Bearpen to be 'trailless' no more

On our way up Bearpen (in the Catskills) Saturday, we encountered a few ATV tracks. Nothing surprising there, but after a while, we saw the ATVs, which is rare. The really surprising thing is that they were parked next to an informal sign that had a permit number and a notice saying that 'xxx snowmobile club' was cutting a trail. We chatted with the workers and confirmed later with a Ranger that this is 100% legit, and that they plan to take the trail all the way to the summit. For those familiar with the lay of the land, the trail goes off the old road where most people follow a network of herd paths, making a shortcut back to the road that leads to the summit. We did not follow the new trail all the way back to the road as it was bearing too for to the South for our tastes, but I was told that in fact the new trail hits the road by one of the workers.

When this trail is complete, I would say that Bear pen will then be a 'trailed' peak. Of course, it has not been a bushwhack by most people's standards for quite some time.

Besides that, the day was a normal Bearpen hike, with a few brambles and mud bogs to contend with. Views to the North, West and South were good. The Gilboa reservoir looks VERY low.

We scooted over to Vly afterwards, and met Melissa, Tom, and her 'famous' dog, Simba!

We noticed that Corey had recently ascended in 0:36 from the lower parking lot, pretty impressive! We got back down in 0:50, how's that?

"We got back down in 0:50, how's that?"

Long as you asked....by Cory's standards, slooooooow !

Tom Rankin said:

The Gilboa reservoir looks VERY low.

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It's currently at 49.7% of its 17.6 billion gallon capacity.
Current NYC reservoir levels

MichaelJ said:

It's currently at 49.7% of its 17.6 billion gallon capacity.
Current NYC reservoir levels

Click to expand...

Hey, that page moved and I lost track of it, thanks for 'finding' it.

If Bearpen were within the Blue Line (Catskill Forest Preserve) and in a Wilderness Area or Wild Forest; and if it were truly trailless today then no new trails would be allowed under the current Catskill Master Plan. An allowed exception; the master plan does allow for new trails on trailless peaks within the Blue Line to eliminate a maze of herd paths.

But Vly and Bearpen are outside the Blue Line so there rules for new trails are much less restrictive. And there are old ski roads from the north and west which nearly reach the summit. And there are ATV tracks all over. So the mountain has not been truly trailless for a long time.

Tom Rankin said:

Views to the North, West and South were good. The Gilboa reservoir looks VERY low.

Click to expand...

Lower than it has been recently? Or lower than it was prior to winter 2006?

There has been an ongoing Gilboa Dam Stabilization Project effort which is scheduled to complete 2011. As part of this effort in February 2006 a 5.5' notch was cut into the top of the dam to relieve water pressure. So there has been a rim of exposed ground around the entire reservoir over the last few years. No doubt the reservoir may be yet lower due to the dry summer in the Catskills.