"Originally it was Mimi, Rebecca and myself to be hiking Vly & Bearpen in the morning then finishing the day on Balsam Lake mountain. Mimi had to head back out because her son was making a surprise visit over the weekend so it was down to Rebecca and I. Quick scoot up and down Vly passing four friends who started 20 minutes after us. On our way up Bearpen we kept an eye out for big patches of ramps that have popped up recently off the right side of the road. With constant chitchat we were up to the summit before we knew it. On our way back down we didn’t see our four friends again until we got close to the Hunters cabin, they had found and harvested some ramps over on Vly. Rebecca stopped first,prepared with a stool and scissors to harvest the amount allowed by the State ,while I went further down the road to harvest enough to put into several nights salad. Since Mimi would miss BLM we decided to skip it for a time when she could join us. On my way down from the cabin I ran into another friend that haven’t seen since last fall so I was able to hear about her two month trip to New Zealand over the winter. Nice easy day with plenty of time to run some errands on my way home." — Nimblefoot • Apr 21, 2024

"Bearpen and Vly in the AM then BLM in the afternoon to finish the day. All day alternated between full overcast with snow showers and blue sky with bright sun. Windy most of the day. Only spikes today snowshoes stayed in the car." — Nimblefoot • Jan 14, 2024

"Rebecca and I joined Mimi for her final three peaks needed to complete her single season Fall round. Vly and Bearpen in the morning followed an ascent of BLM in the afternoon where Tom joined us. On the summit of BLM Rebecca presented Mimi with her Fall triangle patch from Hikers Anonymous(Ha!). Only micro spikes were carried, leaving the snowshoes in the car, and used only by two of us on BLM for better grip." — Nimblefoot • Dec 16, 2023

"A 3-Peaker of Vly and Bearpen then Richard, Johnny and I finished our day on Balsam Lake mountain. Cloudy on V/BP with water and ice pellets dropping out of the trees at the higher elevations. Blue sky over on BLM where watched ice falling off the fire tower with the warmer temps and sun making it a bit unsafe to climb the tower." — Nimblefoot • Oct 23, 2023

"A very quiet Labor Day Monday. In the morning I did Bearpen and Vly out of Johnson Hollow without seeing a soul. Maybe the early morning showers and high humidity scared everyone off. For the afternoon I headed over to the Blackhead range to visit the summits of Thomas Cole and Black Dome. Because Barnum road trailhead was closer than Big Hollow road I started from it, something I haven’t done in probably 5 yrs or more. This allowed me to tick off the Caudal and Camels Hump once again. I even headed off trail to make sure I got the summit “X” on the Caudal. I only met one couple with their pup getting all three peaks of the range. " — Nimblefoot • Sep 4, 2023

"Fun hike of Vly and Bearpen out of Johnson Hollow with Richard and Susan in the AM. Afterwards Susan headed to Balsam Lake mtn and I headed to Sugarloaf mtn while Richard headed home. As I approached parking area at the end of Mink Hollow road a hiker,near one of the last houses, tried to forewarn me not to proceed because there was a black bear in the area. He further explained that it was chasing two women hiking either Plateau or Sugarloaf. I continued on to the end and parked the car with it still running and the driver door open, in case I had to make quick exit, and began to scan the woods for any bear. Minutes later two women come down the trail with a third following and finally a juvenile bear just loping along like a pet animal. The bear looked undernourished and was simply following the hikers down to parking area then toward the houses looking for his next “happy meal”. I ascended and descended Sugarloaf as quickly as I could so that my car was left unattended for the shortest period of time. The whole time I kept my eyes peeled for any other hungry bears lurking about on the mountain." — Nimblefoot • Aug 14, 2023

"VLY was more fun than i expected And it was my first canister. Bearpen was boring but easy. It was so muggy and damp on the trail i swear you can smell the pulp on the trees " — HeyJoe • Jul 4, 2023

"First I did Bearpen and Vly out of Johnson Hollow then headed back to Phoenicia for a hike up to the fire tower on top of Tremper. BP and Vly completed my 57th round of the Cat35 then Tremper completed my ‘23 Fire Tower challenge of the DEC." — Nimblefoot • Jun 19, 2023

"Romp of Bearpen and Vly from Johnson Hollow(Rt 3). Bumped into a Ranger out checking on the condition of the State boundary blazes. Next was an out and back of Giant Ledge and Panther from Rt 47. Sprinkles at the start from the PA then again as I returned, otherwise just cloudy. Bearpen and Vly completed my 56th round of the Cat 35." — Nimblefoot • May 5, 2023

"Mimi, Peter, Miyon and I met at LaCabana restaurant parking lot in Fleishmans then shuttled over to Johnson Hollow in Peter’s subie thus leaving room for other hikers. Both peaks were broken out by a gentleman who arrived right after us but was a bit more speedy so he leapfrogged ahead of us. He tended to deviate from the normal herd path so we corrected this on our ascent and again on our descent. It was a nice change to play in the fluff wearing snowshoes rather than walking in spikes all day. I didn’t realize these two peaks were so popular until we returned to the car to find the side of the road parking overflowing. To finish our day Mimi and I headed to Mill Brook road to slowly make our way to the fire tower atop Balsam Lake mountain. We wore our snowshoes for better grip and to not mess up the nicely packed trail. Those that chose not to use snowshoes were making divots in the track rather than post holing so it wasn’t a serious offense especially at this end of the season." — Nimblefoot • Mar 5, 2023