I climbed a half-mile or so up the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail.
I soon had my first glimpses of Slide Mountain through the trees.
Looking back at Wittenberg, with plenty of snow visible up there through the trees.
It was great to be back bushwhacking through Catskill hardwoods, in the Slide Mountain Wilderness.
The Burroughs Range - Wittenberg, Cornell and Slide - outlined through the trees.
Open hardwoods on the crest of Fork Ridge.
A stout sugar maple.
I dropped down along the south side of the ridge to traverse along a lengthy band of ledges and boulders.
A framed look at Slide, highest of the Catskills. Its north face is steep! A month earlier I was enjoying the great view from the little white spot seen just to the right of the summit.
Rugged terrain.
Don't trip here!
The long cliff-faced Giant Ledge, one of the great viewpoints in the Cats.
Typical of the Catskills, the ledge band goes on and on.
Snow-capped ledges on the "crown" of Cornell.
A clearer look at Slide.
It was nice to relax on a ledge in warm spring sun.
A fun scramble up through here.
Another angle on the Burroughs Range.
Heading back to the ridgecrest.
Neat ledges amidst the hemlocks.
Park-like.
A glimpse northward to the long eastern ridge of Panther, a sprawling mountain.
One of the largest hemlocks on the ridge.
Back along the 2300-ft. crest. Remarkable.
Some kind of a shelf fungus?
Looking back up to the ridge as I descend to the trail after an enjoyable probe into the Wilderness.
