Belleayre and Balsam 2/11/07

[Doodles]

Set out this morning for an easy 1 peak hike. I figured Belleayre was out there all by itself.

I failed to confirm where the high peak was, I just looked at the NY/NJ trail map and fixed upon the marked elevation point. I started at the end of Woodchuck Hollow Rd. on the PW(B) trail. A nice easy walk up a wide trail\road. This would be easy to XC ski down. I stopped at the Belleayre Mt lean-to for a quick break then continued up. I reached the presumed summit and decided to extend my trip with a side trip to Balsam.

At the col between Belleayre and Balsam I met up with Mike and Ellen who were grabbing the same peaks as me. We spoke for a while and continued on our way. As I gained elevation up to Balsam, I looked back and noticed that the West bump of Belleayre looked noticably higher than where I came from (Belleayre East). I made the summit of Balsam and turned back towards Belleayre. Now I knew that I needed to go back and hop over to the West bump. I made my way back to Belleayre East and turned left to the West. Along the way I bumped into Mike and Ellen again and reconfirmed the highest bump. They had printed out Mark's topo which clearly showed our destination. We all continued on out way and I made my way up to the ski area past three lifts and lots of skiers to the top of Deer Run. Finally made it to the top.

I touched the top and turned around. At this point I wish I would have had a set of skis. I went down the trail to the Hirschland lean-to and decided to bushwhack into the drainage and straight out to Woodchuck Hollow Rd.

I took along crampons, but did not have to use them. Had about 2" to 6" of snow throughout the hike with only a few snow drifts along the way.

A nice day to be out, and a nice hike. Nice meeting Mike and Ellen, and don't forget to confirm your destination with Mark's thread for these elusive Catskill HH peaks.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Nice report. Belleayre is among my favorite Catskill peaks because of the views from the ski trails. Your return bushwhack route sounds interesting and no doubt saved some time. I often make a loop of the Cathedral Glen Trail and Pine Hill - West Branch (PW) trail, and park along Depot Road. That loop uses a short walk along the abandoned railroad. The current ADK guidebook recommends against that route as the ownership of the railroad was in doubt at the time publication. However, the railroad right of way is now owned by Ulster County and is legal to hike. Part of the Cathedral Glen trail is also a downhill ski trail, so it may not be the best route during ski season. Much of the ridge top you followed between summits is also a ski trail, but it is very level and avoiding the skiers is not much problem.

Glad you were able to determine the highest summit. It is a little confusing as the NY/NJ map shows the Belleayre name on the easternmost of 3 summits, which is also the location of the USGS benchmark, and the site of the former fire tower. As you found the highest 3420' summit is the westernmost summit; at the top of the third and relatively new ski lift (which is not shown on USGS nor NY/NJ maps).

There does seem to be an abundance of "three summit" peaks on the Catskill HH list. The true/highest summit is often not the one bearing the name on the USGS map.

If anyone is looking for Catskill HH list, it can be found on the Adirondack Hundred Highest website. As Doodles mentioned, it is also in "The Catskill 100 Highest " forum on ADKHighPeaks Forums. However, it is one of several "Special Interest Forums" for which you need to sign up as a forum member to view.