After the initial car-spot meeting on Lane St., off High Street, in Phoenicia, we will carpool to the day use parking area at Woodland Valley Campground. The hike will start up the Wittenburg-Slide (WS) (Red) trail. At 2.8 miles there will be a left turn onto the recently opened 9 mile section of the NYNJTC Long Path. The first of the three mountains being hiked will be Cross Mt., where there is one of the best (some say best) views in the Catskills. After a break to enjoy the fantastic views, we continue on to Mt. Pleasant, where there is an excellent view point from a ledge area, looking at Wittenburg, Slide, Giant Ledge, and Panther. After a break of these views, it’s on to Romer Mt. and the finish at the Lane St. parking area, where we spotted cars.
At 11.8 miles and with close to 3000′ of ascent and descent, this is a rather difficult hike and should only be attempted by experienced hikers who have recently hiked this distance and elevation change. You should be able to comfortably hike at least 1.5 MPH. You will find that this new Long Path section is the best designed and constructed trail in the Catskills, taking 3 years to complete and opening in June 2014..
With no cell phone coverage in Woodland Valley, you need to be confident of finding the meeting spot on time. We will leave the car spotting area promptly at 8:30 a.m., so that we are on the trail by 9 a.m.. Expect to finish the hike around 5 p.m., but it could be earlier or later, depending on the speed of the group. If any/all are interested, we can go to Brio’s restaurant in Phoenicia for dinner after the hike. If you haven’t been there, they have a wood fired brick oven for pizza, etc., in the basically Italian style side and Mexican fare on the other side. I’ve always had excellent food there. It’s very popular & busy.
Free trail map for the new Long Path Sectionhttp://www.nynjtc.org/files/Catskills_LongPathRelocation-SlideMountainWilderness_TrailMap2014b.pdf
Event Duration: 12 miles, Approx 8 hours
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Bring: lunch, sunscreen, bug spray, plenty to drink (no water on trail), etc.
Registration required by 10/7/15. Use registration form below to register.
Group size is limited so register early.
Fee: Yes, for parking fees, can split if shuttle
Dogs allowed: No
Questions about this event can be directed to: Cal at hikeski@hvc.rr.com
Driving Directions: From Rt. 28, turn right for Phoenicia. Almost immediately, turn left onto High St.. Shortly after that turn left onto Lane St.. Parking area at end of road.
Rain or no sign ups by Oct. 7 cancels this hike.