winter in NY

Joe, I will do several trips to Catskills and Harriman, and perhaps Daks.

Please keep me posted. Email me at dirtbaghiker@yahoo.com. I am doing west rim trail in PA in october..After that I can't get out again until January. .but I am looking to get out of Harriman and up to cats or Daks..thanks..Joe

I'm interested in doing a winter trip in NY, especially the Daks. I have plenty of winter experience, but no mountaineering/avalanche training.

Stay tuned..

I maybe be up for a Daks winter trip.
Its an 11 hour drive from central Michigan so would go if one my buddies would split the drive.

I would just add… don't rule out the Catskills. There is some good, ass-whuppin' stuff up there in the winter.

I have had on my mind for some time a loop doing Giant Ledge from Woodland Valley and returning to Woodland Valley via Slide/Cornell/Wittenberg, or the reverse if you want the heavy lifting the first day. The Blackhead Range also has some great stuff, and there are others such as the Devil's Path…

Hi Bob,

Catskills would suit me also, what's the nearest town/village so I can check the distance on Google maps.

I have attended over a dozen trips since moving from Europe with fellow Bpl folks in Michigan, Colorado and Canada and have had a great time at each one. Its time to get on a Bpl trip out east.

I would Love to do that loop from woodland valley up Wittenberg slide and cornell..and loop back to woodland valley. I attempted it 4 years ago and due to certain circumstances with a group member we had to cut it short and return the way we came early. Doing this in January or February would be pretty intense!!!

Stephen, the closest town is Phoenicia, NY. Woodland Valley rd is off Rt 28 about 1/2 mile west/north of Phoenicia, then about 5-6 mi on Woodland Valley to the parking lot at the end.

Going strictly from memory here so that could be a little rough on the distances….

EDIT to correct distance… Woodland Valley rd much closer to Phoenicia than originally stated

Thats cool Bob,

Just trying to work out the rough distance so I can "sell" the trip to my buddies and the Michigan BPL gang.

Joe, you may know this, but it is actually possible (and legal) to camp on top of Slide Mtn in the winter!! (HUGE caveat: Weather Permitting, LOL!) Good news is Woodland Valley road is plowed all the way to the parking lots all winter long.

Looks like a congealing consensus situation here, haha… let me know.

OH YES INDEED BOB!! After december 21 we can camp above 3500ft. I would really LOVE to do this late January/early february. Count me in!! Lets make this happen.

Yep, the magic 3500 repealed, yaaay!

At the top of Slide there is actually an area of about 1/4 to 1/2 acre that has a wind break composed of a dense thicket ofgnarly spruce trees.

Bring your oxygen bottles… the summit is 4180 feet!

This is not to rule out the Daks, of course. Mt. Marcy is a fun and non-technical trip if you go via Johns Brook/bushnell Falls.

Maybe leave the options open just a little depending upon how the snow cover develops this year. For you MI guys the distance is about the same. I remember in the early 2000's we gave up on mountain stuff because there were several consecutive years with little snow in the Catskills or Daks. Last trip up there was Gothics in about 2002 and it was miserable with too-warm weather and some difficult stream crossings in early FEBRUARY, previously unheard of in the Daks.

Its good to have this on the back burner.

:-)

Stephen, for all that effort I will supply the Jaegermeister and Macanudos!

Nice one Bob :-)

Maybe I can help you add Minnesota to that list? Or meet halfway in WI as a teaser?

From the previous post regarding a Catskill loop…

Woodland Valley to Wittenberg, Cornell and Slide (all Catskill regulars recognize as "WCS") down to Rt 47, a short walk (less than 500m) along Rt 47 and back into the woods up toward Giant Ledge with a side trip up to the ledge, then back down to Woodland valley.

In the summer this is a very respectable dayhike. In the winter it can be a handful as an overnighter, and then some, so best to be really, really conservative.

Camp at the top of Slide, weather permitting (and which I would dearly LOVE to do, 'cause I never did it in winter) or farther down the trail toward Rt 47 if necessary. The hike out from Giant Ledge is all downhill, except for the section I call "Stairway to Heaven", which you will remember once you've experienced it.

If there is further interest in this, I will supply more logistical information.

.

More logistics.

I'd be in for a Catskills trip. And Bob, if I'm not hauling the cub scouts around the woods, I'm usually up for a weekend hike/ski/mtb in Westchester/Putnam too. (I'm in Chappaqua.)

Bob,

Its a 650mile trip for me, which is a bit much for winter.
I will checkout flights also.

Hi guys, I got back last night from a trip to Seneca Creek/Spruce Knob that I almost decided not to do because of the weather forecast. But I decided to go anyway and push the limits a bit. I usually hate rainy/wet conditions, so I took it as an opportunity to embrace the enemy. Wasn't so bad after all.

So that's where I've been the past few days.

@Joe I'll post some more info later today concerning suggested dates and local motels.

@Christian Wow, nice to know there's another BPLer right in my neck of the woods! Let's do some outdoor stuff.

@Stephen Yep, that's a long drive if you don't have someone to share the load. let me know what gear might be problematic for you to bring because I have extra stuff (even after donating a huge pile of stuff to the Boy Scouts last week!)

Hey Bob…hotel? I plan on sleeping outside on top of a big mountain in a tent or in a bivy or under my tarp.

Thanks for the offer Bob,

I will be sseing my buddies next week and will torment them :-)