Jim K
New member
Catskill 8 Peaks - Peekamoose to Wittenberg - 12/29
Our group of 10 (Chris O, Jim K, Sam S, Ben S, Rob H, Brice W, Melissa C, Jason R, Joe B, and Ken S) started from Peekamoose Road PA and took trail up to Peekamoose then over to Table. I forgot how looong this section of trial was - maybe about 5 miles with 2600' of elev gain - very gradual though so not too tough. The trail was packed and bareboot-able although traction devices would make it easier - insteps or stabilicers - showshoes not needed. Once we tagged Pekka and Table the real fun began. We started our bushwacking from the saddle between Peeka and Table. Snow was consolidated and most of our party used shoeshoes although some stayed with stabilicers and did a fair share of postholing. Snow base must have been 12-24 inches of consolidated wet snow. The higher elevations had received frezzing rain the night b4 so there was a nice thick coating on the trees - nice to look at but not nice to wach thru - we got real wet to say the least as the morning sun came out to melt off the coating. Lots of crashing could be heard in the woods from the hikers as well as the stuff falling off the trees. Bushwacked the 4 trailless peaks - Lone, Rocky, BC, and Friday - picking our way thru and trying to avoid the thick fir/balsam. No real difficulty with Lone and took the eastern side of the direct ridge to Rocky to avoid some of the thickest stuff i could remember when approaching Rocky from the Neversink years ago. Still though, many times we just had to lower our heads and bash thru. I feared the wack from Rocky to BC since i had never taken that direct route before but it wasn't that bad - pretty much the same ol', same ol'. Followed the developing herd path from BC to Friday - cliffs were fun - our group split up to find the umm best (or most fun) way up. Hit thick stuff off the north side of Friday and got bogged down going around dink - much better to go to the west around "dink" at the ~3400 ft level. Got back on the trail and followed it over to Cornell then Wittenberg as the sun was setting - I got some nice pics hopefully i can post them. Trail was packed and very icy on any small rocky ledges that the trail went thru. At one point our group had to use romp to lower each other down a particularly tricky part just E of the cornell summit - a lot of fun to do in the dark. Traveled the last 4 miles from Wittenberg to Woodland Valley under headlamp - some minor tiptowing over some small streams. A great hike with this group - kept our sense of humor throughout the day... next plan is the devils path in a day - we'll wait to spring I think for that one ...
Our group of 10 (Chris O, Jim K, Sam S, Ben S, Rob H, Brice W, Melissa C, Jason R, Joe B, and Ken S) started from Peekamoose Road PA and took trail up to Peekamoose then over to Table. I forgot how looong this section of trial was - maybe about 5 miles with 2600' of elev gain - very gradual though so not too tough. The trail was packed and bareboot-able although traction devices would make it easier - insteps or stabilicers - showshoes not needed. Once we tagged Pekka and Table the real fun began. We started our bushwacking from the saddle between Peeka and Table. Snow was consolidated and most of our party used shoeshoes although some stayed with stabilicers and did a fair share of postholing. Snow base must have been 12-24 inches of consolidated wet snow. The higher elevations had received frezzing rain the night b4 so there was a nice thick coating on the trees - nice to look at but not nice to wach thru - we got real wet to say the least as the morning sun came out to melt off the coating. Lots of crashing could be heard in the woods from the hikers as well as the stuff falling off the trees. Bushwacked the 4 trailless peaks - Lone, Rocky, BC, and Friday - picking our way thru and trying to avoid the thick fir/balsam. No real difficulty with Lone and took the eastern side of the direct ridge to Rocky to avoid some of the thickest stuff i could remember when approaching Rocky from the Neversink years ago. Still though, many times we just had to lower our heads and bash thru. I feared the wack from Rocky to BC since i had never taken that direct route before but it wasn't that bad - pretty much the same ol', same ol'. Followed the developing herd path from BC to Friday - cliffs were fun - our group split up to find the umm best (or most fun) way up. Hit thick stuff off the north side of Friday and got bogged down going around dink - much better to go to the west around "dink" at the ~3400 ft level. Got back on the trail and followed it over to Cornell then Wittenberg as the sun was setting - I got some nice pics hopefully i can post them. Trail was packed and very icy on any small rocky ledges that the trail went thru. At one point our group had to use romp to lower each other down a particularly tricky part just E of the cornell summit - a lot of fun to do in the dark. Traveled the last 4 miles from Wittenberg to Woodland Valley under headlamp - some minor tiptowing over some small streams. A great hike with this group - kept our sense of humor throughout the day... next plan is the devils path in a day - we'll wait to spring I think for that one ...
