Nasty's Catskills Trip report

“http://community.webshots.com/user/cplnasty
wow.
This weekend, I went to the Catskills with a friend who had never been hiking before.
We met up at about six thirty Sat. Morning to go to the Catskills, the Wittenburg-Cornell-Slide route. I'd done this route once before and I loved it, the views were great. Since this guy hadn't done anything like this before, and wasn't in the greatest of shape, I made sure he knew that we would rest whenever he wanted, and we would stop and camp whenever he felt like he had reached his limit. I didn't know how much we would really get done, but he promised me at least one of the three mountains.
We got a late start due to a long breakfast at a diner and poor choices in driving directions, but we were both real excited when we finally got started on the trail at about one o'clock that afternoon.

Man, did we go slow! The hike was murder on this guy, as we had both expected, but he was real hardcore about the whole thing. He insisted on taking the hardest route around or over the rocks, while I was looking for the least strenuous ones. About halfway up, he decided that one mountain was all he could do for the day, but he still pushed himself as hard as he could- I constantly reminded him to take breaks whenever he wanted, and told him to drink plenty of water along the way. The area is still pretty dry, by the way. The only water along the whole trail was still only at the Neversink, which is just after Cornell and requires some bushwhacking to get to. We had enough water to last us for one mountain though, no problem there.

This guy really pushed himself though. Even though the part of the trail we did was only about four miles one way, keep in mind it was his first ever time out, it was killing him- But he still insisted at one point that we take our packs off and do some crazy rock climbing to get some cool pics. We did this for about an hour or so, with me watching over him like a worried father, which I'm sure he didn't appreciate- I didn't want either one of us taking unneccesary risks and getting hurt halfway up a freakin' mountain. He's been bitten by the bug, and once he gets in shape, he's going to be one hardcore hiker.

By the time we got to the top, it was getting a little dark. There were clouds all over, everything was misty- At the top of Wittenburg, where the real nice view normally is, we found ourselves in the middle of a low cloud- The elevation for Wittenburg is a little over 3500, I think- Artex? Judges? Standing inside a cloud is something neither one of us had ever done before, so it was a real cool and sorta spooky experience anyway. Since he was so beat, we just set up camp right near the top for the night, and he got soaked because he refused to set up the tent. I was snug in my hammock, but he insisted he wanted nothing more than his sleeping bag.
"We should set up the tent just in case it rains, though." I said.
"No. I don't want to, I want to rough it."
It rained. He got no sleep because he was soaked. He learned his lessons quick, we set up the tent first thing in the morning so he could warm up in it, and asked me all about bivy sacks for the next half hour. He will NOT pull that again. Hey, sometimes you learn the hard way.
Even after a night like that, he hiked down the next day with a smile on his face, very proud that he had climbed his first mountain, and saying that it would definitely not be his last.
This was a cool trip for me, since I was able to snag a non backpacking friend into it, and watch him suffer.
Seriously, it was cool since I got to help him do his very first trip, even though it ended up shorter than I would have liked. Actually, my legs are in more pain from this trip than they have been for any I can remember. I think it's 'cos we went so slow, a lot of stopping and starting, all that. Can't wait for the next trip!”

“Dammit, link ain't working. I'll try again.”

“Great report. Too bad your friend got soaked, but at least it wasn't cold out.”

“There we go. Click on "The Chadfather Trip". I'll be posting more pics there tomorrow night, too tired right now.”

“lol, dang, that would suk gettin rained on all night. but it's cool that he liked it overall.


uhhmm....they got russian guy's in them woods?”

“Killer trip report!! Wittenburg is actually 3780'. Be careful about camping out near the peaks, if you camp above 3500' you'll get a fine. Okay, so it DID rain. I was looking at the radar maps and cursing myself for cancelling my trip because it looked like all the rain was to the north and west of the Catskills. I feel a little better now. Did it thunderstorm? That's why I cancelled, lightening and mountain peaks usually don't mix. Were there violent tornadoes, tsunamis, hail the size of Volkswagons, and earthquakes? For the love of God, please tell me there were.”

“The picture of them on that tree is way PIMP!!!!!

That looked like you guys had a blast!

Makes me want to get out east again!

8)”

“Great trip report Corporal! I know that I hiked with you before, but I didn't really get to talk to you that much. But that report really shows what a terrific friend you are. Glad to hear that you infected another body into the backpacking insanity.”

“Reminds me of my early BP trips when I carried a canvas tent and did everything wrong. It is amazing that we can go out totally unprepared and still have a great experience.

Glad you guys had a great trip. Didja stop at Hot Dog Johnnies? Didja? Didja take the ol' plunge again?”

“Oh, the wrong place for HDJ's. Never Mind!”

“Yup, it was a cool trip, a lot of fun even though we didn't get far- As far as camping over 3500, I knew there would be some sort of fine involved. Thing is, last time we went up I remembered seeing a sign that let you know when you reached that height- I was keeping an eye out for it, and missed it. I figured it'd be cool for my friend to have a pic of the first time he'd ever been that high. Oh, and as far as the weather went, there really was a pretty steady hard rain up there all night long, and the clouds blocked out any view- Still a good thing you didn't do your trip though, since the Donkey Man F-er came strolling through looking for some action. We sent him over to Thomas Cole to look for you.”

“Wotta pal!”

“sounds like that guy is lucky to have made it back alive. No mercy for the weak, eh, nasty boy? ;)

Nice one.
(so is your bud hooked or what?)”

“No mercy is right Amy... The Witt/Cornel/Slide route is a killer with Slide being the highest peak in the Skills. A NICE way to break a friend into backpacking. ;o)

Great report though and neat pics. Where did you start/finish from and how far did you go?

BTW - Please tell Wimp-tex that the wrath of God struck upon the Catskills so he'll stop whining about cancelling his trip. mooohaaahaaaa”

“Amy- No mercy is right. What's this I hear about a FYAO trip in the winter? You guys might have to show me no mercy for my first winter trip.

Pennsy, I was being nice to him. I even let him carry my pack on top of his for a while. Seriously though, come to think of it, we did pack my monster flashlight in his pack.

We start from the Woodland Valley campground parking lot, which is at the bottom of Wittenburg, and we made it to the top of Wittenburg, that was it. We went straight back down to the car the next day. I had hoped for more, but he was smart about letting me know where his limits were, which is cool since he really ended up enjoying the whole thing. I think it's safe to say he's hooked, we're already talking about doing a day hike back up there so he can really see the view from the top, and then perhaps another day hike to the top of Slide, just so he can say he's done the tallest in the 'skills. After that, he'll be in better shape for another overnighter, and soon, an actual TT trip where he can hold his own and not slow a group down too much.

As for the weather, Artex, God's wrath had nothing to do with it. Satan himself stuck his butt right out of the top of the mountain and crapped all over our trip, so it's a good thing you didn't go to the Cats. It was bad enough with the Satanic stench all around us, if you had eaten any Jerky anywhere in the Catskills, I know you would have given him a run for his money and for the next ten years the combined smell would have meant you would need an oxygen tank just to get to the top of any mountain in the area.
j/k : )”

“LMFAO!!!!!! :-)”