Bearpen/Vly 3/13

[funkyfreddy]

Sunday Matt (mcorsar) led Josef (Fu Jow Pai), Sarah, and myself up Bearpen and Vly mountains in the northern Catskills. It was an interesting day as it was snowing and the visibility was low when we started from the coll but the sun played games with us all day, coming out for a moment on the summit of bearpen and revealing parts of the northern Catskill landscape I had never seen before. We shared the scrubby summit with a group of snowmobliers, as Bearpen is very popular for snowmobile and atv use.

Once we got off trail the snow conditions were great for snowshoing, a nice powder that had accumulated during the past few weeks. After getting back to the Hunters cabin, Matt, Josef and I continued on to Vly, following the property markings that also serve as trail blazes as they lead almost to the summit canister. I was surprised at the great views we had from the summit of Vly as I had never heard of any. I spotted many mountains that I presume to be among the Catskill's 100 highest, some of which we plan to explore in the spring.

Thanks go to Matt for both good driving and hiking directions!

 

[MattC]

Hey Freddy,

Good to see you bagged Blackhead and got home okay. I had a blast Sunday. It was great to meet and hike with Josef and Sarah and their Jack Russells. Tough little hikers, those dogs. Also very nice of them to have me over for dinner. That brownie/whipped cream that Sarah served was outrageous! Remember, there's no such thing as too many calories on a hiking day.
I drove home very tired, but very satisfied. The ride seemed to go much quicker than it usually does from that area.

I looked over some maps and books afterwards. That was the Schoharie Reservoir, not the Gilboa Reservoir as I thought at first. Some of the peaks we were looking at include Huntersfield, Pisgah, Cave, and the East Jewett Range. I believe you were correct with your ID of Windham and the Escarpment points. I believe we were able to see Thomas Cole, but not the other Blackheads. Looking at all that stuff definitely got me excited about exploring that area.

The Ed Henry book says that one can also see Kaateskill High Peak and Hunter(!) from Bearpen. As for the slopes we saw on our way down Vly, I see on my road map Ski Plattekill and the Bobcat Ski Center, both to the west of Bearpen. I don't know if the slopes were either of these.
Are you able to post any pics?

Matt

 

[mudhook51]

The Schoharie Reservoir is also known as the Gilboa Reseivoir. Goes thru a tunnel and comes out on Rt 28 near Broadstreet Hlw. The ski slope was Plattekill, Bobcat faces the opposite direction.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

The Schoharie Reservoir (the largest body of water visible from Bearpen) is often called the Gilboa Reservoir as the original village of Gilboa was moved to make way for the dam and the reservoir. That reservoir is part of the NYC water system as mudhook51 noted.

To add a little confusion there are two other hydroelectric power reservoirs: The Blenheim-Gilboa Reservoir (downstream/north) of the Schoharie Reservoir. And on a hilltop to the east of that is the pumped storage Upper Blenheim-Gilboa Reservoir. This upper reservoir is also clearly visible from Bearpen, the lower is less visible.

The upper reservoir was quite controversial in that it is a net power consumer. The concept was to pump water up during low power consumption periods, and then release it to generate electricity at peak consumption periods. The income from the peak periods exceeds the cost of the pumping. There is a visitor's center on Route 30 which offers info on the process. It is worth a visit along with the waterfalls at the adjacent Mine Kill State Park.

 

[MattC]

Thanks for clarifying on the name of the reservoir guys. Some time in the spring I'd like to do any/all of the following:
-hike Bearpen from the other (NW) side
-hike Huntersfield, Utsayantha, and some of those other peaks up there
-check out Pratt's Rocks, and Burroughs childhood home in Roxbury
I might have to add that state park to the list of to-dos north of the blue line

Matt

 

[Fu Jow Pai]

Doin' it, 2 more to go

Hey Folks,

Great hike the other day. Great to meet you Matt. Can't stop thinking about that powder, don't think we'll be seeing the likes of that 'til next winter. Blackhead was killer on Mon. Great weather/views. 2 more to go, Rusk and Fir. Planning on a quick run up Rusk on either Sunday or Monday. FunkyF and I are going to try and make a plan for that final peak on Fir, maybe with a couple of bottles of Guinness to celebrate? We'll have to see.

 

[jjmcgo]

Hunter's cabin

Can the hunter's cabin be used for sleeping overnight?

 

[Mark Schaefer]

The cabin between Vly and Bearpen is privately owned and on private property (as is the cabin at the top of Ski Run Road north of Bearpen). So the short answer is probably no, or at least not without renting the cabin. The owners' names are probably posted near the cabins, but I do not recall them.