Hiking the Catskill Nine 10/22/22

[tirolski]

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We lingered on Wittenberg for a bit then headed back up and over Cornell.

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5pm; Up through the infamous Cornell Crack.

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With Cornell behind us it was off to Slide.

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At 4,184ft, Slide is the highest. We still had some climbing to do.

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6:15pm; We made it to the spring just below the summit with the sky dyed in Easter egg colors.

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6:45pm; After filtering some water we bagged the summit in the fading light.

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7pm; 0.7 miles from the summit we hit the junction for the trail to the parking area. Time to boogie into the night.

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Freshly fallen ankle deep leaves covered fist sized rocks on the way down. I was exhausted and could barely pick up my feet. At one point I fell asleep and caught myself, waking up just before I hit the ground.

It was here that the “why” question crept into my mind. Then I remembered the bushwhack. Moving through that mossy virgin landscape as if it were a dream. Standing on the peaks overlooking the valleys. The warmth of the sun. The stillness in the forest. The pointer tree. The smell of the Balsam. The colors in the Sky. Spending time with an old friend. Getting away from the day to day. Understanding the potential of our minds and bodies and doing what is seemingly impossible. Making lists and crushing them.

Sometime after 9pm, 20+ miles and 14+ hours later, we hit the sign out at Denning and made it back to the car with no victory beer. That didn’t even matter, I was too tired to drink one anyway.

Nice trek Mr Ripitz!

 

[Tjf1967]

What a great day. Thanks for putting in on paper..

 

[DomB]

AWESOME

 

[Ripitz]

What kinds of animals didya get to see,... other than humans of course?

Only a few chickamunks down low. They were wiley too, not like the ones back home. You could hear their alarm calls but rarely saw them. They were gone in a flash. It was the quietest day I’ve spent in the woods. There was almost no wind. Looking back I wish we listened for the Bicknell’s Thrush. Something to look forward to for next time.

We saw very few humans as well. Two workers at the lean-to and two separate guys at the canister at Lone. We saw no one else until we got to Wittenberg. Even though it’s a popular spot there was maybe six people there. After that we saw a few groups of backpackers and then nobody after the spring at Slide. We were alone for most of the day and saw no more than 20 people.

We also just missed the half-human half-animal mythical man beast named Mike “Catskill” Siudy. We saw his name in the notebook at Balsam Cap. He had just been there before us. From what I can remember he had signed “Finished Catskill 9 Grid 6”. Meaning he had done the round in every month of the year six times! Mike has the Fastest Known Time for the Catskill 9 at 4h 49m 52s. In 2018 he also set the record for thru-hiking all of the 35 High Peaks in one push, 2d 9h 16m. Check out the incredible story of his “Diretissima” put up by our friends at Mountain Peak Fitness.

Living the Catskill Dream by Mike Siudy "Catskill 35 Direttissima" — Mountain Peak Fitness

At 5 AM on May 24, 2018, I started speed hiking up the Peekamoose-Table trail. It was the beginning of a journey that would take me nearly 2 ½ days to complete. Along the way I would cover around 140 miles, climb over 38,000 feet of vertical ascent, and reach the summits of all 35 High Peaks in the

www.mountainpeakfitness.com

Catskill High Peaks (NY)

fastestknowntime.com

Catskill 9 (NY)

fastestknowntime.com

 

[Ripitz]

Thank you all for checking out my story and leaving such great comments. It means a lot to be able to put it out there and share it with other people. Thank you again @Harvey. The Catskills are a magical place. Hopefully there will many more adventure stories to come.