2022-05-17: Northwest Bearpen Mountain

Delaware County - New York County High Point 9/62

Roundtop - Catskill Hundred Highest 41/100

As one of the sixty-two New York county high points, Northwest Bearpen Mountain has been on my radar for well over three years. Back in March 2019, I climbed the nearby Bearpen Mountain, but wasn't prepared to bushwhack over to the untrailed, unpopular county HP. However, given its lack of views, lack of trail, and the significant (8+ mile) hike required to reach it, the peak always took a backseat to more exciting expeditions. For my first hike back in New York for the summer, I paired the Delaware County high point with neighboring Roundtop, one of the Catskill Hundred Highest (another peakbagging goal I've been working on).

Last week I broke my camera during an astonishingly wet ascent of Mount Rogers, the Virginia highpoint. Thankfully, I had prepared for this; last spring, I bought an old camera off a friend to serve as a backup in case mine broke. Until I have the money to get my main camera repaired, I've been using this older version. For this I'm using manually-defined settings for shutter speed and exposure time, which are often difficult to get right in the middle of a hike, so some of my pictures may seem a little wonky. I'm still learning how to use it properly.

Northwest Bearpen is usually hiked from Ski Run Road, a dirt snowmobile trail located off of County Route 2 in southern Prattsville. While some reports list this road as drivable, others claim it's dangerous for all but high-clearance vehicles, and in any case it's technically illegal to drive on it in the summer. I decided to play it safe and park just off of Route 2, where I was treated to an astonishing view of some of the mountains I was about to climb.

Looking down Route 2 towards Northwest Bearpen (right of center).

The full Bearpen mastiff from the trailhead.

Signage at the trailhead denoting Ski Run Road as part of Snowmobile Route S-72.

The first half mile of Ski Run Road was pretty easy going on shale and clay; even with the mud, my Corolla probably could have made it if I had wanted to tempt the law. Beyond that, the trail got steeper and rockier, but not more interesting. While most trip reports describe the ascent via Ski Run to be 'easy', I found it fairly boring. Long inclined straightaways, especially with significant gradients, always seem boring to me, lacking the scrambles and problem-solving that more direct trails take. I had similar complaints on Bearpen three years ago.

Signage at the state forest line, buried deep in the woods along the trail.

A view of the trail earlier on, running in another dreadful straight line.

Side paths and old roads like this one lined the path on both sides.

Increasing elevation becomes visible through the trees. A week earlier, when there were no leaves, this hike would have had many more views.

After about an hour of hiking I reached a large clearing that marked the intersection of many paths. Behind me, to the east, was the end of Ski Run Road. To the south were two trails; one descended the ridgeline to the Roxbury side, while the other continued on to Northwest Bearpen. To the east was another trail that descended into Roxbury, and to the north were two more, one descending to Prattsville and one continuing on. I took this last trail, which promised to take me to the top of Roundtop in about a half-mile. By this point, dark clouds had moved in, and I prayed the rain would hold off for the sake of my backup camera.

A view of the less well-worn trail up Roundtop from the edge of the clearing.

Moss and glacial erratics on the route up Roundtop.

I could find very little information on Roundtop in my (admittedly limited) research for this trip. A trip report from 2010 mentioned a 4x4 trail leading to the summit, but I expected it to be well overgrown at this point. Evidently this area is more popular than I had expected, because the trail was not only present, but incredibly easy to follow. After a steep section it flattened out a bit; this was likely the 'false summit' that I had seen mentioned, although it was more flat than anything. Soon, the trail reached the summit, wrapping around it and continuing down along the ridge. I stopped at the summit for a drink, but strong winds encouraged me to head back down pretty soon.

Scraggly beech trees at the 3440' summit of Roundtop.

Damp, mossy ground on descent, a notably different environment from the rest of the hike.

Soon I returned to the clearing and headed straight forward, on to the county high point. This was a longer hike, as the S-72 route winds around and over several false summits on its way towards Bearpen proper. The trail here was remarkably flat, hardly gaining any elevation; the ascent over a mile and a half was only around 300 feet.

A view of the trail towards Northwest Bearpen. Signs on both sides prohibit the use of ATVs and other motorized vehicles.

After about twenty minutes I came across something totally unexpected: An overlook! On the west side of the trail was a small slide of exposed rock, similar to the much larger slides in the Adirondacks, which provided an impressive view over the town of Roxbury. I stopped here for some pictures, glad that I would get a shot of Delaware County from the top of Delaware County, and all this on my first real hike in the county at that. Somehow, this wasn't mentioned in any of the trip reports I had read, despite a well-worn herdpath to it. I find that often the best attractions are the ones that I stumble upon unawares. By now, the rainclouds from earlier had safely passed, allowing the sun to light up the marvelous view before me.

The full view, looking towards South Plattekill Mountain (right).

A close-up of South Plattekill, covered in bright green spring growth.

A view of the nearby North Plattekill. At 3343', North Plattekill is the second-highest peak in Delaware County and a popular ski resort in the winter months.

Green fields and houses along a road in rural Roxbury.

From here I continued along the path, keeping an eye out as it swapped from the east side of the ridge to the west side. S-72 wraps along the west side of the highpoint, avoiding the highest ground by quite a bit. Much of the Delaware County side is on private land, so the trail probably follows a specific easement, but everything on the Greene County side of the line is state-owned. I was on the lookout for a small cairn that, according to trip reports, denotes the best place to leave the trail and bushwhack the final quarter mile to the true highpoint. Soon I located it and headed to my left towards my last goal of the day.

The small cairn at the west side of the trail.

Large boulders along the bushwhack to the summit.

Reaching the top was pretty easy, I just followed the old bushwhacking approach of "go up until there's no more up to go". The summit plateau is fairly level; as I had read in trip reports, there was no obvious highest point, so I trudged around the top until I had walked basically the whole thing. Half the summit is in Greene County but I wasn't sure which side was which so I covered its full length. There wasn't too much to see aside from some flowers, so after a few minutes on top of Delaware County, I headed back down.

Summit selfies are pretty much the only way to verify that I actually reached the true top. I don't like putting my face on here any more than you like looking at it.

Dozens of hobble-bushes (Viburnum lantanoides) were blooming all along the hike, although high winds made photographing the light flowers difficult.

A yellow trout-lily (Erythronium americanum) in bloom at the summit. Like on Leavitt Peak this time last year, these downward-facing flowers covered the ground in some areas.

Looking west from the western side of the summit, the top of Delaware County at 3530 feet.

The descent went pretty quickly back to the clearing at least. I passed a lot of rock outcrops and did some trail-jogging to speed things along, knowing I would have less energy for it later. Unfortunately I missed the overlook on the way back; I had planned on taking more pictures with the wide-angle lens. I guess it can be pretty easy to pass by, even when looking for it. I stopped for more water at the clearing before continuing my descent.

Boulders and rock outcrops on the backside of Northwest Bearpen.

The red shale and green grass made for delightful contrast along the twisty level trail.

A wide view of the remarkably large clearing, with my backpack for scale.

In many ways the descent was more of a grind than the ascent had been. After jogging the first few steep sections, I soon got into a more stable, slower groove. There were no more peaks to look forward to, I was tired, and it was just sort of boring. However, I did come across a small waterfall and, more interestingly, the foundation of an old building. It's amazing to think that people used to live up here, that the extensive maple forests I was hiking through had once been cleared for farmland, and that this snowmobile trail was once someone's road. The broken stone foundation was still fairly intact, and I stepped off the path to investigate it further.

The small, mossy waterfall. Given that the whole area was already wet from spring rains, I can't imagine this is often an impressive sight.

The stone foundation, seen from the trail. The remnants of a doorway can be seen at right.

Looking inside the structure from the doorway.

As the trail levelled out, I tried my best to keep a steady pace and not become bored. I watched the leaves on the trees slowly go from nonexistent to small to almost fully-grown as I descended the 1500 feet back to the trailhead. Upon my return, I took some more pictures from Route 2, ate some cookies to replenish my energy, and headed home.

An oak tree crossing the cloud-darkened trail.

A farewell shot of Bearpen Mountain from the trailhead, now with better lighting.