03-30-2019: Bearpen Mountain

More cold rain and snow prevented walking for several days in late March, breaking the penultimate day of the month. This allowed me to climb Bearpen Mountain, a mountain in Halcott NY in the southwestern part of Greene County. With an elevation over 3500 feet, this was the first of the Catskill High Peaks I had hiked in 2019, and the first new mountain I'd climbed since October 2018. The shortest approach follows snowmobile trails up the north side of the mountain from Prattsville, so I decided to hike from there for the quickest route to the summit.

Fog rises from the valleys in Middletown, on my way to the trailhead.

Fog generally reduces picture quality, but it's often too beautiful not to photograph.

Bearpen Mountain looms in this view from CR-2 in Prattsville.

Along the lower sections of the trail, Bearpen itself can be seen, a goal seeming so distant.

Heavy winds the previous night had blown needles off of spruce and hemlock trees, giving this portion of the trail a green coating.

Bare forest in a swampy area along the path.

The snowmobile trails were very long, straight, and wide, and were covered in thick ice. The hike was dangerous but by far the most boring of the Catskills I've yet climbed.

The bare trees offered obscured views of the surrounding mountains on the way up.

A tiny fallen catkin foretells the approach of spring.

Farther up the mountain, snowdrifts were very deep, exceeding two feet in many places.

Ice turned to thick snow as the trail neared the summit. Often my feet would fall through, temporarily trapping me in snow above my knees.

Near the summit, views to the northeast gradually became more expansive.

A cairn along the trail was half-frozen in thick remelted ice.

View northeast toward Huntersfield Mountain from below the summit.

Marker designating the trail as snowmobile trail S-72.

View north from the summit. Huntersfield Mountain dominates the view while the fields of the upper Schoharie Valley fill the foreground.

Rusted out machinery near the summit. Bearpen has several summits; this seemed to be the highest ground around.

Another shot from the top, this one more west than north. The backsides of Mount Pisgah and Mount Hayden can be seen at the right.

Third view from the summit, looking northwest. The Schoharie Reservoir can be seen beyond the limb of Roundtop Mountain.