We pulled out some cold beers and chatted for a bit and then decided to hit the same restaurant we went to Friday for lunch before our drive. Yum! After lunch, we bid farewell and parted ways. What a great trip!

What I Learned:
~ What it takes to get Swiss Army Legs
~ Big Ledge is for p*ssies!
~ The term "buttkicker" is relative.
~ 1 group. 31 people. Girls in full length skirts.
~ Sometimes waking up is a good thing.
~ Hike with PSoul, expect rain. He hates rain.
~ Restaurants in Phoenicia, NY serve food from other restaurants in Phoenicia, NY.
~ Newbies and ultralight don't mix.
~ Don't take the old lady's crate!
~ Rubber duckies don't prevent bad weather.
~ Obey speedlimits on road walks.
~ Hiking behind 3 men for 2 days isn't a bad thing.
~ Jetboils work better when you ignite them.
~ Stream/River crossings are easy when there is no water.
~ "Spurkey". It's what's for dinner.

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