Wittenberg and Cornell Mountain
Ive heard from many hikers that Wittenberg Mountain has the most stunning view in the Catskills. It's open area at the top gives you a view that you will remember the rest of your life and today was the day I was going to see it for myself!! Cornell Mountain is right next to Wittenberg, so conquering both mountains in one hike was a must.
It was early November and the weather has been weird so far. I was at Plateau Mountain the week before and the leaves were coming off the trees. The only time I had to put on anything that even resembled winter gear was my winter hat when the wind was blowing at one of the viewpoints. Usually, layers of clothing and a winter coat would be right for this time of year, but we didn't even need a coat for this hike. Even up at the top.
The sun was shining and the weather was sweet (Bob Marley reference right there!). The trail through Wittenberg and Cornell is a total of almost 9 miles, so we were in for a long hike. Travis was joining me today because he said that he wouldn't want to miss out on this viewpoint. The trail starts out at Woodland Valley Campgrounds which is located deep in the heart of the Catskills. It's very out of the way from the normal roads. The trail passes over the large Woodland Creek, which was flowing really good and it made that beautiful rushing water sound that would later soothe our ears.
After passing over the bridge the trail climbs a good amount for about two miles. A steady climb that didn't wear us down too much. After that, we came to an area that was almost flat for a good half a mile. On the way back, this flat area would fool us and make us think that we were almost at the end. With the leaves not on the trees, you can see some of the mountains off in the distance at times:
And a nice, small waterfall too!
After that nice and relaxing flat walk, the craziness began.
Remember those previous hikes that I went on that they called Devil's Path? One of the most difficult hikes on the east coast? This was very close. You could probably say that some parts of this hike were taken from the Devils Path and put here. Very steep areas that you have to pull yourself up. Sometime, if not most of the time, there were roots that you had to hang onto. You name it, it was there to slow you down. Luckily, it has been very dry so we didn't have any slippery areas to be challenged with. Here is a picture of one of the sections that we had to climb:
It looks scary, but it wasn't too bad at all. It actually was very fun. I love climbing the challenging areas like this. The sort of 'good' thing was that this wasn't the only difficult section of the hike. There was many, many more.
Steep!! Almost near vertical area that was about 15-20ft tall!!
These steep areas would continue on for about another mile and it would wear us down like crazy. But after the steep areas, we came into the beautiful balsam forest area that would let us know that we were near the top. It was still a rocky and steady climb here and there, but nothing compared to the climbing that we just had encountered. After the rocky path, the trail starts leveling out and it opens up into this:
Blown. Away.
We were both speechless.
We expected a great view, but nothing like this. I think we stood there for a couple of minutes just staring. Not a word. Taking it all in.
You can see a lot in this picture. The part that really stands out is the Ashokan Reservoir in the middle.
A panorama of the lowest part of the viewpoint. The Ashokan Reservoir is seen in the middle with Devils Path in the distance to the left
South eastern Catskills below
The view to the north and Devils Path in the distance below
The open area at the top was huge. We had lunch up here and soaked it in for as long as we could. It was a perfect day too. Not too hot, beautiful sunshine and surprisingly, not windy. Usually, an open area like this has a good amount of wind, but not today.
After lunch we decided that we needed to head over to Cornell Mountain, which is about another mile away. You have to hike down the southern part of Wittenberg, then up Cornell. It has some challenges here and there, especially just before the summit. Just before the summit you come up to what is called the Cornell Crack. It's basically a rock that looks like a piece of pie was taken out of it. You have to either shimmy your way up it or have a fellow hiker help you up it. Its very interesting and fun. Here's some pictures to show what it is:
Travis getting ready to go up the Cornell Crack
The view from the top of the Cornell Crack
We both shimmied our way up the rock. Some people say it's the most difficult part of the Catskills, but to us, it wasn't difficult at all. It was just odd trying to find out where you need to put your feet and hands to figure out where you need to boost yourself up onto the rock. Shortly after the Cornell Crack was the summit of Cornell Mountain. We stopped at a viewpoint on Cornell that looked back at Wittenberg Mountain and the northern Catskills behind it:
Also, here is a video of Travis navigating his way up the Cornell Crack:
After that, we still had a long way to get to the parking area where we started. We had to come back down the Cornell Crack, then climb up south side of Wittenberg Mountain, pass the view point, then back down on the steep part of Wittenberg. Man was it treacherous. Our knees weren't feeling the greatest and it was getting late in the day. We were both tired and we wanted to get back. When we hit that flat spot I told you about earlier we started to feel great because we thought we were almost there. During the hike on the flat area we hit the trail junction sign telling told us we still had another two miles to go!! We both were pretty pissed off but we should of remembered about this spot. The best thing on the way back was hearing the sound of the Woodland Creek when we got closer. That's what reminded us that we close to the end of the hike. It was kind of like a crowd cheering us on to finish!! What a great hike!!