Hiking the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain from Lost Clove Road

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Who doesn’t want to go to Giggle Hollow? This delightful-sounding place can be found between Pine Hill and the south-eastern edge of Belleayre Ski Mountain, in a small web of hiking trails that leads from the top of the ski mountain all the way down to Big Indian wilderness and beyond. In the winter, these Belleayre trails are the perfect destination to snow shoe to these gob-smacking views if you’re with non-skiers or your dog.

If you do take your country dog, he must be harnessed and leashed if he’s likely to become uncontrollably excited by the prospect of skiing and keenly propose the notion of exploring the double black diamonds to a chorus of “Hi, Puppy!” as the skiers glide by. You don’t want your dog flying off down the mountain. While we were admiring the view from the summit, which is the end of the trail, we were approached by a skier from Europe who made me fiercely jealous by telling me that in The Alps skiers take their dogs, who follow them up the mountain on foot underneath the ski lifts. Alpine skiers ski with their dogs. What a life for an outdoor dog. Perhaps we could have Dog Day on Belleayre? Or would that descend into chaos?

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Daily Catskills: 01/05/19

Back to the rusty earth tones of a flattened, dormant landscape. Foggy valleys, misty rain and a high of 41F. Much warmer this year, than last year.

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Daily Catskills: 01/04/19

A muted sun glowing through a beautiful, milk glass sky. A high of 43F with snow only on the peaks by the end of the day.

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A Post-Hike Beer at Westkill Brewing

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Nestled in the foothills of the Catskills’ Hunter-West Kill Mountain Wilderness, almost at the end of a dead-end road leading to some the region’s most popular trails, is West Kill Brewing, with its small tap room, that’s been open for about a year. The standout beer is the fruitiest IPA for miles around, Moon Farmer IPA, but most of the beers here have some sort of unique berry, fruit, herb, pine or citrus combination in them and some of them are brewed with honey from West Kill Brewing’s hives. There’s even a basil IPA and a Belgian made with spruce tips. The beers here are not your regular run-of-the-mill offerings, they are mindfully made. Much thought has clearly gone into the recipes that incorporate a variety of the local flora. Maybe it was the strenuous hike to Rusk Mountain that influenced my tastebuds, but I was so surprised when I took a first gulp of Moon Farmer that I went straight to the counter to order a four-pack to take out. I don’t even like IPA.

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Daily Catskills: 01/01/19

New year, new view: Buff, naked mountains with the snow washed away by overnight rain and high, gusty winds. Frequent, light sprinkles of sugary snow. Overcast with foggy cloud and a bitter high of 35F. Towering hemlocks provide cover.

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Dead birches provide firewood. Happy New Year!

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Daily Catskills: 12/31/18

Dull, moody, overcast and a high of 35F. Much of yesterday’s snow melted with the rain before dusk.

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Daily Catskills: 12/30/18

A overnight layer of powdery snow, sticking to trees and structures, turns the brown valleys white again and dusts the icy peaks. Streaks of smoky blue cloud ripple through the sky. A high of 32F.

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The Catskill 35: Rusk Mountain

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Yesterday’s attempt to climb Rusk Mountain – our second – was a success, probably because the conditions were ideal. The first few miles of the ascent was a soft, bouncy carpet of fallen leaves, as most of the snow had melted, but we were followed by passing clouds that sprinkled dry, granular snow. As we climbed, we were still able to discern the trail of previous hikers – a dark trail of wet, disturbed leaves that snaked up the mountain. The summit of Rusk is a tangle of aging, gnarled spruces, some darkened by lightning, presiding over its younger generation of fern-like trees. The sign-in canister, painted a vivid, hunting orange, was attached to what looked like a lone cherry tree amidst this mess of pines that looks like a spiky hairdo.

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Rusk is a popular hike because it’s short, but very steep – an elevation gain of 1600 ft – so if you’re fit enough you can be up and down in a few hours, so it’s often hiked with its sister mountains, East Rusk, Hunter and Southwest Hunter. When you get to the summit, it’s possible to see down the equally steep north side of the mountain and Jewett below.

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Daily Catskills: 12/29/18

A steamy, humid high of 46F with fast-traveling clouds dumping dry, grainy snow on the tips of the chilly peaks and bitter winds trapped on the south faces. High waters, still.

The Year in Review: Daily Catskills 2018

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Above is the most popular Daily Catskills image of the year, a picture of our Black Lab Alfie, who regularly gets a 60% engagement rate on his own, modest Instagram account. Videos on Instagram of Alfie in his element – snow – regularly get many hundreds of likes on our own social media. We adopted Alfie from the ASPCA in Kingston in 2014 and we began hiking the Catskills 3500 just to wear him out. He’s had his portrait taken by NYC photographer Shannon Greer and we wrote a post here about him that was so popular it was picked up in New York City by Mrs Sizzle. I’ll be writing Part 2 of Alfie’s life in the New Year. He loves snow and swimming regardless of temperature because he has a thick layer of furry Labrador blubber and webbed feet. He loves hiking and turns six years old in April. If I could take him skiing, I would. There’s a chance you will find us snow-shoeing the hiking trail from Giggle Hollow to the top of Belleayre Mountain this winter to catch a glimpse of the skiers flying down Cathedral Run. Alfie appreciates his country life here in the Catskills and is such a good dog, he gets fresh, warm marrow bones straight out of the oven. I sometimes think he’s the only reason that we have readers at all.

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Daily Catskills: 12/27/18

Brilliant sun until early-afternoon and another high of 32F with fresh snowcaps on several peaks. A rare bright day. Busy on Belleayre.

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Daily Catskills: 12/26/18

Overcast with snow on the peaks and a brief flash of lunchtime sun through the shimmering clouds. A high of 31F.

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Daily Catskills: 12/25/18

Moody clouds with a bitter chill in the air and a high of 31F.

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Daily Catskills: 12/24/18

A calm, white Christmas Eve with an inch or two of morning snow, clearing up late morning for a brief hour of sunshine. Then back into the doldrums with the lightest possible snow fall waning by mid-afternoon. A high of 37F.

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Daily Catskills: 12/23/18

Overcast and frigid. A high of 32F with only the lush, fir-capped peaks harboring pockets of winter wonderland at their summits. Snowmelt rushes through strong, high creeks and rivers.

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Daily Catskills: 12/22/18

After a stormy night with house-battering rain, an overcast morning. Gusty and dull with a high of 32F. More evening snow.

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Daily Catskills: 12/21/18 Yuletide & The Winter Solstice

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Today, December 21st, is Winter Solstice, officially the first day of winter. The northern hemisphere of the earth is pointed the farthest away from the sun and, tonight begins its slow return towards it until the June Solstice of 2019. The ancient tradition of Yuletide, one of the oldest winter celebrations in Europe began this morning and will end on January 1st, 2019. Yuletide was a fire festival celebrated by the Northern Europeans. Pre-Zoroastrian Persians and ancient Romans, who celebrated something similar before the common era. Diwali is another festival of lights that begins earlier in the year. Basically any community in the dark, forbidding northern hemisphere, on this shortest day of the year, celebrated fire.

The most enduring British tradition from Yuletide is the Yule Log, a small firestarter from a larger bonfire that was shared with many households by landowners in England. Evergreen trees were fashioned into wreaths and other decorations for the interior of the house for their refreshing smell. The Brits still make cakes fashioned into Yule logs and, of course, we still bring in fir or pine trees, decorate them with lights. Happy Solstice!

Catskills Christmas: Sticky Toffee Pudding with Liza Belle

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The Catskills are home to many great chefs, one of those being Liza Belle, chef at the Blue Deer Center in New Kingston, Upstate New York. A native New Yorker from Long Island, whose mother was an English immigrant, Liza Belle got her start as a short-order cook and found a mentor early on who revolutionized her perspective on food. A prolific baker, especially during this holiday season, Liza shares a Christmas recipe, an English favorite: Sticky Toffee Pudding made with dates and locally-grown wheat that we cooked yesterday. When the cake came out of the oven, it glistened with the sticky dates. The local grain gave it a reddish, grainy finish. Some tips: when you “toast” butter in a milk pan, swirl it around and save the brown, caramelized part that sticks to the pan because it gives the sauce a nutty flavor.

Today is the first day of Yuletide, a 12-day winter fire festival starting today – on the shortest day of the year, December 21st, the winter solstice – with origins in Northern Europe that pre-date Christianity. (This is where the saying “12 Days of Christmas” originated). Most settlers of the northern hemisphere, a dark place that’s frigid this time of year, have always celebrated fire at the start of the winter season and share food and stories with friends and neighbors. Find The Guardian’s version of the traditional Yule log cake here.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Cake

1/2 Stick of Butter
1 1/2 Cups of Flour
1 1/2 Cups of Chopped Dates
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla runneth over
2 Eggs

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Daily Catskills: 12/15/18

A warmer 42F at 9am rising to a high of 49F with the habitual pall of thick foggy cloud, through which the sun strains to shine. The fiery ball at the center of our solar system barely registers over the stubbornly, chronically overcast Catskills. Opening Saturday at Bearpen Mountain.

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Holiday Gift Guide: Catskills Stocking Stuffers

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Here’s a list of our top ten handiest Catskills small gifts and stocking stuffers suitable for all friends, family and colleagues. Get your friends interested in the outdoors with maps, gift certificates, guides and ski-lift passes. Give the foodies in your life some of our scrumptious locally-made produce. The Catskills is also home to some of the best soap-makers and cosmetic artisans.

New York New Jersey Trail Conference Maps

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New York New Jersey Trail Maps are an invaluable resource for both novice and experienced hikers of the Catskills. Click here to order the 2018 edition. These maps show hiking trails in detail, local monuments, lean-tos, views and topography – basically everything you need to plan a hike. You can also buy the maps at the Catskills Interpretive Center on Route 28 in Mount Tremper. $16.95 for a full set of Catskills maps.

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Monday’s Radio Show on WIOX: Winter Hiking Tips

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Monday’s guests Heather Rolland of the Catskill 3500 Club and Will Soter of Upstate Adventure Guides will be imparting Catskills winter hiking tips on Monday December 10th on WIOX Roxbury from 9am to 10am). You can listen to WIOX streaming online service here. Will Soter will also be talking about outdoor guiding in the Catskills. Whether you simply want to know more about hiking the Catskills or if you’d like to become a guide, tune in on Monday at 9am.

Catskills Christmas: Robson’s Tree Farm, Bovina Center, NY

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If you’re having a Catskills Christmas this year, there are a few places in the Catskills where you can source a freshly-grown fir for your house and one of those places is family-owned Robson’s Tree Farm in Bovina Center, NY. They maintain a couple of acres of thick, gorgeous trees – that won’t quickly lose their needles – that have been specially grown for Christmas: a sustainable option for the eco-conscious.

Very friendly, helpful and engaging staff give you a saw and send you into lines of trees to pick your own fir in the thick snow. Only pick the trees with the red price tag on. All the other trees without tags have not finished growing. The tree below was $35 but prices range from $25 to $75 for trees of different sizes. Most trees are 6′ to 8′ and are $30 to $55. Freshly-made wreathes were also available for $23. There is a fire to warm you up after you’ve finished sawing and hauling. Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 12/1/18

Still gloomy with the elusive sun covered by fog on the peaks and a high of 36F. Another week of monochromatic moodiness enlivened only by local, sparkling cider.

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Catskills Cocktails: Mulled Port

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This is a popular mulled wine recipe for port or sherry lovers that has been featured on this website in previous years. Port and lemon is a common combination. When it’s warm, sweetened with cherry juice and spiced it makes a harsh winter worth enduring. Port has a storied history; a staple in British households over Christmas Eve. Santa always got a glass of sherry with his Christmas pudding. And of course, the obsession with marinated cherries continues.

Mulled Spiced Citrus Port

750ml Tawny Port
100ml cherry juice
1 orange
1 lemon
10 whole cloves
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 cinnamon sticks
1 drop of vanilla essence

Slice off the peel (including pith) of both the orange and lemon until you have the raw fruit and about eight slices of fruit peel. Put the peel to one side and muddle the raw orange and lemon fruit together with the port and cherry juice. Add the remaining ingredients, including the fruit peel, into the muddled mixture. Steep the mixture for a few hours. Add a cup of water to dilute to taste. Pour into a saucepan and heat gently until warm. Remove the fruit waste – but not the peel – once the port has warmed sufficiently to serve.

Serves four to eight.

Daily Catskills: 11/29/18

Gloomy and dark, with a bitter chill. Enigmatic fog on the peaks with the odd flurry, a shimmering sky and a high of 36F.

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Catskills Cocktails: Mulled Wine with Cherries and Pomegranate

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It’s going to be a Catskills Christmas this year, so there’ll be hot toddies, Irish coffee and spiced, citrus port.

Mulled wine is a seasonal, holiday indulgence, so it may as well be rich and sweet with some luxury ingredients. There were three lonely pomegranates remaining in the fruit isle at the grocery store, so one of them is now simmering gently with maraschino cherries, cherry juice, orange, lemon, cinnamon and whole cloves. As soon as the pomegranates were cut open, they exuded a thick, fragrant juice that was added to the saucepan. The cherries work well because they’ve been soaked in sugar, so there’s not really a need for a great deal of sugar in this recipe. If you inadvertently add too much lemon, use more of the maraschino cherry juice to dilute it. If your wine gets super-fruity, add more cinnamon. It might even take continual adjustment, but that’s half the fun and, of course, as the night goes on, your mulled wine will transform, perhaps being a completely different taste and smell by the end of the evening if it lasts that long… Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 11/27/18

A quiet dawn breaks over a winter wonderland and a thick blanket of wet snow. More snow flurries throughout the day and a high of 36F.

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Winter Hiking in the Catskills with The Catskills 3500 Club

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Members of the Catskill 3500 Club are leading some excellent winter hikes starting this Saturday November 24th, 2018 through the holidays and the New Year. A Winter Preparedness Class is also being offered on December 1st – that’s if it hasn’t been booked up already. Click here to see the schedule.

This is a good way to accomplish the bushwhacks on the list of the Catskill 3500 in the company of the experienced hikers of the club. It’s magical on the peaks this time of year, but brutally dangerous and safer to hike in groups. In December, volunteers will be leading hikes to the following bushwhacks: Lone, Rocky, Friday, Balsam Cap, Rusk, East Rusk and Kaaterskill High Peak, the last mile of which is a bushwhack. Other hikes include Westkill, The Blackhead Range, Hunter and Slide Mountain among others.

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Daily Catskills: 11/22/18

5F at dawn, rising to 19F by 1.30pm. Bone-numbingly cold with an arctic breeze making waves on the steaming Pepacton Reservoir. Ethereal clouds. Update: a plunge into the single digits overnight for a low of -2F or lower on the peaks.

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Ski Season in the Catskills

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There are discounts still available on ski season passes for 2018-19 at Belleayre Mountain until November 26th. A mid-week pass for Monday to Friday ski-ing, including holidays, is still only $329. Season passes make good holiday gifts. A day pass for Monday to Friday is $60 and a holiday Monday day pass is $72, so you only have to use the pass five or six times to get your money’s worth. Click here and scroll down for more details. See you on the Slopes.

Daily Catskills: 11/21/18

A high of 34F and overcast with the mountains blanketed in thick fog. An afternoon storm blows through bringing a few inches of snow. Snow-making continues on Belleayre.

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Daily Catskills: 11/20/18

Thick snow blankets the landscape that’s shrouded in mysterious mist. 37F by 2pm, but humid and foggy on the peaks with a sprinkle of afternoon rain.

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The Fire Starter: Tinder Polypore

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The particularly handsome example of fomes fomentarius, otherwise known as the tinder polypore, pictured above was found on the Huckleberry Loop trail in July 2017. It remained on the tree because that was the only example to be found on the trail that day. Sustainable foraging means taking only some of what you find and leaving the rest behind to propagate. However, if you’re in the wild or lost, an old, dry tinder polypore serves as an efficient fire starter, especially useful in winter hiking if you ever get stuck somewhere and need to start a fire in wet conditions. This year, it seems like a trial winter just sprang out from behind a long, drawn-out autumn to surprise us and now is the time when temperatures fluctuate wildly from day to day. Hikers need to be sufficiently prepared and it’s easy to get caught out. Otzi, the pre-historic hiker from about 3100 BC who was found in the Alps – by modern hikers – mummified and preserved in ice on the border of Austria and Italy back in 1991, was reportedly wearing several pieces of tinder polypore on a string around his neck. Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 10/24/18

An overcast morning with thick cloud like a comforter rolling back mid-morning in places further east, like Woodstock, where the foliage is a bit more colorful. Scattered showers with a strong breeze making waves. A high of 48F.

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Hiking the Catskills: Huckleberry Point

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Like Giant Ledge, Huckleberry Point is a reliable hike that’s a comparatively shorter distance than other Catskills hikes, but offers equally stunning views and a beautiful summit. You can also find people doing this hike in sandals and a tiny handbag on a Friday afternoon, so it’s that kind of go-to hike – the kind people decide to do regularly and on a whim. Unlike Giant Ledge, there’s no climbing involved, this trail is easy to moderate with one or two rock piles to climb over, but nothing anywhere near to the rock climbing you’ll endure on Giant Ledge. The Huckleberry Point trail is also different in that you’re climbing up and over the summit of a mountain and down the other side to the lookout, so you’ll be getting some aerobic exercise in both directions instead of only getting it on the ascent. Continue reading →

New Invasive Tree-Eating Pest Threatens The Catskills: The Spotted Lanternfly

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As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, the US Northeast now has the Spotted Lanternfly from Asia on the march from Pennsylvania after its discovery in 2014. As reported by the Catskill Center, it has been spotted as close as Albany and Yates County. The fly is easily distinguished by its colorful wings and it feasts on grape vines and hardwood trees like oak, maple, apple, walnut and cherry. By eating these trees, the render the plant or tree vulnerable to other insects.

The DEC urges people to report sightings of the fly or eggs to [email protected]. This fly is unique because it only flies short distances; it’s primarily transported by human activity. It lays its eggs on vehicles, rusting metal, stone and firewood so they are very easily moved long distances on vehicles like long-haul trucks. It’s egg masses are brownish-gray, waxy and mud-like, resembling taupe putty when new. Old eggs masses are brown and scaly.

Signs of an SLF infestation may include:

Sap oozing or weeping from open wounds on tree trunks, which appear wet and give off fermented odors.
Massive honeydew build-up under plants, sometimes with black sooty mold developing.

Daily Catskills: 10/22/18

A high of 43F and overcast with rippling, ominous cloud. Bitter and windswept on the peaks.

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The Catskills 35: High Peak (Kaaterskill)

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Nothing makes you more alert than hiking an unmarked, bushwhack trail to the top of a very steep mountain. It was such a relief, after doing a quick pitstop at Hurricane Ledge (for the picture above), to return to the summit to find fellow hikers. KHP, as it is known, is not for the faint of heart, the inexperienced, or anyone with the slightest bit of vertigo. Map and compass-reading skills are essential for this hike. Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 10/19/18

Clear skies at dawn and for the most of the morning. Wispy cloud forming at noon and then, a delicate layer of woolly cloud floated across sky like a sheet and hardened into milk glass at dusk. A high of 61F. No snow on Kaaterskill High Peak, but the odd patch of ice in places.

Daily Catskills: 10/18/18

33F by morning with overnight snow on the lower peaks forming a crunchy layer on the ground that lingers until the afternoon. A high of 43F but back to 36F by the evening. The Black Lab Mix salutes these new frigid temperatures with some yoga – he’s ready – but a lot of green remains on the trees. Fall has not finished.

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Daily Catskills: 10/17/18

A crisp autumn day beginning with a humid morning and rising to a 52F high. Mostly overcast with rolling, dark cloud bringing a sudden hail storm at 4.15pm and, after a plunge into freezing temperatures of about 36F late evening, a crunchy layer of snow. If we wanted it dull, we would be living somewhere else.

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Daily Catskills: 10/16/18

A fresh, chilly morning rising to a high of 54F. A rare day with clear, blue skies do nothing to enliven the dull fall colors. Still waiting for nature’s fireworks.

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Winnisook Lake, Origin of the Esopus Creek

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It’s truly extraordinary that one of the most majestic creeks in the Catskills – and possibly about a quarter of the drinking water supplied to nine million New Yorkers – begins with a tiny spring originating on Slide Mountain in Oliverea just over the apex of the Catskills Divide. This spring was dammed at its source by the Winnisook Club in 1886 to create the now 8-acre Winnisook Lake, so that members of this private club would have somewhere to fish. (This is a private club with no public access).

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Spilling from this pristine lake, is the start of the Esopus Creek, which travels about 65 miles through the northern Catskill Mountains and is revered as the source of some of the America’s best fly fishing. It is dammed for the second time to create the Ashokan Reservoir and then continues on from there to empty into the Hudson River at Saugerties. We have so much water here in the Catskills, and so much rain, that it really feels like a rain forest in humid periods. The precipitation occurs because we’re high up in the path of clouds moving east from the comparatively flatlands of Ohio. Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 10/13/18

Chilly with rain and brief flashes of sun through thick cloud, only dispersing late afternoon. A high of 52F. First snow of the season on Kaaterskill High Peak.

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Daily Catskills: 10/12/18

A cold snap: a chilly morning at 46F by 9am warms up to a high of 57F. Breezy with fast-moving cloud and sunny periods. There still some patches of green hanging on amidst the yellowing and almost bare trees.

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Daily Catskills: 10/11/18

All-day rain: fog drifting in the valleys and as humid as a sauna. Steamy.

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Daily Catskills: 10/10/18

Already 72F mid-morning with the sun spilling through gaps in the clouds and gilding the forest. Another overcast afternoon with a high of 79F and a slow breeze. Feels like a late summer.

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Giant Ledge in Fall

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Ah, Giant Ledge. These days it’s like Times Square up there even on a weekday in autumn because it’s a quick 1.5 miles from the parking area, over a babbling brook and up quite a steep, rocky incline to literally a giant ledge jutting out into the wilderness with astonishing panoramic views of both western and eastern Catskill Mountains. On a nice summer day, you can get up there in your day wear on a lunch break and then there’s full cell service at the summit, which makes it popular with the Instagrammers, photographers and weekend visitors. There is no cell service on the way up, in the parking area or on Route 47.

For this reason, Giant Ledge is the gateway hike. It’s lures you in with its easy rewards, and before long, you’ve bought proper hiking shoes, non-cotton clothing and perhaps even hiking poles. If you go 1.85 miles further on from Giant Ledge you will reach the summit of Panther Mountain, which is one of the Catskills peaks over 3500 ft, the “Catskills 35”. (There are 35 peaks over 3500 ft here in the Catskills.)

In the fall, it’s muddy and once the leaves start falling on the trail along with the rain, the rocks get very slippery so extra care is needed. (In the winter, it completely ices over and it’s necessary to use crampons). Only the beginning part of the trail to Giant Ledge is level: a brief reprieve in the rock climbing, but it’s still muddy at the moment. None of that seems to deter the multitude of visitors though, because it’s one of the perfect spots to watch the leaves change.

Right now, the landscape is mostly yellow with some swathes of red. There’s lots of green left on the oaks and other hard woods, but it’s sure to burst into its final, vivid orange fireworks any day now. If that happens on a sunny day, we’ll be golden.

Go here to scroll thought last year’s October.

Giant Ledge is a 2.5-hour drive from George Washington Bridge. Take I-87 to Kingston, Exit 19, then take Route 28 (West) after the traffic circle, following the sign to Pine Hill. At Big Indian, turn left onto Route 47 and drive 7.5 miles south on Route 47 until you see the trail head sign. The parking area is just before a hairpin bend.

The View

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The Trail

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Daily Catskills: 10/09/18

A balmy high of 78F, but overcast still with thick cloud like a plumped up duvet that rolled back to reveal some sun (sun!) for a brief period in the early afternoon.

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Daily Catskills: 10/08/18

Fall’s fireworks look dull under thick cloud cover. A high of 66F and humid. Fall is far better viewed from close quarters as the yellow leaves descend like confetti. There’s still some green hanging on amidst the flourishing bursts of red and orange.

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Daily Catskills: 10/07/18

A balmy high of 78F today, but overcast with the usual cloud cover. We’ve had very little sun this past month, but it’s still warm. Summer’s over, but fall is slower than last year. We still have a load of green hanging on.

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The Catskills 35: Cornell Mountain via Wittenberg

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This time in the beginning of fall is the best time to hike. It’s too cold for the bugs but warm enough to hike in a t-shirt once you have gotten going and the leaves have only just started to fall, so there’s no thick, wet carpet of rotten leaves coating the rocks to make the trail treacherously slippery.

To access Cornell on a marked trail, you need to approach from either Wittenberg or Slide, two of the Catskills highest peaks and each one difficult enough on its own. Wittenberg is much more difficult than Slide, a withering epic that begins as it means to go on, with even the very beginning being a steep ascent to the sign-in register and, then after a 2.9 mile hike with an elevation gain of 2,000 feet, in the last mile before the summit there are three or four intimidating climbs up sheer rock faces. Hiking Cornell via Wittenberg from Woodland Valley is the third highest vertical climb in the Catskills. Continue reading →

Daily Catskills: 10/06/18

Gloomy, overcast with the sun occasionally breaking through the cloud for a high of 64F. Thick mist hovered over the caps on the high peaks for most of the day. The whisper-quiet summit of Cornell covered in a foggy shroud.

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Fall in Love

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Please pardon the interruption while we undertake urgent harvest cooking and preservation duties: peach and apple sauce, apple cake, butternut squash fries, pumpkin pie, fire cider, soup, and hazelnut butter are all the in works.

Daily Catskills: 10/05/18

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After a gloomy morning, the thick clouds evaporated into nothing leaving clear skies and blazing sunshine for a change. Fall began in earnest this week. The yellow leaves are falling and the reds are popping. Peaches are ripening just as their leaves are drooping.

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