50 degrees in mid-February on a Catskills 3500 footer? Check.
Wittenberg Mountain may not exactly split the clouds at 3,780' but it will always hold a certain sentimental value in my heart for being my first hike after contracting a nasty bout of freedomofthehillsitis a couple of years ago. Check out four seasons on Wittenberg's wonderful throne-like summit peaking over the Ashokan Resevoir (yes, this is where Conan - the Cimmerian, not O'Brien - would chill, pop bottles and praise Crom if he were visiting). Left-to-right: spring, summer, fall, winter:
Despite a bareboot-beaten and sticky trail snowshoes were the order of the day to the top and back with a few butt-happy glissades coming down the scrambles. The day was so uncharacteristically mild I was gloveless and down to just a base layer for most of the day. In other seasons the Burroughs Range trail up Wittenberg is sheltered by foliage the entire way up save for a majestic peek at part of the Devil's Path nearing the summit. We were thankful for the forest "droppin' the top" to reveal once hidden views. 
Nonetheless I've never found the shortage of vistas tiresome on this peak. The beauty and diversity of the interior forest route rivals any I've seen and the nearly 2,400 feet of ascent involved over 3.9 miles sure as hell adds to the parade. This past summer I was caught on Wittenberg in a fierce electrical storm that brought down a large tree on the trail not far from us (see photos below). It was a little strange then seeing the same tree marked "162 years old" knowing that I was there for its demise: me, mere mortal, not having yet lived a fifth of its lifespan. Aside from a friendly snowshoer and his alpine-capable canine companion we had the mountain to ourselves, a rarity for sure from Woodland Valley. Zeus gave us a break too, the 30% forecast precip never rearing its head.
Posts
Beautiful! :)
ReplyDelete