Aug 12th, Day Twelve

Well today was a walk in the park that was no walk in the park, if you know what I mean. 

My first Catskills high peak.

We again broke camp early to get a good start on our long day.  Thanks to the ladies at the waterfall yesterday we got to have a granola bar, fig newton, and rice crackers for breakfast; it was a nice change.  Today was our first full day in the Catskills and we were going to finally climb over mountains that were over 3,500 feet high. 

For the first peak, Peekamoose Mountain, the trail started at about a thousand feet elevation, and rose to 3,843.  The trail to it seemed to never end, and frequently ascended straight up, or seemingly so.  Miles was panting and sweating; occasionally mumbling unmentionables under his breath whenever he acquired surplus oxygen.  As for myself I just got to ride along in the pocket so it didn’t seem so bad.  When we crossed Peekamoose there was a shallow descent below 3,500 then we climbed back to 3,847 to top Table Mountain. 

The views are worth the climb.

After these two peaks we did a major descent, only to have to turn around and climb Slide Mountain, the highest peak in the Catskills (4,180).  At the trailhead we ran into a couple who wanted their picture taken for another trail they were hiking, so they took our picture at the beginning of the climb.  We started up the hill, and luckily it was a pretty gradual climb so did not seem as hard as the previous ones.  It did however go on for a long time and wore you down with attrition by the time you reached the top.  We topped the mountain fairly easily then started down the other side.  Unlike the climb, the descent was rapid; it took the skills of an amateur rock climber at some points.  As we descended we ran across a band of kids out doing a five day backpacking trip, it was a part of a program they had to complete to become Y camp counselors.  It is good to see people still out enjoying nature; we have been in the city for too long and forgot how common it is. 

Nice and fresh before Slide Mountain.

Good and tired at the top of Slide Mountain.

Trail hiking/rock climbing.

We descended through a moderate saddle between the mountains here, then turned around and started back up again.  The last two mountains of the day were close together with not too much of a drop between them.  Cornell Mountain was 3,860ft and Wittenberg Mountain was 3,780ft high.  The path appeared to be more rock climbing than hiking at this point.  We crossed them as early evening settled in, then descended about two miles of trail to a lean too there we made camp for the night. 

Traveled 17.75 miles of trail.

More mountain views below.

-SM-

  Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend Spike on Facebook, if you have not already.  His page is http://www.facebook.com/spikemiller.adventure