Catskills

Today I went on an amazing ~4-hour 6.8 mile winter hike up Slide Mountain, the tallest peak in the Catskills topping out at around 4,180 feet with several outstanding viewpoints along the way. It was my first winter hike in the Catskill region, and it was absolutely beautiful, I’m really looking forward to doing this again soon.

While we were less then three hours from New York City, where we started out earlier that morning, about an hour into the trail we felt liked we’d been transported into a winter wonderland. It has been a very mild winter and overall the hike had only a few minor challenges – some icy sections that you had to take slowly, and 2 or 3 really short but steep areas that were a little difficult because of the snow, but very doable. The trails are really well maintained and clearly marked. The hike was never really strenuous, the grade never too steep, etc. it was a very moderate and thoroughly enjoyable trip – I highly recommend it.

Evan and I met up around 9:45am and were on the road by 10am. The hike is about three hours from NYC and we arrived at the trailhead around 1pm, summited (via Wittenberg Cornell) by 2:30pm and made it back down to the parking area (via Curtis-Ormsbee) shortly after 5pm (about 4 hours including a 20 minute rest at the top). You could drive back to the city and do this as a day trip – but I was worn out and thankful we’d rented a house for the weekend and was looking forward to a hot shower and a great dinner!

After the break is my gear summary (what I packed) followed by a photo walkthrough and description of the trail and our hike - read more....