Does anyone have experience bushwacking from Table to Cornell

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ajtiv

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I want to do a loop from Denning road up to Table and run across Lone, Rocky BC and Friday, to Cornell back over Slide and down CO to PE back to Denning.
Has any one done this and can share their experience. It looks like an overnighter?
Is there any clearings on Friday below 3500' to camp?
Distance appears to be around 18 mi. depending on route between Table and Cornell.
How bad or easy is the navigation this time of year?
Is there anything out of the unusual to be prepared for? The 'bridge" (tree)across the Neversink is still there to cross?
Any help would be appreciated.
 
You may want to review a couple of prior threads on the same basic subject by clicking on these links:
Bushwhack from Cornell to Friday and Balsam Cap
Lone and Rocky from Neversink

From the last Lone & Rocky from Neversink trail condition report it appears the log bridge is still across the Neversink.

I once did a reverse variation of your plan: Slide, Cornell, Friday, Balsam Cap, Rocky, Lone, Peekamoose, and Table as a day hike in late April, 1975. I started and ended at Winnisook Lake. Denning would have been a better trailhead, but it was a longer drive for me. It was a 14 hour hike (although I got lost / temporarily misplaced twice). I was hiking with a very light daypack. I spent a lot of time falling into and climbing out of spruce and fir traps in the thinning snow cover. I would not recommend this day hike in winter or early spring to my worst enemy. It took about three days for the numbness to leave my legs - it felt like I was wearing leg braces.

With the shorter days at this time of the year and with a backpack you are definitely talking overnight (unless you want to hike a lot with a headlamp). I do not recall any clearings along the ridgelines, however, you should be able to find places among the trees to lay out a bivy bag or small tent. The growth in many areas is remarkably thick and nearly impenetrable. There is a fairly distinct herd path going towards Lone starting from the Long Path about midway between the Table summit and the Table-Peekamoose col. That would probably be the best area to start your bushwhack, although with the snow cover the herd path is probably not visible nor worth the effort to look for it specifically. Just generally follow the ridges, and slip down into the Neversink Valley to avoid the thickest and worst blowdowns on the ridges.

In summer this is a very long, but doable day hike. Although even then you would probably enjoy the experience more on an overnight.
 
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